Wrestling at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle light heavyweight explained

Event:Men's freestyle light heavyweight
Games:1960 Summer
Venue:Basilica of Maxentius
Dates:1–6 September
Competitors:19
Nations:19
Gold:İsmet Atlı
Goldnoc:TUR
Silver:Gholam Reza Takhti
Silvernoc:IRI
Bronze:Anatoly Albul
Bronzenoc:URS
Prev:1956
Next:1964

The men's freestyle light heavyweight competition at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome took place from 1 to 6 September at the Basilica of Maxentius. Nations were limited to one competitor.[1]

Competition format

This freestyle wrestling competition continued to use the "bad points" elimination system introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics for Greco-Roman and at the 1932 Summer Olympics for freestyle wrestling, though adjusted the point values slightly. Wins by fall continued to be worth 0 points and wins by decision continued to be worth 1 point. Losses by fall, however, were now worth 4 points (up from 3). Losses by decision were worth 3 points (consistent with most prior years, though in some losses by split decision had been worth only 2 points). Ties were now allowed, worth 2 points for each wrestler. The elimination threshold was also increased from 5 points to 6 points. The medal round concept, used in 1952 and 1956 requiring a round-robin amongst the medalists even if one or more finished a round with enough points for elimination, was used only if exactly three wrestlers remained after a round—if two competitors remained, they faced off head-to-head; if only one, he was the gold medalist.[2] [1]

Results

Round 1

Martina withdrew after his bout.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Decision
Decision
Decision
Decision
Decision
Fall
Decision
Fall
Fall
Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 0 0 0
1 0 0 0
1 0 0 0
1 0 0 0
5 0 1 1
5 0 1 1
5 0 1 1
5 0 1 1
5 0 1 1
5 0 1 1
11 0 3 3
11 0 3 3
11 0 3 3
11 0 3 3
11 0 3 3
11 0 3 3
17 0 4 4
17 0 4 4
19 0 4 4*

Round 2

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
César Ferreras Tie Eugen Holzherr
Decision
Decision
Fall
Fall
Fall
Fall
Fall
Decision
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 0 0 0
2 1 0 1
2 1 0 1
2 1 0 1
2 0 1 1
6 1 1 2
6 1 1 2
6 0 2 2
9 3 0 3
10 0 4 4
11 1 4 5
11 3 2 5
13 3 3 6
13 3 3 6
15 4 3 7
15 3 4 7
15 3 4 7
18 4 4 8

Round 3

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Fall
Decision
Fall
Decision
Fall
Fall
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 0 0 0
2 2 0 2
2 1 1 2
4 2 1 3
5 4 0 4
6 5 0 5
6 1 4 5
6 1 4 5
6 1 4 5
10 2 4 6
10 3 3 6
12 5 3 8

Round 4

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Decision
Fall
Decision
Fall
Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 0 0 0
2 2 1 3
3 3 1 4
3 4 0 4
5 2 3 5
5 5 0 5
7 5 3 8
8 5 4 9
8 5 4 9

Round 5

This round left two wrestlers uneliminated; they advanced to face each other in the final (even though Atlı could not possibly catch Takhti on points—the winner of the final would take the gold medal). Two wrestlers were eliminated tied for third at 6 points; they would compete in a bronze medal bout.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Decision
Decision
Fall
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 0 0 0
2 4 1 5
3 5 1 6
3 3 3 6
5 4 3 7
6 5 4 9

Round 6

The bronze medal bout ended in a tie, so body weight was used to determine the winner. Albul was lighter and therefore took the bronze medal.

Atlı defeated Takhti in the final, giving the Turkish wrestler the gold medal regardless of points.

Bronze medal bout
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Anatoly Albul Tie Viking Palm
Final
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Decision
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
5 1 6
0 3 3
6 2 8
4 6 2 8

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Wrestling at the 1960 Rome Summer Games: Men's Freestyle Light Heavyweight . https://web.archive.org/web/20200418130413/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1960/WRE/mens-light-heavyweight-freestyle.html . dead . 18 April 2020 . Sports Reference . 24 March 2019.
  2. Official Report, p. 529.