Wrestling at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Dates 30 July – 11 August 1984
Medal Events 20

The 1984 wrestling competition was conducted at the Anaheim Convention Center, which was the only sport held there at the 1984 Olympics. The convention center opened in 1967 and was originally used as the home venue for the Anaheim Amigos of the American Basketball Association (ABA) during the ABA’s first season.

The Soviet-led boycott decimated the Greco-Roman events in 1980, as the Soviets were the top Greco-Roman nation, followed by other Eastern European countries. Freestyle was also strongly affected by the absence of the East Europeans, although not quite as much.

The program was same in 1984 as it had been at the 1972-80 Olympics, with 10 classes for both styles and no change in weight limits; however, the formats were changed in 1984. In each match, wrestlers were given classification points, which were positive points, rather than bad, or negative, points. Further each class was separated into A and B Groups. When three wrestlers remained in each group, determined by classification points, they competed against each other for placement within the group, with earlier matches carried over into the group finals. The winners of each group wrestled for the gold medal, and the runners-up in each group wrestled for the bronze medal, with a classification match held with one wrestler from each group to determine places 1-6.

With the Soviets not competing, the United States was the top wrestling nation in 1984, winning 13 medals and 9 gold medals. The US dominated freestyle, winning 9 medals and 7 golds. They also did well in Greco-Roman, which was surprising as they had never before won a medal in Greco-Roman wrestling at the Olympics. Romania won the most Greco-Roman medals with 5, but Sweden and the United States won 4, with both Romania and the United States winning 2 Greco events.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
Light-Flyweight, Greco-Roman (≤48 kilograms), Men Olympic 30 July – 1 August 1984 12 12
Flyweight, Greco-Roman (≤52 kilograms), Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1984 12 12
Bantamweight, Greco-Roman (≤57 kilograms), Men Olympic 1 – 3 August 1984 16 16
Featherweight, Greco-Roman (≤62 kilograms), Men Olympic 30 July – 1 August 1984 20 20
Lightweight, Greco-Roman (≤68 kilograms), Men Olympic 1 – 3 August 1984 14 14
Welterweight, Greco-Roman (≤74 kilograms), Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1984 17 17
Middleweight, Greco-Roman (≤82 kilograms), Men Olympic 1 – 3 August 1984 15 15
Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman (≤90 kilograms), Men Olympic 30 July – 1 August 1984 13 13
Heavyweight, Greco-Roman (≤100 kilograms), Men Olympic 1 – 3 August 1984 8 8
Super-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman (>100 kilograms), Men Olympic 31 July – 2 August 1984 8 8
Light-Flyweight, Freestyle (≤48 kilograms), Men Olympic 7 – 9 August 1984 7 7
Flyweight, Freestyle (≤52 kilograms), Men Olympic 8 – 10 August 1984 17 17
Bantamweight, Freestyle (≤57 kilograms), Men Olympic 9 – 11 August 1984 16 16
Featherweight, Freestyle (≤62 kilograms), Men Olympic 7 – 9 August 1984 16 16
Lightweight, Freestyle (≤68 kilograms), Men Olympic 9 – 11 August 1984 22 22
Welterweight, Freestyle (≤74 kilograms), Men Olympic 8 – 10 August 1984 22 22
Middleweight, Freestyle (≤82 kilograms), Men Olympic 9 – 11 August 1984 16 16
Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle (≤90 kilograms), Men Olympic 7 – 9 August 1984 16 16
Heavyweight, Freestyle (≤100 kilograms), Men Olympic 9 – 11 August 1984 11 11
Super-Heavyweight, Freestyle (>100 kilograms), Men Olympic 8 – 10 August 1984 8 8
267 (267/0) 44 (44/0)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Light-Flyweight, Greco-Roman, Men Vincenzo MaenzaITA Markus SchererFRG Ikuzo SaitoJPN
Flyweight, Greco-Roman, Men Atsuji MiyaharaJPN Daniel AcevesMEX Bang Dae-DuKOR
Bantamweight, Greco-Roman, Men Pasquale PassarelliFRG Masaki EtoJPN Babis CholidisGRE
Featherweight, Greco-Roman, Men Kim Won-GiKOR Kent-Olle JohanssonSWE Hugo DietscheSUI
Lightweight, Greco-Roman, Men Vlado LisjakYUG Tapio SipiläFIN Jim MartinezUSA
Welterweight, Greco-Roman, Men Jouko SalomäkiFIN Roger TallrothSWE Ștefan RusuROU
Middleweight, Greco-Roman, Men Ion DraicaROU Dimitrios ThanopoulosGRE Sören ClaesonSWE
Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman, Men Steve FraserUSA Ilie MateiROU Frank AnderssonSWE
Heavyweight, Greco-Roman, Men Vasile AndreiROU Greg GibsonUSA Jožef TerteiYUG
Super-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman, Men Jeff BlatnickUSA Refik MemiševićYUG Victor DolipschiROU
Light-Flyweight, Freestyle, Men Bobby WeaverUSA Takashi IrieJPN Son Gap-DoKOR
Flyweight, Freestyle, Men Šaban TrstenaYUG Kim Jong-GyuKOR Yuji TakadaJPN
Bantamweight, Freestyle, Men Hideaki TomiyamaJPN Barry DavisUSA Kim Ui-GonKOR
Featherweight, Freestyle, Men Randy LewisUSA Kosei AkaishiJPN Lee Jeong-GeunKOR
Lightweight, Freestyle, Men Yu In-TakKOR Andrew ReinUSA Jukka RauhalaFIN
Welterweight, Freestyle, Men Dave SchultzUSA Martin KnospFRG Šaban SejdiYUG
Middleweight, Freestyle, Men Mark SchultzUSA Hideyuki NagashimaJPN Chris RinkeCAN
Light-Heavyweight, Freestyle, Men Ed BanachUSA Akira OtaJPN Noel LobanGBR
Heavyweight, Freestyle, Men Lou BanachUSA Joseph AtiyehSYR Vasile PușcașuROU
Super-Heavyweight, Freestyle, Men Bruce BaumgartnerUSA Bob MolleCAN Ayhan TaşkınTUR

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
United States USA 9 3 1 13
Japan JPN 2 5 2 9
Republic of Korea KOR 2 1 4 7
Romania ROU 2 1 3 6
Yugoslavia YUG 2 1 2 5
West Germany FRG 1 2 0 3
Finland FIN 1 1 1 3
Italy ITA 1 0 0 1
Sweden SWE 0 2 2 4
Canada CAN 0 1 1 2
Greece GRE 0 1 1 2
Mexico MEX 0 1 0 1
Syrian Arab Republic SYR 0 1 0 1
Great Britain GBR 0 0 1 1
Switzerland SUI 0 0 1 1
Türkiye TUR 0 0 1 1