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| Event type

Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman (≤87 kilograms), Men

Date24 – 27 July 1952
StatusOlympic
LocationMessuhalli I, Helsinki
Participants10 from 10 countries
FormatWin 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.

No wrestler was considered a heavy favorite with the event being quite open. The medalist round came down to Finland’s Kelpo Gröndahl, Soviet Georgian Shalva Chikhladze, and Sweden’s Karl-Erik Nilsson. Gröndahl defeated both wrestlers to win the gold medal, with the final match a dull affair against Chikhladze which came down to a split decision verdict for Gröndahl. He would later win the silver medal at the 1953 World Championships.

This was the end of Chikhladze’s career, who competed in Helsinki at 40-years-old. He had been Georgian half-heavyweight champion in 1932 and won the 1934 South Caucasus half-heavyweight title, but missed the best years of his career due to the war and the Soviets not entering international competition until the late 1940s.

PosCompetitor(s)NOCMMR/REBad Points
1Kelpo GröndahlFIN2-0Gold
2Shalva ChikhladzeURS1-1Silver
3Karl-Erik NilssonSWE0-2Bronze
4Gyula KovácsHUN
5İsmet AtlıTUR
=6Umberto SilvestriITA
=6Michel SkaffLBN
ACOvidiu ForaiROUEliminated r2/65
ACMax LeichterGEREliminated r2/66
ACJos SchummerLUXEliminated r2/66

Round One (24 July 1952)

PosCompetitor(s)NOCBad Points
=1Kelpo GröndahlFIN0
=1Shalva ChikhladzeURS0
=3Umberto SilvestriITA1
=3Michel SkaffLBN1
=3Karl-Erik NilssonSWE1
=6Ovidiu ForaiROU3
=6İsmet AtlıTUR3
=6Max LeichterGER3
=6Gyula KovácsHUN3
=6Jos SchummerLUX3

Match #1 Michel SkaffLBN
decision (2-1)
Ovidiu ForaiROU
Match #2 Karl-Erik NilssonSWE
decision (3-0)
Gyula KovácsHUN
Match #3 Umberto SilvestriITA
decision (2-1)
İsmet AtlıTUR
Match #4 Kelpo GröndahlFIN
fall (3:30)
Jos SchummerLUX
Match #5 Shalva ChikhladzeURS
fall (9:22)
Max LeichterGER

Round Two (25 July 1952)

PosCompetitor(s)NOCBad Points
=1Kelpo GröndahlFIN1
=1Shalva ChikhladzeURS1
3Karl-Erik NilssonSWE2
=4İsmet AtlıTUR3
=4Gyula KovácsHUN3
=6Umberto SilvestriITA4
=6Michel SkaffLBN4
=8Ovidiu ForaiROU6eliminated
=8Max LeichterGER6eliminated
=8Jos SchummerLUX6eliminated

Match #1 Gyula KovácsHUN
fall (10:40)
Michel SkaffLBN
Match #2 Karl-Erik NilssonSWE
decision (3-0)
Ovidiu ForaiROU
Match #3 İsmet AtlıTUR
fall (2:15)
Jos SchummerLUX
Match #4 Shalva ChikhladzeURS
decision (3-0)
Umberto SilvestriITA
Match #5 Kelpo GröndahlFIN
decision (3-0)
Max LeichterGER

Round Three (26 July 1952)

PosCompetitor(s)NOCBad Points
=1Kelpo GröndahlFIN1
=1Shalva ChikhladzeURS1
3Karl-Erik NilssonSWE2
4Gyula KovácsHUN4
5İsmet AtlıTUR6eliminated
=6Umberto SilvestriITA7eliminated
=6Michel SkaffLBN7eliminated

Match #1 Karl-Erik NilssonSWE
fall (4:40)
Michel SkaffLBN
Match #2 Gyula KovácsHUN
decision (3-0)
İsmet AtlıTUR
Match #3 Kelpo GröndahlFIN
fall (2:18)
Umberto SilvestriITA
Match #4 Shalva ChikhladzeURS bye

Round Four (27 July 1952)

PosCompetitor(s)NOCBad Points
1Kelpo GröndahlFIN2
2Shalva ChikhladzeURS4
3Karl-Erik NilssonSWE5
4Gyula KovácsHUN5eliminated

Match #1 Gyula KovácsHUN
decision (3-0)
Shalva ChikhladzeURS
Match #2 Kelpo GröndahlFIN
decision (2-1)
Karl-Erik NilssonSWE

Round Five (27 July 1952)

PosCompetitor(s)NOCBad Points
1Kelpo GröndahlFIN2
2Shalva ChikhladzeURS4
3Karl-Erik NilssonSWE8eliminated

Match #1 Shalva ChikhladzeURS
fall (2:39)
Karl-Erik NilssonSWE
Match #2 Kelpo GröndahlFIN bye

Final Round (27 July 1952)

Match #1 Kelpo GröndahlFIN
decision (2-1)
Shalva ChikhladzeURS
Match #2 Karl-Erik NilssonSWE bye