Wrestling at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Dates 29 July – 6 August 1948
Medal Events 16

The 1948 wrestling tournament took place in the Empress Hall at Earl’s Court. This venue hosted boxing preliminaries, weightlifting, and gymnastics, in addition to wrestling, at the 1948 Olympics. Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre originally opened in 1887 and was rebuilt in 1937. It has been a premier exhibition hall in London for many years, and in 2012 also hosted the volleyball tournaments at the next London Olympics. In late 2013 plans were made to demolish the venue to make way for a new residential and retail site. The wrestling events were originally scheduled for Harringay Arena but a large basketball schedule to be held there necessitated moving the mat events to Empress Hall.

The wrestling program was expanded in 1948, adding an eighth class for both freestyle and Greco-Roman. This was a flyweight class, and the weight limits for the lower classes were adjusted slightly. The tournaments were again conducted using a negative (bad) point system. A win by fall earned 0 points, while winning by unanimous decision gained the wrestler 1 point. A loss by majority decision (2-1) cost 2 points, and a loss by unanimous decision or fall cost 3 points. Wrestlers were eliminated when they accumulated 5 points, so effectively the event was a double elimination tournament.

Sweden and Turkey dominated wrestling in 1948, with Sweden winning 13 medals and 5 gold medals, while Turkey won 11 medals and 6 gold medals. They also were the top nations in each style, with both winning 6 freestyle medals, although Turkey won 4 freestyle golds, while Sweden was shut-out. Sweden won 7 Greco-Roman medals and 5 medals, with Turkey winning 5 Greco medals and 2 events.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
Flyweight, Greco-Roman (≤52 kilograms), Men Olympic 3 – 6 August 1948 13 13
Bantamweight, Greco-Roman (≤57 kilograms), Men Olympic 3 – 6 August 1948 13 13
Featherweight, Greco-Roman (≤62 kilograms), Men Olympic 3 – 6 August 1948 17 17
Lightweight, Greco-Roman (≤67 kilograms), Men Olympic 3 – 6 August 1948 17 17
Welterweight, Greco-Roman (≤73 kilograms), Men Olympic 3 – 6 August 1948 16 16
Middleweight, Greco-Roman (≤79 kilograms), Men Olympic 3 – 6 August 1948 13 13
Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman (≤87 kilograms), Men Olympic 3 – 6 August 1948 14 14
Heavyweight, Greco-Roman (>87 kilograms), Men Olympic 3 – 6 August 1948 9 9
Flyweight, Freestyle (≤52 kilograms), Men Olympic 29 – 31 July 1948 11 11
Bantamweight, Freestyle (≤57 kilograms), Men Olympic 29 – 31 July 1948 15 15
Featherweight, Freestyle (≤62 kilograms), Men Olympic 29 – 31 July 1948 17 17
Lightweight, Freestyle (≤67 kilograms), Men Olympic 29 – 31 July 1948 18 18
Welterweight, Freestyle (≤73 kilograms), Men Olympic 29 – 31 July 1948 16 16
Middleweight, Freestyle (≤79 kilograms), Men Olympic 29 – 31 July 1948 16 16
Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle (≤87 kilograms), Men Olympic 29 – 31 July 1948 15 15
Heavyweight, Freestyle (>87 kilograms), Men Olympic 29 – 31 July 1948 9 9
219 (219/0) 29 (29/0)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Flyweight, Greco-Roman, Men Pietro LombardiITA Kenan OlcayTUR Reino KangasmäkiFIN
Bantamweight, Greco-Roman, Men Kurt PettersénSWE Mahmoud HassanEGY Halil KayaTUR
Featherweight, Greco-Roman, Men Mehmet OktavTUR Olle AnderbergSWE Ferenc TóthHUN
Lightweight, Greco-Roman, Men Gustav FreijSWE Aage EriksenNOR Károly FerenczHUN
Welterweight, Greco-Roman, Men Gösta AnderssonSWE Miklós SzilvásyHUN Henrik HansenDEN
Middleweight, Greco-Roman, Men Axel GrönbergSWE Muhlis TayfurTUR Ercole GallegatiITA
Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman, Men Karl-Erik NilssonSWE Kelpo GröndahlFIN Ibrahim OrabiEGY
Heavyweight, Greco-Roman, Men Ahmet KireççiTUR Tor NilssonSWE Guido FantoniITA
Flyweight, Freestyle, Men Lenni ViitalaFIN Halit BalamirTUR Thure JohanssonSWE
Bantamweight, Freestyle, Men Nasuh AkarTUR Gerry LeemanUSA Charles KouyosFRA
Featherweight, Freestyle, Men Gazanfer BilgeTUR Ivar SjölinSWE Adolf MüllerSUI
Lightweight, Freestyle, Men Celal AtikTUR Gösta FrändforsSWE Hermann BaumannSUI
Welterweight, Freestyle, Men Yaşar DoğuTUR Dick GarrardAUS Lee MerrillUSA
Middleweight, Freestyle, Men Glen BrandUSA Adil CandemirTUR Erik LindénSWE
Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle, Men Henry WittenbergUSA Fritz StöckliSUI Bengt FahlkvistSWE
Heavyweight, Freestyle, Men Gyula BóbisHUN Bertil AntonssonSWE Jim ArmstrongAUS

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Türkiye TUR 6 4 1 11
Sweden SWE 5 5 3 13
United States USA 2 1 1 4
Hungary HUN 1 1 2 4
Finland FIN 1 1 1 3
Italy ITA 1 0 2 3
Switzerland SUI 0 1 2 3
Australia AUS 0 1 1 2
Egypt EGY 0 1 1 2
Norway NOR 0 1 0 1
Denmark DEN 0 0 1 1
France FRA 0 0 1 1