Flyweight, Freestyle (≤52 kilograms), Men
| Date | 31 July – 1 August 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall G) | |
| Participants | 19 from 19 countries | |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament with classification rounds for placements. | |
Bulgaria’s Valentin Yordanov had won the World Championships in 1993-95 and came to Atlanta as a heavy favorite. Since 1982 he had won seven World Championships and seven European Championships. It was hard to know what to think of his favorite status, however, as he had also been an overwhelming favorite in both Seoul (1988) and Barcelona (1992), but had finished only eighth and third, respectively. In Atlanta Yordanov won all his preliminary round matches and met Azerbaijani Namiq Abdullayev, the 1994-95 European Champion, in the final, which was desparately close. The match went into overtime but Yordanov finally got his gold medal, winning with a 1-point takedown at 6:29. Abdullayev would return and win the gold medal at Sydney in 2000.
When the IOC initially voted to eliminate wrestling from the Olympic Program in 2013, Yordanov returned his gold medal to the IOC in protest of the decision, which was later reversed. Yordanov took back his gold medal.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valentin Yordanov |  BUL | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Namiq Abdullayev |  AZE | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Maulen Mamyrov |  KAZ | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Chechen-Ool Mongush |  RUS | – | – | |||
| 5 | Gholam Reza Mohammadi |  IRI | – | – | |||
| 6 | Metin Topaktaş |  TUR | – | – | |||
| 7 | Adkhamdzhon Akhilov |  UZB | – | – | |||
| 8 | Greg Woodcroft |  CAN | – | – | |||
| 9 | Hideo Sasayama |  JPN | 6 | 19 | |||
| 10 | Volodymyr Tohuzov |  UKR | 6 | 12 | |||
| 11 | Lou Rosselli |  USA | 6 | 7 | |||
| 12 | David Legrand |  FRA | 5 | 15 | |||
| 13 | Roman Kollar |  SVK | 4 | 6 | |||
| 14 | Omar Kedjaouer |  ALG | 3 | 2 | |||
| 15 | Constantin Corduneanu |  ROU | 2 | 6 | |||
| 16 | Amiran Kardanov |  GRE | 2 | 2 | |||
| 17 | Carlos Varela |  CUB | 1 | 2 | |||
| =18 | Greg Fitzgerald |  AUS | 0 | 0 | |||
| =18 | Víctor Rodríguez |  MEX | 0 | 0 |
Round One (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Adkhamdzhon Akhilov | UZB | grand superiority (11-1) (4:40) | Amiran Kardanov | GRE |
| Match #2 | Namiq Abdullayev | AZE | decision (7-0) (5:00) | Lou Rosselli | USA |
| Match #3 | Hideo Sasayama | JPN | decision (6-0) (5:00) | Roman Kollar | SVK |
| Match #4 | Gholam Reza Mohammadi | IRI | decision (4-0) (6:47) | Carlos Varela | CUB |
| Match #5 | David Legrand | FRA | grand superiority (10-0) (1:19) | Greg Fitzgerald | AUS |
| Match #6 | Maulen Mamyrov | KAZ | grand superiority (10-0) (2:07) | Greg Woodcroft | CAN |
| Match #7 | Volodymyr Tohuzov | UKR | grand superiority (10-0) (1:07) | Omar Kedjaouer | ALG |
| Match #8 | Valentin Yordanov | BUL | fall (10-0) (1:59) | Víctor Rodríguez | MEX |
| Match #9 | Chechen-Ool Mongush | RUS | decision (11-4) (5:00) | Constantin Corduneanu | ROU |
| Match #10 | Metin Topaktaş | TUR | bye |
Round Two (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Adkhamdzhon Akhilov | UZB | decision (7-5) (5:00) | Metin Topaktaş | TUR |
| Match #2 | Namiq Abdullayev | AZE | grand superiority (11-0) (5:00) | Hideo Sasayama | JPN |
| Match #3 | Gholam Reza Mohammadi | IRI | decision (5-0) (5:00) | David Legrand | FRA |
| Match #4 | Maulen Mamyrov | KAZ | decision (3-1) (7:55) | Volodymyr Tohuzov | UKR |
| Match #5 | Valentin Yordanov | BUL | decision (4-2) (5:00) | Chechen-Ool Mongush | RUS |
Quarter-Finals (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Namiq Abdullayev | AZE | grand superiority (11-0) (2:58) | Adkhamdzhon Akhilov | UZB |
| Match #2 | Gholam Reza Mohammadi | IRI | bye | ||
| Match #3 | Maulen Mamyrov | KAZ | bye | ||
| Match #4 | Valentin Yordanov | BUL | bye |
Semi-Finals (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Namiq Abdullayev | AZE | grand superiority (10-0) (2:16) | Gholam Reza Mohammadi | IRI |
| Match #2 | Valentin Yordanov | BUL | decision (7-3) (5:00) | Maulen Mamyrov | KAZ |
Final Round (1 August 1996)
| Match 1/2 | Valentin Yordanov | BUL | decision (4-3) (6:29) | Namiq Abdullayev | AZE |
| Match 3/4 | Maulen Mamyrov | KAZ | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Chechen-Ool Mongush | RUS |
| Match 5/6 | Gholam Reza Mohammadi | IRI | decision (4-2) (5:00) | Metin Topaktaş | TUR |
| Match 7/8 | Adkhamdzhon Akhilov | UZB | grand superiority (11-0) (1:41) | Greg Woodcroft | CAN |
Classification Round Two (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Lou Rosselli | USA | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Amiran Kardanov | GRE |
| Match #2 | Roman Kollar | SVK | decision (3-2) (7:28) | Carlos Varela | CUB |
| Match #3 | Greg Woodcroft | CAN | fall (6-0) (3:34) | Greg Fitzgerald | AUS |
| Match #4 | Omar Kedjaouer | ALG | decision (2-0) (5:00) | Víctor Rodríguez | MEX |
| Match #5 | Constantin Corduneanu | ROU | bye |
Classification Round Three (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Lou Rosselli | USA | decision (4-2) (5:00) | Constantin Corduneanu | ROU |
| Match #2 | Greg Woodcroft | CAN | decision (6-3) (5:00) | Roman Kollar | SVK |
| Match #3 | Metin Topaktaş | TUR | fall (3-0) (0:27) | Omar Kedjaouer | ALG |
| Match #4 | Hideo Sasayama | JPN | decision (12-5) (5:00) | David Legrand | FRA |
| Match #5 | Chechen-Ool Mongush | RUS | decision (2-1) (8:00) | Volodymyr Tohuzov | UKR |
Classification Round Four (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Greg Woodcroft | CAN | default (0-0) (0:00) | Lou Rosselli | USA |
| Match #2 | Metin Topaktaş | TUR | fall (5-1) (4:29) | Hideo Sasayama | JPN |
| Match #3 | Chechen-Ool Mongush | RUS | fall (4-0) (0:46) | Adkhamdzhon Akhilov | UZB |
Classification Round Five (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Metin Topaktaş | TUR | grand superiority (13-1) (1:26) | Greg Woodcroft | CAN |
| Match #2 | Chechen-Ool Mongush | RUS | bye |
Classification Round Six (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Chechen-Ool Mongush | RUS | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Gholam Reza Mohammadi | IRI |
| Match #2 | Maulen Mamyrov | KAZ | decision (11-5) (5:00) | Metin Topaktaş | TUR |