Light-Flyweight, Greco-Roman (≤48 kilograms), Men

Italy’s Vincenzo Maenza had won the gold medal in Los Angeles, which was somewhat of an upset and was attributed partly to the Eastern Bloc boycott. The top wrestler in this class since 1984 had been Soviet Azerbaijani Məhyəddin Allahverdiyev, who was World Champion in 1985-87, although Maenza had won the 1987 European title. Maenza won all his matches in Group A to make the final match, although he required an overtime victory over Bulgarian Bratan Tsenov in round five to do so. In Group B Allahverdiyev lost his first match to Poland’s Andrzej Głąb and could never recover, as Głąb won Group B. The final was close but Maenza defended his gold medal with a 3-0 victory on points. Tsenov won the bronze medal match when Allahverdiyev was disqualified for passivity. Maenza would win his third consecutive Olympic medal in this class in 1992, taking silver at Barcelona.