| | Event type

Lightweight, Greco-Roman (≤67 kilograms), Men

Date	24 – 27 July 1952
Status	Olympic
Location	Messuhalli I, Helsinki
Participants	19 from 19 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.

Hungarian József Gál was the 1950 World Champion but competed in Helsinki only in freestyle, where he did not place. The defending champion was Sweden’s Gustav Freij and he was back, having placed second to Gál at the 1950 Worlds, and he would again win the World title in 1953. The final round in Helsinki came down to Freij, Soviet Shazam Saftin, and Czechoslovak Mikuláš Athanasov, and with Freij and Saftin both defeating Athanasov, the gold medal match came down to Freij against Saftin, with Saftin winning by a unanimous decision. Saftin was almost completely unknown, having won only two bronzes in the Soviet Nationals, and his only other major international medal was a bronze as a lightweight at the 1953 Worlds.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	MMR/RE	Bad Points
1	Shazam Safin	URS	2-0	–	Gold
2	Gustav Freij	SWE	1-1	–	Silver
3	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	0-2	–	Bronze
4	Gyula Tarr	HUN	–	–
=5	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	–	–
=5	Franco Benedetti	ITA	–	–
=5	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	–	–
AC	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	Eliminated r3/7	5
AC	André Verdaine	FRA	Eliminated r3/7	5
AC	Erich Schmidt	SAA	Eliminated r3/7	5
AC	Jack Rasmussen	DEN	Eliminated r3/7	6
AC	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL	Eliminated r3/7	6
AC	Jan Cools	BEL	Eliminated r3/7	7
AC	Georgios Petmezas	GRE	Eliminated r2/7	5
AC	Heini Nettesheim	GER	Eliminated r2/7	6
AC	Aristides Pérez	GUA	Eliminated r2/7	6
AC	Metty Scheitler	LUX	Eliminated r2/7	6
AC	Aage Eriksen	NOR	Eliminated r2/7	6
AC	Raif Akbulut	TUR	Withdrew r2/7	3

Round One (24 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Gyula Tarr	HUN	0
=1	Franco Benedetti	ITA	0
=1	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	0
=1	Gustav Freij	SWE	0
=5	Jan Cools	BEL	1
=5	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	1
=5	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	1
=5	André Verdaine	FRA	1
=5	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	1
=5	Shazam Safin	URS	1
=11	Jack Rasmussen	DEN	3
=11	Heini Nettesheim	GER	3
=11	Georgios Petmezas	GRE	3
=11	Aristides Pérez	GUA	3
=11	Metty Scheitler	LUX	3
=11	Aage Eriksen	NOR	3
=11	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL	3
=11	Erich Schmidt	SAA	3
=11	Raif Akbulut	TUR	3	withdrew

Match #1	Jan Cools	BEL	decision (3-0)	Metty Scheitler	LUX
Match #2	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	decision (3-0)	Erich Schmidt	SAA
Match #3	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	decision (3-0)	Georgios Petmezas	GRE
Match #4	André Verdaine	FRA	decision (3-0)	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL
Match #5	Franco Benedetti	ITA	fall (4:51)	Aristides Pérez	GUA
Match #6	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	fall (2:10)	Aage Eriksen	NOR
Match #7	Shazam Safin	URS	decision (3-0)	Raif Akbulut	TUR
Match #8	Gustav Freij	SWE	fall (2:16)	Jack Rasmussen	DEN
Match #9	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	decision (3-0)	Heini Nettesheim	GER
Match #10	Gyula Tarr	HUN	bye

Round Two (25 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Gyula Tarr	HUN	1
=1	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	1
=1	Gustav Freij	SWE	1
=1	Shazam Safin	URS	1
=5	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	2
=5	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	2
=7	Jack Rasmussen	DEN	3
=7	Franco Benedetti	ITA	3
=7	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL	3
=10	André Verdaine	FRA	4
=10	Jan Cools	BEL	4
=10	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	4
=10	Erich Schmidt	SAA	4
=14	Georgios Petmezas	GRE	6	eliminated
=14	Heini Nettesheim	GER	6	eliminated
=14	Aristides Pérez	GUA	6	eliminated
=14	Metty Scheitler	LUX	6	eliminated
=14	Aage Eriksen	NOR	6	eliminated

Match #1	Gyula Tarr	HUN	decision (3-0)	Jan Cools	BEL
Match #2	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	decision (3-0)	Metty Scheitler	LUX
Match #3	Erich Schmidt	SAA	decision (2-1)	Georgios Petmezas	GRE
Match #4	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	decision (2-1)	André Verdaine	FRA
Match #5	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL	fall (0:30)	Aristides Pérez	GUA
Match #6	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	decision (3-0)	Franco Benedetti	ITA
Match #7	Shazam Safin	URS	fall (12:35)	Aage Eriksen	NOR
Match #8	Gustav Freij	SWE	decision (3-0)	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN
Match #9	Jack Rasmussen	DEN	fall (14:16)	Heini Nettesheim	GER

Round Three (26 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Shazam Safin	URS	1
=2	Gyula Tarr	HUN	2
=2	Gustav Freij	SWE	2
=2	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	2
=5	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	4
=5	Franco Benedetti	ITA	4
=5	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	4
=8	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	5	eliminated
=8	Erich Schmidt	SAA	5	eliminated
=10	Jack Rasmussen	DEN	6	eliminated
=10	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL	6	eliminated
=12	André Verdaine	FRA	7	eliminated
=12	Jan Cools	BEL	7	eliminated

Match #1	Gyula Tarr	HUN	decision (3-0)	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY
Match #2	Erich Schmidt	SAA	decision (3-0)	Jan Cools	BEL
Match #3	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	default (injury)	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL
Match #4	Franco Benedetti	ITA	decision (2-1)	André Verdaine	FRA
Match #5	Gustav Freij	SWE	decision (3-0)	Dumitru Cuc	ROU
Match #6	Shazam Safin	URS	fall (8:15)	Jack Rasmussen	DEN
Match #7	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	bye

Round Four (26 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Gustav Freij	SWE	2
=1	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	2
=1	Shazam Safin	URS	2
4	Gyula Tarr	HUN	3
=5	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	7	eliminated
=5	Franco Benedetti	ITA	7	eliminated
=5	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	7	eliminated

Match #1	Gyula Tarr	HUN	decision (3-0)	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN
Match #2	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	fall (3:55)	Franco Benedetti	ITA
Match #3	Shazam Safin	URS	decision (3-0)	Dumitru Cuc	ROU
Match #4	Gustav Freij	SWE	bye

Round Five (27 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Shazam Safin	URS	2
2	Gustav Freij	SWE	3
3	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	5
4	Gyula Tarr	HUN	6	eliminated

Match #1	Gustav Freij	SWE	decision (3-0)	Gyula Tarr	HUN
Match #2	Shazam Safin	URS	fall (2:46)	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH

Round Six (27 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Shazam Safin	URS	2
2	Gustav Freij	SWE	3
3	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	8	eliminated

Match #1	Gustav Freij	SWE	fall (3:30)	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH
Match #2	Shazam Safin	URS	bye

Final Round (27 July 1952)

Match #1	Shazam Safin	URS	decision (3-0)	Gustav Freij	SWE
Match #2	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	bye