Half-Heavyweight (≤93 kilograms), Men

Japan’s Fumio Sasahara had been World Champion in 1969 and 1971 and was the favorite in this class, although there were several contenders. Among the other leading competitors were Britain’s David Starbrook, who had won a bronze medal at the Worlds as a middleweight, Helmut Howiller, the 1971 European Champion, and Pierre Albertini, Paul Barth, and Jan Bosman, who had all been medalists at the Europeans. In the second round, Sasahara faced Shota Chochishvili , a Georgian Soviet, who was completely unknown. Early in the match, Chochishvili did ippon-seoi-nage to throw Sasahara to the mat and defeated him. In the next round, Starbrook beat Chochishvili, which eliminated Sasahara from contention. The final would see a re-match of Starbrook and Chochishvili. This time, Chochishvili was in command. The match went the distance, but there was little doubt the decision would go to the Soviet, and it did.