| | Event type
Middleweight, Freestyle (≤82 kilograms), Men
| Date | 30 – 31 July 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall G) | |
| Participants | 21 from 21 countries | |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament with classification rounds for placements. | |
This class was wide open as the last few internationals had been spread among various wrestlers, and the 1995 World Champion, Kevin Jackson, did not make the American team for Atlanta. The final came down to two unheralded wrestlers, Russia’s Khadzhimurat Magomedov and Korea’s Yang Hyeong-Mo, with the match going to overtime, Magomedov winning 2-1 at the 8-minute time limit. In the second round, Kazakh Elmadi Zhabrailov defeated his brother, Gusman Jabrailov, who was wrestling for Moldova, 10-8. Gusman Jabrailov was the 1994 World Champion, while Elmadi had been runner-up in 1995. They were both native Chechnyans and refused to compete for Russia because of the war against Checnya.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khadzhimurat Magomedov |  RUS | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Yang Hyeong-Mo |  KOR | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Amir Reza Khadem Azgadhi |  IRI | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Sebahattin Öztürk |  TUR | – | – | |||
| 5 | Məhəmməd İbrahimov |  AZE | – | – | |||
| 6 | Elmadi Zhabrailov |  KAZ | – | – | |||
| 7 | Les Gutches |  USA | – | – | |||
| 8 | Ariel Ramos |  CUB | – | – | |||
| 9 | Gusman Jabrailov |  MDA | 9 | 22 | |||
| 10 | Avtandil Gogolishvili |  GEO | 7 | 14 | |||
| 11 | Hidekazu Yokoyama |  JPN | 6 | 12 | |||
| 12 | Plamen Penev |  BUL | 5 | 10 | |||
| 13 | Nicolae Ghiță |  ROU | 4 | 8 | |||
| 14 | László Dvorák |  HUN | 4 | 7 | |||
| 15 | Ruslan Khinchagov |  UZB | 4 | 5 | |||
| 16 | Serhiy Hubryniuk |  UKR | 3 | 3 | |||
| =17 | Luis Varela |  VEN | 2 | 4 | |||
| =17 | Orlando Rosa |  PUR | 2 | 4 | |||
| =19 | Cris Brown |  AUS | 1 | 2 | |||
| =19 | Aliaksandr Sauko |  BLR | 1 | 2 | |||
| 21 | Alioune Diouf |  SEN | 1 | 2 |
Round One (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Hidekazu Yokoyama | JPN | fall (9-1) (4:18) | Nicolae Ghiță | ROU |
| Match #2 | Serhiy Hubryniuk | UKR | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Orlando Rosa | PUR |
| Match #3 | Les Gutches | USA | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Aliaksandr Sauko | BLR |
| Match #4 | Elmadi Zhabrailov | KAZ | decision (4-1) (7:52) | Məhəmməd İbrahimov | AZE |
| Match #5 | Gusman Jabrailov | MDA | grand superiority (10-0) (3:39) | Cris Brown | AUS |
| Match #6 | Ariel Ramos | CUB | decision (3-1) (5:57) | Plamen Penev | BUL |
| Match #7 | Khadzhimurat Magomedov | RUS | decision (3-0) (6:09) | Alioune Diouf | SEN |
| Match #8 | Amir Reza Khadem Azgadhi | IRI | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Avtandil Gogolishvili | GEO |
| Match #9 | Ruslan Khinchagov | UZB | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Sebahattin Öztürk | TUR |
| Match #10 | László Dvorák | HUN | decision (6-2) (5:00) | Luis Varela | VEN |
| Match #11 | Yang Hyeong-Mo | KOR | bye |
Round Two (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Yang Hyeong-Mo | KOR | decision (4-2) (5:00) | Hidekazu Yokoyama | JPN |
| Match #2 | Les Gutches | USA | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Serhiy Hubryniuk | UKR |
| Match #3 | Elmadi Zhabrailov | KAZ | decision (10-8) (5:00) | Gusman Jabrailov | MDA |
| Match #4 | Khadzhimurat Magomedov | RUS | decision (7-4) (5:00) | Ariel Ramos | CUB |
| Match #5 | Amir Reza Khadem Azgadhi | IRI | decision (1-0) (8:00) | Ruslan Khinchagov | UZB |
| Match #6 | László Dvorák | HUN | bye |
Quarter-Finals (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Yang Hyeong-Mo | KOR | decision (2-0) (8:00) | László Dvorák | HUN |
| Match #2 | Elmadi Zhabrailov | KAZ | decision (2-1) (5:00) | Les Gutches | USA |
| Match #3 | Khadzhimurat Magomedov | RUS | bye | ||
| Match #4 | Amir Reza Khadem Azgadhi | IRI | bye |
Semi-Finals (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Yang Hyeong-Mo | KOR | decision (3-2) (6:38) | Elmadi Zhabrailov | KAZ |
| Match #2 | Khadzhimurat Magomedov | RUS | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Amir Reza Khadem Azgadhi | IRI |
Final Round (31 July 1996)
| Match 1/2 | Khadzhimurat Magomedov | RUS | decision (2-1) (8:00) | Yang Hyeong-Mo | KOR |
| Match 3/4 | Amir Reza Khadem Azgadhi | IRI | decision (0-0) (5:00) | Sebahattin Öztürk | TUR |
| Match 5/6 | Məhəmməd İbrahimov | AZE | default (0-0) (0:00) | Elmadi Zhabrailov | KAZ |
| Match 7/8 | Les Gutches | USA | decision (3-0) (6:57) | Ariel Ramos | CUB |
Classification Round Two (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Nicolae Ghiță | ROU | decision (4-3) (5:00) | Orlando Rosa | PUR |
| Match #2 | Məhəmməd İbrahimov | AZE | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Aliaksandr Sauko | BLR |
| Match #3 | Plamen Penev | BUL | decision (8-2) (5:00) | Cris Brown | AUS |
| Match #4 | Avtandil Gogolishvili | GEO | decision (6-2) (5:00) | Alioune Diouf | SEN |
| Match #5 | Sebahattin Öztürk | TUR | decision (5-2) (5:00) | Luis Varela | VEN |
Classification Round Three (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Məhəmməd İbrahimov | AZE | decision (5-3) (7:57) | Nicolae Ghiță | ROU |
| Match #2 | Avtandil Gogolishvili | GEO | decision (4-1) (5:00) | Plamen Penev | BUL |
| Match #3 | Sebahattin Öztürk | TUR | decision (7-1) (5:00) | Hidekazu Yokoyama | JPN |
| Match #4 | Gusman Jabrailov | MDA | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Serhiy Hubryniuk | UKR |
| Match #5 | Ariel Ramos | CUB | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Ruslan Khinchagov | UZB |
Classification Round Four (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Məhəmməd İbrahimov | AZE | decision (6-4) (5:24) | Avtandil Gogolishvili | GEO |
| Match #2 | Sebahattin Öztürk | TUR | decision (5-1) (5:00) | Gusman Jabrailov | MDA |
| Match #3 | Ariel Ramos | CUB | decision (3-1) (5:00) | László Dvorák | HUN |
| Match #4 | Les Gutches | USA | bye |
Classification Round Five (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Məhəmməd İbrahimov | AZE | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Les Gutches | USA |
| Match #2 | Sebahattin Öztürk | TUR | decision (5-4) (5:00) | Ariel Ramos | CUB |
Classification Round Six (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Sebahattin Öztürk | TUR | bye | ||
| Match #2 | Amir Reza Khadem Azgadhi | IRI | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Məhəmməd İbrahimov | AZE |