| Date | 3 – 6 August 1948 — 10:00-13:30-18:00-23:30 (all days) | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Kensington, London | |
| Participants | 13 from 13 countries | |
| Format | Scoring by negative 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 negative points eliminated a wrestler. | |
The 1947 European Champion was Sweden’s Bertil Sundin but he did not compete in London. This class was closely contested, with five wrestlers remaining after four rounds, all with between 2 to 4 bad points. Turkey’s Kenan Olcay benefited from a bye in round five to advance to the final round, where he met Italy’s Pietro Lombardi, who had decisioned Sweden’s Malte Möller in the fifth round. Lombardi then defeated Olcay by split decision to win the gold medal, with Olcay taking silver. The bronze went to Finland’s Reino Kangasmäki based on his second round victory over Möller, although Kangasmäki had won two and lost two matches.
Lombardi would compete at the 1952 Olympics without winning a medal, but won World Championship bronze medals as a bantamweight in 1950 and 1955.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Round Eliminated | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Pietro Lombardi |  ITA | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | – | Kenan Olcay |  TUR | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | – | Reino Kangasmäki |  FIN | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | – | Malte Möller |  SWE | – | – | |||
| 5 | – | Gyula Szilágyi |  HUN | – | – | |||
| 6 | – | Frithjof Clausen |  NOR | – | – | |||
| =7 | – | Manuel Varela |  ARG | eliminated r3/6 | 6 | |||
| =7 | – | Mahmud Abdel 'Aal |  EGY | eliminated r3/6 | 6 | |||
| 9 | – | Edmond Faure |  FRA | eliminated r3/6 | 7 | |||
| 10 | – | Abdallah Sidani |  LBN | eliminated r2/6 | 5 | |||
| =11 | – | Svend Aage Thomsen |  DEN | eliminated r2/6 | 6 | |||
| =11 | – | Walter McGuffie |  GBR | eliminated r2/6 | 6 | |||
| 13 | 2 | Adolphe Lamot |  BEL | withdrew r2/6 | 3 |
| Date | 3 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | – | Mahmud Abdel 'Aal | EGY | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Reino Kangasmäki | FIN | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Gyula Szilágyi | HUN | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Malte Möller | SWE | 0 | – | ||
| =5 | – | Edmond Faure | FRA | 1 | – | ||
| =5 | – | Pietro Lombardi | ITA | 1 | – | ||
| =5 | – | Kenan Olcay | TUR | 1 | – | ||
| 8 | – | Abdallah Sidani | LBN | 2 | – | ||
| =9 | – | Manuel Varela | ARG | 3 | – | ||
| =9 | 2 | Adolphe Lamot | BEL | 3 | withdrew | ||
| =9 | – | Svend Aage Thomsen | DEN | 3 | – | ||
| =9 | – | Walter McGuffie | GBR | 3 | – | ||
| =9 | – | Frithjof Clausen | NOR | 3 | – |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 03 Aug | Malte Möller | SWE | Fall (3:34) | Adolphe Lamot | BEL | |
| Match #2 | 03 Aug | Edmond Faure | FRA | Decision (2-1) | Abdallah Sidani | LBN | |
| Match #3 | 03 Aug | Gyula Szilágyi | HUN | Fall (12:03) | Manuel Varela | ARG | |
| Match #4 | 03 Aug | Mahmud Abdel 'Aal | EGY | Fall (7:09) | Walter McGuffie | GBR | |
| Match #5 | 03 Aug | Kenan Olcay | TUR | Decision (3-0) | Frithjof Clausen | NOR | |
| Match #6 | 03 Aug | Pietro Lombardi | ITA | Decision (3-0) | Svend Aage Thomsen | DEN | |
| Match #7 | 03 Aug | Reino Kangasmäki | FIN |
| Date | 4 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Reino Kangasmäki | FIN | 1 | – | ||
| =1 | Gyula Szilágyi | HUN | 1 | – | ||
| =1 | Pietro Lombardi | ITA | 1 | – | ||
| =4 | Malte Möller | SWE | 2 | – | ||
| =4 | Kenan Olcay | TUR | 2 | – | ||
| =6 | Manuel Varela | ARG | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | Mahmud Abdel 'Aal | EGY | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | Frithjof Clausen | NOR | 3 | – | ||
| 9 | Edmond Faure | FRA | 4 | – | ||
| 10 | Abdallah Sidani | LBN | 5 | eliminated | ||
| =11 | Svend Aage Thomsen | DEN | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =11 | Walter McGuffie | GBR | 6 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 04 Aug | Reino Kangasmäki | FIN | Decision (2-1) | Malte Möller | SWE | |
| Match #2 | 04 Aug | Gyula Szilágyi | HUN | Decision (3-0) | Edmond Faure | FRA | |
| Match #3 | 04 Aug | Manuel Varela | ARG | Fall (9:47) | Abdallah Sidani | LBN | |
| Match #4 | 04 Aug | Frithjof Clausen | NOR | Fall (4:17) | Walter McGuffie | GBR | |
| Match #5 | 04 Aug | Pietro Lombardi | ITA | Fall (10:45) | Mahmud Abdel 'Aal | EGY | |
| Match #6 | 04 Aug | Kenan Olcay | TUR | Decision (3-0) | Svend Aage Thomsen | DEN | |
| Match #7 | 04 Aug | Adolphe Lamot | BEL |
| Date | 5 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Reino Kangasmäki | FIN | 1 | – | ||
| =1 | Pietro Lombardi | ITA | 1 | – | ||
| 3 | Kenan Olcay | TUR | 2 | – | ||
| =4 | Gyula Szilágyi | HUN | 3 | – | ||
| =4 | Malte Möller | SWE | 3 | – | ||
| 6 | Frithjof Clausen | NOR | 4 | – | ||
| =7 | Manuel Varela | ARG | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =7 | Mahmud Abdel 'Aal | EGY | 6 | eliminated | ||
| 9 | Edmond Faure | FRA | 7 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Aug | Reino Kangasmäki | FIN | Fall (6:09) | Edmond Faure | FRA | |
| Match #2 | 05 Aug | Malte Möller | SWE | Decision (2-1) | Gyula Szilágyi | HUN | |
| Match #3 | 05 Aug | Frithjof Clausen | NOR | Decision (3-0) | Manuel Varela | ARG | |
| Match #4 | 05 Aug | Kenan Olcay | TUR | Fall (4:45) | Mahmud Abdel 'Aal | EGY | |
| Match #5 | 05 Aug | Pietro Lombardi | ITA |
| Date | 5 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pietro Lombardi | ITA | 2 | – | ||
| 2 | Malte Möller | SWE | 3 | – | ||
| =3 | Reino Kangasmäki | FIN | 4 | – | ||
| =3 | Gyula Szilágyi | HUN | 4 | – | ||
| =3 | Kenan Olcay | TUR | 4 | – | ||
| 6 | Frithjof Clausen | NOR | 7 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Aug | Pietro Lombardi | ITA | Decision (3-0) | Reino Kangasmäki | FIN | |
| Match #2 | 05 Aug | Malte Möller | SWE | Fall (11:19) | Frithjof Clausen | NOR | |
| Match #3 | 05 Aug | Gyula Szilágyi | HUN | Decision (2-1) | Kenan Olcay | TUR |
| Date | 6 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pietro Lombardi | ITA | 3 | – | ||
| 2 | Kenan Olcay | TUR | 4 | – | ||
| 3 | Gyula Szilágyi | HUN | 5 | eliminated | ||
| =4 | Reino Kangasmäki | FIN | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =4 | Malte Möller | SWE | 6 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 06 Aug | Pietro Lombardi | ITA | Decision (3-0) | Malte Möller | SWE | |
| Match #2 | 06 Aug | Gyula Szilágyi | HUN | Decision (2-1) | Reino Kangasmäki | FIN | |
| Match #3 | 06 Aug | Kenan Olcay | TUR |
| Date | 6 August 1948 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 06 Aug | Pietro Lombardi | ITA | Decision (2-1) | Kenan Olcay | TUR |
