Featherweight (≤60 kilograms), Men

Rafael Chimishk’iani had won a silver medal as a bantamweight at the 1950 World Championships, and was 1950 European Champion, but he did not compete at the 1951 Worlds, as the Soviets skipped the meet. That event was won by Egyptian Khalifa Said Gouda, who followed his countryman, Mahmoud Fayad, the 1948 Olympic and 1950 World Champion. Fayad did not compete in Helsinki, but also returning was Trinidadian Rodney Wilkes, the 1948 silver medalist. In the end nobody could match the Soviets, as Chimishk’iani won gold with a world record total of 337.5 kg, followed by teammate Nikolay Saksonov, who equalled Fayad’s former world record of 332.5 kg. Wilkes came in third, garnering his second Olympic medal. This was Chimishk’iani’s only Olympic appearance, but he would only end his career in the early 1960s after winning two World Championships (1954-55), six European Championships (1950, 1952, 1954-57), and five Soviet titles.