Wrestling at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle heavyweight

Men's freestyle heavyweight
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
VenueEmpress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre
Dates29–31 July
Competitors9 from 9 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Gyula Bóbis  Hungary
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Bertil Antonsson  Sweden
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jim Armstrong  Australia
← 1936
1952 →

The men's freestyle heavyweight competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London took place from 29 July to 31 July at the Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre. Nations were limited to one competitor.[1] Heavyweight was the heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing over 87 kilograms (191.8 lb).[2]

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, with the slight modification introduced in 1936. Each round featured all wrestlers pairing off and wrestling one bout (with one wrestler having a bye if there were an odd number). The loser received 3 points if the loss was by fall or unanimous decision and 2 points if the decision was 2-1 (this was the modification from prior years, where all losses were 3 points). The winner received 1 point if the win was by decision and 0 points if the win was by fall. At the end of each round, any wrestler with at least 5 points was eliminated.[3]

Results

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Round 1

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia Decision, 2–1 Dick Hutton  United States
Jim Armstrong  Australia Decision, 3–0 Fred Oberlander  Great Britain
Gyula Bóbis  Hungary Decision, 3–0 Willy Lardon  Switzerland
Bertil Antonsson  Sweden Decision, 3–0 Sadik Esen  Turkey
Abolghasem Sakhdari  Iran Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Abolghasem Sakhdari  Iran 0 0 0
2 Bertil Antonsson  Sweden 0 1 1
2 Jim Armstrong  Australia 0 1 1
2 Gyula Bóbis  Hungary 0 1 1
2 Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia 0 1 1
6 Dick Hutton  United States 0 2 2
7 Fred Oberlander  Great Britain 0 3 3
7 Willy Lardon  Switzerland 0 3 3
7 Sadik Esen  Turkey 0 3 3

Round 2

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia Decision, 2–1 Fred Oberlander  Great Britain
Dick Hutton  United States Decision, 2–1 Abolghasem Sakhdari  Iran
Gyula Bóbis  Hungary Fall Jim Armstrong  Australia
Sadik Esen  Turkey Decision, 3–0 Willy Lardon  Switzerland
Bertil Antonsson  Sweden Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Bertil Antonsson  Sweden 1 0 1
1 Gyula Bóbis  Hungary 1 0 1
3 Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia 1 1 2
3 Abolghasem Sakhdari  Iran 0 2 2
5 Dick Hutton  United States 2 1 3
6 Jim Armstrong  Australia 1 3 4
6 Sadik Esen  Turkey 3 1 4
8 Fred Oberlander  Great Britain 3 2 5
9 Willy Lardon  Switzerland 3 3 6

Round 3

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Bertil Antonsson  Sweden Fall Abolghasem Sakhdari  Iran
Jim Armstrong  Australia Retired Dick Hutton  United States
Gyula Bóbis  Hungary Fall Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia
Sadik Esen  Turkey Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Bertil Antonsson  Sweden 1 0 1
1 Gyula Bóbis  Hungary 1 0 1
3 Jim Armstrong  Australia 4 0 4
3 Sadik Esen  Turkey 4 0 4
5 Josef Růžička  Czechoslovakia 2 3 5
5 Abolghasem Sakhdari  Iran 2 3 5
7 Dick Hutton  United States 3 3 6

Round 4

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Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Jim Armstrong  Australia Fall Sadik Esen  Turkey
Gyula Bóbis  Hungary Decision, 2–1 Bertil Antonsson  Sweden
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Gyula Bóbis  Hungary 1 1 2
2 Bertil Antonsson  Sweden 1 2 3
3 Jim Armstrong  Australia 4 0 4
4 Sadik Esen  Turkey 4 3 7

Round 5

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Bóbis had already defeated both Armstrong and Antonsson, so the only possible match remaining was between the two of them (guaranteeing Bóbis the gold medal and making round 5 in effect a silver/bronze bout). Antonsson won by fall, taking the silver.

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Bertil Antonsson  Sweden Fall Jim Armstrong  Australia
Gyula Bóbis  Hungary Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1st place, gold medalist(s) Gyula Bóbis  Hungary 1 0 2
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Bertil Antonsson  Sweden 3 0 3
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jim Armstrong  Australia 4 3 7

References

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  1. ^ "Wrestling at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Heavyweight, Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  2. ^ Official Report 1951, p. 512.
  3. ^ Official Report 1951, p. 496.

General