Welterweight, Greco-Roman (≤78 kilograms), Men

Soviet Viktor Igumenov had won the 1966-67 World Championships, his first two of five consecutive, and he came into Mexico City as a heavy favorite. He won his first two bouts by decision but then lost on a fall in 1:39 to Norwegian Harald Barlie, and Igumenov was eliminated on bad points. This left the event wide open. The medalists came down to East German Rudolf Vesper, Hungarian Károly Bajkó, and France’s Daniel Robin, who had already won a silver medal in Mexico City in freestyle. These three remained after round five, when Vesper and Robin won their matches and Bajkó had a bye. This made them the finalists, but no matches were necessary as Vesper had already beaten Robin, and drawn with Bajkó, and Robin had defeated Bajkó, giving the gold medal to Vesper, with Robin winning his second silver medal in 1968 wrestling. Robin’s two medals made him one of only 13 Olympic wrestlers to win medals in both styles at the Olympics, and one of only two, along with Swede Rudolf Svensson in 1924, to win two silver medals.