| Date | 3 – 6 August 1948 — 10:00-13:30-18:00-23:30 (all days) | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Kensington, London | |
| Participants | 13 from 13 countries | |
| Format | Scoring by negative points. Win by fall = 0 points; win by decision = 1 point; loss by 2-1 decision = 2 points; loss by 3-0 decision = 3 points; loss by fall = 3 points. Three judges gave decisions; thus all decisions were either 2-1 or 3-0. Five negative points eliminated a wrestler. | |
Soviet wrestler Nikolay Byelov was the 1947 European Champion, but the Soviet Union did not compete at the 1948 Olympics. The silver and bronze medalists at the 1947 Europeans were Turkey’s Muhlis Tayfur and Sweden’s Axel Grönberg. Although there were only 13 competitors in this class, Grönberg and Tayfur went to the sixth round before they met for the gold medal, with Grönberg winning by unanimous decision. Grönberg would soon dominate the class, winning the 1950 and 1953 World Championship, and repeating as Olympic champion at Helsinki in 1952.
Italy’s Ercole Gallegati was eliminated after the fifth round, but won the bronze medal on the bad point system. Gallegati had won a bronze medal in welterweight Greco-Roman at the 1932 Olympics, and also competed in 1936. He would return to the Olympics again in 1952, placing sixth.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Round Eliminated | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Axel Grönberg |  SWE | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | – | Muhlis Tayfur |  TUR | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | – | Ercole Gallegati |  ITA | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 104 | Jean Benoy |  BEL | – | – | |||
| 5 | – | Kaare Larsen |  NOR | – | – | |||
| 6 | – | Juho Kinnunen |  FIN | – | – | |||
| 7 | – | Gyula Németi |  HUN | eliminated r4/6 | 5 | |||
| =8 | 103 | Anton Vogel |  AUT | eliminated r3/6 | 6 | |||
| =8 | – | Ernst Kolb |  SUI | eliminated r3/6 | 6 | |||
| =10 | – | Alberto Bolzi |  ARG | eliminated r2/6 | 6 | |||
| =10 | 106 | Abbas Ahmad |  EGY | eliminated r2/6 | 6 | |||
| =10 | – | Stan Bissell |  GBR | eliminated r2/6 | 6 | |||
| =10 | – | Klaas de Groot |  NED | eliminated r2/6 | 6 |
| Date | 3 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | 103 | Anton Vogel | AUT | 0 | ||
| =1 | 104 | Jean Benoy | BEL | 0 | ||
| =1 | – | Ercole Gallegati | ITA | 0 | ||
| =1 | – | Kaare Larsen | NOR | 0 | ||
| =1 | – | Axel Grönberg | SWE | 0 | ||
| =6 | – | Juho Kinnunen | FIN | 1 | ||
| =6 | – | Muhlis Tayfur | TUR | 1 | ||
| 8 | – | Gyula Németi | HUN | 2 | ||
| =9 | – | Alberto Bolzi | ARG | 3 | ||
| =9 | 106 | Abbas Ahmad | EGY | 3 | ||
| =9 | – | Stan Bissell | GBR | 3 | ||
| =9 | – | Klaas de Groot | NED | 3 | ||
| =9 | – | Ernst Kolb | SUI | 3 |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 03 Aug | Axel Grönberg | SWE | Fall (17:36) | Abbas Ahmad | EGY | |
| Match #2 | 03 Aug | Juho Kinnunen | FIN | Decision (2-1) | Gyula Németi | HUN | |
| Match #3 | 03 Aug | Muhlis Tayfur | TUR | Decision (3-0) | Klaas de Groot | NED | |
| Match #4 | 03 Aug | Ercole Gallegati | ITA | Fall (3:18) | Alberto Bolzi | ARG | |
| Match #5 | 03 Aug | Anton Vogel | AUT | Fall (11:55) | Stan Bissell | GBR | |
| Match #6 | 03 Aug | Jean Benoy | BEL | Fall (2:42) | Ernst Kolb | SUI | |
| Match #7 | 03 Aug | Kaare Larsen | NOR |
| Date | 4 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 104 | Jean Benoy | BEL | 0 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Juho Kinnunen | FIN | 1 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Ercole Gallegati | ITA | 1 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Axel Grönberg | SWE | 1 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Muhlis Tayfur | TUR | 1 | – | ||
| 6 | – | Gyula Németi | HUN | 2 | – | ||
| =7 | 103 | Anton Vogel | AUT | 3 | – | ||
| =7 | – | Kaare Larsen | NOR | 3 | – | ||
| =7 | – | Ernst Kolb | SUI | 3 | – | ||
| =10 | – | Alberto Bolzi | ARG | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =10 | 106 | Abbas Ahmad | EGY | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =10 | – | Stan Bissell | GBR | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =10 | – | Klaas de Groot | NED | 6 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 04 Aug | Axel Grönberg | SWE | Decision (3-0) | Kaare Larsen | NOR | |
| Match #2 | 04 Aug | Juho Kinnunen | FIN | Fall (10:59) | Abbas Ahmad | EGY | |
| Match #3 | 04 Aug | Gyula Németi | HUN | Fall (1:43) | Klaas de Groot | NED | |
| Match #4 | 04 Aug | Muhlis Tayfur | TUR | Fall (2:44) | Alberto Bolzi | ARG | |
| Match #5 | 04 Aug | Ercole Gallegati | ITA | Decision (3-0) | Anton Vogel | AUT | |
| Match #6 | 04 Aug | Jean Benoy | BEL | Fall (9:00) | Stan Bissell | GBR | |
| Match #7 | 04 Aug | Ernst Kolb | SUI |
| Date | 5 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 104 | Jean Benoy | BEL | 0 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Axel Grönberg | SWE | 1 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Muhlis Tayfur | TUR | 1 | – | ||
| 4 | – | Gyula Németi | HUN | 2 | – | ||
| 5 | – | Kaare Larsen | NOR | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Juho Kinnunen | FIN | 4 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Ercole Gallegati | ITA | 4 | – | ||
| =8 | 103 | Anton Vogel | AUT | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =8 | – | Ernst Kolb | SUI | 6 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Aug | Kaare Larsen | NOR | Fall (3:29) | Ernst Kolb | SUI | |
| Match #2 | 05 Aug | Axel Grönberg | SWE | Fall (4:29) | Juho Kinnunen | FIN | |
| Match #3 | 05 Aug | Gyula Németi | HUN | Fall (19:51) | Ercole Gallegati | ITA | |
| Match #4 | 05 Aug | Muhlis Tayfur | TUR | Fall (0:52) | Anton Vogel | AUT | |
| Match #5 | 05 Aug | Jean Benoy | BEL |
| Date | 5 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Axel Grönberg | SWE | 2 | – | ||
| 2 | 104 | Jean Benoy | BEL | 3 | – | ||
| =3 | – | Ercole Gallegati | ITA | 4 | – | ||
| =3 | – | Kaare Larsen | NOR | 4 | – | ||
| =3 | – | Muhlis Tayfur | TUR | 4 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Juho Kinnunen | FIN | 5 | eliminated | ||
| =6 | – | Gyula Németi | HUN | 5 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Aug | Kaare Larsen | NOR | Decision (3-0) | Jean Benoy | BEL | |
| Match #2 | 05 Aug | Axel Grönberg | SWE | Decision (3-0) | Gyula Németi | HUN | |
| Match #3 | 05 Aug | Juho Kinnunen | FIN | Decision (3-0) | Muhlis Tayfur | TUR | |
| Match #4 | 05 Aug | Ercole Gallegati | ITA |
| Date | 6 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Axel Grönberg | SWE | 2 | – | ||
| 2 | – | Muhlis Tayfur | TUR | 4 | – | ||
| 3 | – | Ercole Gallegati | ITA | 5 | eliminated | ||
| 4 | 104 | Jean Benoy | BEL | 6 | eliminated | ||
| 5 | – | Kaare Larsen | NOR | 7 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 06 Aug | Axel Grönberg | SWE | Fall (7:08) | Jean Benoy | BEL | |
| Match #2 | 06 Aug | Ercole Gallegati | ITA | Decision (3-0) | Kaare Larsen | NOR | |
| Match #3 | 06 Aug | Muhlis Tayfur | TUR |
| Date | 6 August 1948 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 06 Aug | Axel Grönberg | SWE | Decision (3-0) | Muhlis Tayfur | TUR |
