Wrestling at the 1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 wrestling tournament was held at the Komazawa Gymnasium in Tokyo, an indoor sporting arena built specifically for the 1964 Olympics, and finished in 1962. It had room for 3,875 spectators. Only the wrestling competition was held there in 1964.

There were again eight classes in both freestyle and Greco-Roman but the weight limits changed in 1964. Heavyweight started at 97 kg or more for both styles, although it had been 87 kg at the most recent Olympics. The other heavier classes also had their weight limits increased slightly. The scoring system was the same as in 1960, with the same negative (bad) point system used. Scoring was as follows: win by fall – 0 points, win by decision – 1 point, draw – 2 points, loss by decision – 3 points, and loss by fall – 4 points. The negative (bad) point system was effectively a double elimination tournament. When three wrestlers remained in any class, they entered a medal round-robin competition, with previous match results carried over.

The Soviets once again won the most wrestling medals, with 10, but Japan won the most gold medals, with 5. In freestyle, Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, and Turkey all won 5 medals, but Japan won the most golds, with 3, followed by Bulgaria and the Soviets, with 2. In Greco-Roman, the Soviets also led with 5 medals, but won only 1 event, as Hungary and Japan won the most Greco events, with 2 each.