| | Event type

Bantamweight, Freestyle (≤57 kilograms), Men

Date	20 – 23 July 1952
Status	Olympic
Location	Messuhalli I, Helsinki / Messuhalli II, Helsinki
Participants	20 from 20 countries
Format	Win by fall = 0 points; win by decision = 1 point; loss of any type = 3 points. Three judges gave decisions, thus all decisions were either 2-1 or 3-0. Five bad points eliminated a wrestler. When only three wrestlers remained, if they had not yet met one another, they wrestled further rounds. Medal placements were determined by the match record among the medalists, with bad points as a tie breaker. A wrestler in the medal rounds could continue with 5 or more bad points.

After winning the 1948 Olympics, the 1949 European, and the 1951 World Championships, Turkey’s Nasuh Akar should have been favored but he retired in early 1952 and did not compete in Helsinki. The final round came down to Japan’s Shohachi Ishii, Soviet Azerbaijani Rəşid Məmmədbəyov, and Indian Khashaba Jhadav. Məmmədbəyov had beaten Jhadav in round five so Ishii fought Jhadav in the first final match, winning by unanimous decision. Ishii then defeated Məmmədbəyov, also by unanimous decision, to win the gold medal, with the Soviet taking silver. Jhadav’s medal was the first individual Olympic medal ever won by an athlete from India.

Ishii was a top judoka but was forced to give up that sport after World War II when American occupation forces banned judo. He then switched to wrestling and became the first Japanese to win a gold medal after the war.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	MMR/RE	Bad Points
1	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	2-0	–	Gold
2	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	1-1	–	Silver
3	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	0-2	–	Bronze
4	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	–	–
5	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	–	–
6	Lajos Bencze	HUN	–	–
AC	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	Eliminated r4/7	4
AC	Eigil Johansen	DEN	Eliminated r3/7	5
AC	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	Eliminated r3/7	5
AC	Saad Hafez	EGY	Eliminated r3/7	6
AC	Ken Irvine	GBR	Eliminated r3/7	7
AC	Bill Borders	USA	Eliminated r3/7	7
AC	Tauno Jaskari	FIN	Eliminated r2/7	5
AC	Omar Blebel	ARG	Eliminated r2/7	6
AC	Adrien Poliquin	CAN	Eliminated r2/7	6
AC	Oswaldo Johnston	GUA	Eliminated r2/7	6
AC	Leonardo Basurto	MEX	Eliminated r2/7	6
AC	Paul Hänni	SUI	Eliminated r2/7	6
AC	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	Withdrew r2/7	2
AC	Charles Kouyos	FRA	Withdrew r2/7	2

Round One (20 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Saad Hafez	EGY	0
=1	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	0
=1	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	0
=1	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	0
=1	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	0
=6	Eigil Johansen	DEN	1
=6	Ken Irvine	GBR	1
=6	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	1
=6	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	1
=6	Bill Borders	USA	1
=11	Omar Blebel	ARG	3
=11	Adrien Poliquin	CAN	3
=11	Tauno Jaskari	FIN	3
=11	Oswaldo Johnston	GUA	3
=11	Lajos Bencze	HUN	3
=11	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	3
=11	Leonardo Basurto	MEX	3
=11	Paul Hänni	SUI	3
=11	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	3	withdrew
=11	Charles Kouyos	FRA	3	withdrew

Match #1	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	fall (0:32)	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI
Match #2	Bill Borders	USA	decision (3-0)	Paul Hänni	SUI
Match #3	Saad Hafez	EGY	fall (1:18)	Oswaldo Johnston	GUA
Match #4	Eigil Johansen	DEN	decision (2-1)	Joseph Trimpont	BEL
Match #5	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	fall (9:56)	Lajos Bencze	HUN
Match #6	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	decision (3-0)	Tauno Jaskari	FIN
Match #7	Ken Irvine	GBR	decision (3-0)	Omar Blebel	ARG
Match #8	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	decision (2-1)	Charles Kouyos	FRA
Match #9	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	fall (1:26)	Leonardo Basurto	MEX
Match #10	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	fall (14:25)	Adrien Poliquin	CAN

Round Two (21 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	0
=1	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	0
=1	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	0
=4	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	1
=4	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	1
=4	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	1
7	Eigil Johansen	DEN	2
=8	Saad Hafez	EGY	3
=8	Lajos Bencze	HUN	3
=10	Ken Irvine	GBR	4
=10	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	4
=10	Bill Borders	USA	4
=13	Tauno Jaskari	FIN	6	eliminated
=13	Omar Blebel	ARG	6	eliminated
=13	Adrien Poliquin	CAN	6	eliminated
=13	Oswaldo Johnston	GUA	6	eliminated
=13	Leonardo Basurto	MEX	6	eliminated
=13	Paul Hänni	SUI	6	eliminated

Match #1	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	default (injury)	Paul Hänni	SUI
Match #2	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	decision (3-0)	Bill Borders	USA
Match #3	Eigil Johansen	DEN	decision (3-0)	Saad Hafez	EGY
Match #4	Lajos Bencze	HUN	fall (3:20)	Oswaldo Johnston	GUA
Match #5	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	decision (2-1)	Tauno Jaskari	FIN
Match #6	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	fall (7:35)	Ken Irvine	GBR
Match #7	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	fall (10:58)	Omar Blebel	ARG
Match #8	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	fall (5:20)	Leonardo Basurto	MEX
Match #9	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	fall (0:30)	Adrien Poliquin	CAN

Round Three (22 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	0
=2	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	1
=2	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	1
4	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	2
5	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	3
=6	Lajos Bencze	HUN	4
=6	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	4
=8	Eigil Johansen	DEN	5	eliminated
=8	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	5	eliminated
10	Saad Hafez	EGY	6	eliminated
=11	Ken Irvine	GBR	7	eliminated
=11	Bill Borders	USA	7	eliminated

Match #1	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	fall (10:40)	Bill Borders	USA
Match #2	Mohamed Mehdi Yaghoubi	IRI	decision (3-0)	Saad Hafez	EGY
Match #3	Lajos Bencze	HUN	decision (3-0)	Eigil Johansen	DEN
Match #4	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	decision (3-0)	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR
Match #5	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	fall (6:30)	Ken Irvine	GBR
Match #6	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	decision (2-1)	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER

Round Four (22 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	1
=2	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	3
=2	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	3
4	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	4
=5	Lajos Bencze	HUN	5	eliminated
=5	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	5	eliminated
6	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER	6	eliminated

Match #1	Lajos Bencze	HUN	decision (2-1)	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS
Match #2	Cemil Sarıbacak	TUR	decision (3-0)	Edvin Vesterby	SWE
Match #3	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	decision (2-1)	Ferdinand Schmitz	GER
Match #4	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	bye

Round Five (23 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	4
=1	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	4
=1	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	4
4	Edvin Vesterby	SWE	7	eliminated

Match #1	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	decision (3-0)	Khashaba Jadhav	IND
Match #2	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	decision (3-0)	Edvin Vesterby	SWE

Round Six (23 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	4
2	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	5	eliminated
3	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	7	eliminated

Match #1	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	decision (3-0)	Khashaba Jadhav	IND
Match #2	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS	bye

Final Round (23 July 1952)

Match #1	Shohachi Ishii	JPN	decision (3-0)	Rəşid Məmmədbəyov	URS
Match #2	Khashaba Jadhav	IND	bye