| Date | 29 – 31 July 1948 — 10:00-13:30-18:00-23:30 (all days) | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Kensington, London | |
| Participants | 11 from 11 countries | |
| Format | Elimination by bad points. Win by fall = 0 points; win by decision = 1 point; loss by 2-1 decision = 2 points; loss by 3-0 decision = 3 points; loss by fall = 3 points. Three judges gave decisions, thus all decisions were either 2-1 or 3-0. Five bad points eliminated a wrestler. | |
This was a new weight class to the Olympics, so picking a favorite was difficult. Finland’s Lenni Viitala had won the 1946 European Championship, and he dominated the class in London, winning all five of his matches, defeating Sweden’s Thure Johansson by unanimous decision in the final round to win gold. The final round loss dropped Johansson down to the bronze medal, behind Turkey’s Halit Balamir, who had lost a split decision to Viitala in the first round.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Round Eliminated | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Lenni Viitala |  FIN | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | 12 | Halit Balamir |  TUR | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | 248 | Thure Johansson |  SWE | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 10 | Mansour Raisi |  IRI | – | – | |||
| 5 | 6 | Roland Baudric |  FRA | – | – | |||
| 6 | 9 | Khashaba Jadhav |  IND | – | – | |||
| 15 | Billy Jernigan |  USA | eliminated r3/5 | 7 | ||||
| 8 | Harry Parker |  GBR | withdrew r3/5 | 3 | ||||
| 2 | Adolphe Lamot |  BEL | eliminated r2/5 | 5 | ||||
| 1 | Bert Harris |  AUS | eliminated r2/5 | 6 | ||||
| 4 | Mohamed Abdel Hamid |  EGY | eliminated r2/5 | 6 | ||||
| 3 | Mohamed Aly Abdelaal | EGY | – | – | ||||
| 7 | Walter McGuffie | GBR | – | – | ||||
| 11 | A. Schürch |  SUI | – | – | ||||
| 14 | Leland Christensen | USA | – | – |
| Date | 29 July 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Harry Parker | GBR | 0 | ||
| =2 | 5 | Lenni Viitala | FIN | 1 | ||
| =2 | 6 | Roland Baudric | FRA | 1 | ||
| =2 | 9 | Khashaba Jadhav | IND | 1 | ||
| =2 | 248 | Thure Johansson | SWE | 1 | ||
| =2 | 15 | Billy Jernigan | USA | 1 | ||
| =7 | 2 | Adolphe Lamot | BEL | 2 | ||
| =7 | 12 | Halit Balamir | TUR | 2 | ||
| =9 | 1 | Bert Harris | AUS | 3 | ||
| =9 | 4 | Mohamed Abdel Hamid | EGY | 3 | ||
| =9 | 10 | Mansour Raisi | IRI | 3 |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 29 Jul | Thure Johansson | SWE | Decision (3-0) | Mohamed Abdel Hamid | EGY | |
| Match #2 | 29 Jul | Lenni Viitala | FIN | Decision (2-1) | Halit Balamir | TUR | |
| Match #3 | 29 Jul | Billy Jernigan | USA | Decision (3-0) | Mansour Raisi | IRI | |
| Match #4 | 29 Jul | Roland Baudric | FRA | Decision (2-1) | Adolphe Lamot | BEL | |
| Match #5 | 29 Jul | Khashaba Jadhav | IND | Decision (3-0) | Bert Harris | AUS | |
| Match #6 | 29 Jul | Harry Parker | GBR |
| Date | 30 July 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | 5 | Lenni Viitala | FIN | 1 | – | ||
| =1 | 248 | Thure Johansson | SWE | 1 | – | ||
| 3 | 9 | Khashaba Jadhav | IND | 2 | – | ||
| =4 | 8 | Harry Parker | GBR | 3 | – | ||
| =4 | 10 | Mansour Raisi | IRI | 3 | – | ||
| =4 | 12 | Halit Balamir | TUR | 3 | – | ||
| =7 | 6 | Roland Baudric | FRA | 4 | – | ||
| =7 | 15 | Billy Jernigan | USA | 4 | – | ||
| 9 | 2 | Adolphe Lamot | BEL | 5 | eliminated | ||
| =10 | 1 | Bert Harris | AUS | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =10 | 4 | Mohamed Abdel Hamid | EGY | 6 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 30 Jul | Thure Johansson | SWE | Fall (7:18) | Harry Parker | GBR | |
| Match #2 | 30 Jul | Halit Balamir | TUR | Decision (3-0) | Roland Baudric | FRA | |
| Match #3 | 30 Jul | Lenni Viitala | FIN | Fall (14:11) | Adolphe Lamot | BEL | |
| Match #4 | 30 Jul | Mansour Raisi | IRI | Fall (3:18) | Bert Harris | AUS | |
| Match #5 | 30 Jul | Khashaba Jadhav | IND | Decision (3-0) | Billy Jernigan | USA | |
| Match #6 | 30 Jul | Mohamed Abdel Hamid | EGY |
| Date | 30 July 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Lenni Viitala | FIN | 2 | – | ||
| =2 | 10 | Mansour Raisi | IRI | 3 | – | ||
| =2 | 12 | Halit Balamir | TUR | 3 | – | ||
| =4 | 6 | Roland Baudric | FRA | 4 | – | ||
| =4 | 248 | Thure Johansson | SWE | 4 | – | ||
| 6 | 9 | Khashaba Jadhav | IND | 5 | eliminated | ||
| 7 | 15 | Billy Jernigan | USA | 7 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 30 Jul | Roland Baudric | FRA | ||||
| Match #2 | 30 Jul | Halit Balamir | TUR | Fall (13:27) | Thure Johansson | SWE | |
| Match #3 | 30 Jul | Lenni Viitala | FIN | Decision (3-0) | Billy Jernigan | USA | |
| Match #4 | 30 Jul | Mansour Raisi | IRI | Fall (5:31) | Khashaba Jadhav | IND |
| Date | 31 July 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Lenni Viitala | FIN | 2 | – | ||
| =2 | 248 | Thure Johansson | SWE | 4 | – | ||
| =2 | 12 | Halit Balamir | TUR | 4 | – | ||
| 4 | 10 | Mansour Raisi | IRI | 6 | eliminated | ||
| 5 | 6 | Roland Baudric | FRA | 7 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 31 Jul | Thure Johansson | SWE | Fall (5:22) | Roland Baudric | FRA | |
| Match #2 | 31 Jul | Halit Balamir | TUR | Decision (3-0) | Mansour Raisi | IRI | |
| Match #3 | 31 Jul | Lenni Viitala | FIN |
| Date | 31 July 1948 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 31 Jul | Lenni Viitala | FIN | Decision (3-0) | Thure Johansson | SWE | |
| Match #2 | 31 Jul | Halit Balamir | TUR |
