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Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle (≤87 kilograms), Men

Date11 – 14 July 1924
StatusOlympic
LocationVélodrome d'Hiver, Paris
Participants15 from 10 countries
FormatSingle-elimination tournament with separate single-elimination tournaments for second- and third-place. Second-place tournament conducted among those losing to the winner. Third-place tournament conducted among those losing to the winner or runner-up.

Sweden’s Carl Westergren competed in this class. He had won gold at Antwerp in Greco-Roman middleweight, had already won the light-heavyweight Greco title in Paris, and in 1932 won the unlimited Greco-Roman class to become one of the few Olympic wrestlers with three gold medals. But this was a rare freestyle appearance for him and he lost in the semi-finals to little-known American John Spellman. Spellman then defeated Sweden’s Rudolf Svensson for the gold medal. Spellman later became a professional wrestler and football player, playing in the NFL for eight seasons with the Providence Steamrollers and Boston Redskins.

Svensson also competed in Greco-Roman in Paris, losing the final in this weight class to Westergren. In the freestyle second-place Bergvall tournament, Svensson turned the tables on Westergren in the first round, and then defeated Britain’s Walter Wilson for the silver, giving him two wrestling silver medals in Paris. Switzerland’s Charles Courant, the silver medalist in this event in 1920, had lost to Svensson in the semi-finals of the main tournament and had two walkovers in the third-place tournament to win bronze.

PosCompetitor(s)NOC
1John SpellmanUSAGold
2Rudolf SvenssonSWESilver
3Charles CourantSUIBronze
=4Jean HutmacherBEL
=4Iisakki MylläriFIN
=6William WilsonGBR
=6Carl WestergrenSWE
8George RumpelCAN
=9Fabio Del GenoveseITA
=9Poul HansenDEN
=11J. BaillotFRA
=11Gustave KappelerFRA
=11Victor LayGBR
=11Fritz RothSUI
=11Charles StrackUSA

Round One (11 July 1924)

Match #1 John SpellmanUSA
fall
William WilsonGBR
Match #2 George RumpelCAN
decision
J. BaillotFRA
Match #3 Carl WestergrenSWE walkover
Match #4 Fabio Del GenoveseITA
decision
Gustave KappelerFRA
Match #5 Rudolf SvenssonSWE
fall
Jean HutmacherBEL
Match #6 Iisakki MylläriFIN
decision
Victor LayGBR
Match #7 Poul HansenDEN
decision
Fritz RothSUI
Match #8 Charles CourantSUI
decision
Charles StrackUSA

Quarter-Finals (12 July 1924)

Match #1 John SpellmanUSA
fall
George RumpelCAN
Match #2 Carl WestergrenSWE
fall
Fabio Del GenoveseITA
Match #3 Rudolf SvenssonSWE
decision
Iisakki MylläriFIN
Match #4 Charles CourantSUI
decision
Poul HansenDEN

Semi-Finals (13 July 1924)

Match #1 John SpellmanUSA
decision
Carl WestergrenSWE
Match #2 Rudolf SvenssonSWE
decision
Charles CourantSUI

Final Round (14 July 1924)

Match 1/2 John SpellmanUSA
decision
Rudolf SvenssonSWE

2nd-Place Semi-Finals (14 July 1924)

Match #1 Rudolf SvenssonSWE
decision
Carl WestergrenSWE
Match #2 William WilsonGBR
decision
George RumpelCAN

2nd-Place Final Round (14 July 1924)

Match #1 Rudolf SvenssonSWE
decision
William WilsonGBR

3rd-Place Semi-Finals (14 July 1924)

Match #1 Charles CourantSUI walkover

3rd-Place Final Round (14 July 1924)

Match #1 Charles CourantSUI walkover