| | Event type
Bantamweight, Freestyle (≤57 kilograms), Men
| Date | 29 – 30 July 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall G) | |
| Participants | 21 from 21 countries | |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament with classification rounds for placements. | |
American Terry Brands had won the 1993 and 1995 World Championships and would have been the favorite, except that he did not make the US Team, as he was beaten at the US Trials by Kendall Cross, who had wrestled in this class at Barcelona. Cross was most concerned about Canadian Gia Sissaouri, who had been born in Georgia and had lost the 1995 World final to Brands, and focused much of his training on countering his moves. The two made it to the final, where Cross quickly went up 5-0 and then held on to win gold by 5-3. Brands would make the US team in 2000 and win a bronze medal. His brother, Tom Brands, won the gold medal in Atlanta as a featherweight. Sissaouri would go on to win the 2001 World title.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kendall Cross |  USA | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Gia Sissaouri |  CAN | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Ri Yong-Sam |  PRK | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Harun Doğan |  TUR | – | – | |||
| 5 | Šaban Trstena |  MKD | – | – | |||
| 6 | Mohammad Talaei |  IRI | – | – | |||
| 7 | Aliaksandr Huzau |  BLR | – | – | |||
| 8 | Damir Zakhartdinov |  UZB | – | – | |||
| 9 | Sonny Abe |  JPN | 9 | 22 | |||
| 10 | Arif Abdullayev |  AZE | 9 | 17 | |||
| 11 | Bagautdin Umakhanov |  RUS | 7 | 10 | |||
| 12 | Serafim Barzakov |  BUL | 6 | 14 | |||
| 13 | Artur Fyodorov |  KAZ | 5 | 13 | |||
| 14 | Nazim Alidjanov |  MDA | 5 | 18 | |||
| 15 | Alejandro Puerto |  CUB | 4 | 12 | |||
| 16 | Michele Liuzzi |  ITA | 3 | 5 | |||
| 17 | Tserenbaataryn Tsogtbayar |  MGL | 2 | 9 | |||
| 18 | Aslanbek Fidarov |  UKR | 1 | 3 | |||
| =19 | Bogdan Ciufulescu |  ROU | 1 | 1 | |||
| =19 | Cory O'Brien |  AUS | 1 | 1 | |||
| 21 | Talata Embalo |  GBS | 0 | 0 |
Round One (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Mohammad Talaei | IRI | decision (4-1) (6:19) | Arif Abdullayev | AZE |
| Match #2 | Damir Zakhartdinov | UZB | decision (5-3) (5:00) | Aslanbek Fidarov | UKR |
| Match #3 | Artur Fyodorov | KAZ | decision (10-8) (7:50) | Nazim Alidjanov | MDA |
| Match #4 | Gia Sissaouri | CAN | decision (8-3) (5:00) | Tserenbaataryn Tsogtbayar | MGL |
| Match #5 | Bagautdin Umakhanov | RUS | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Michele Liuzzi | ITA |
| Match #6 | Sonny Abe | JPN | grand superiority (10-0) (3:34) | Bogdan Ciufulescu | ROU |
| Match #7 | Kendall Cross | USA | grand superiority (10-0) (0:54) | Talata Embalo | GBS |
| Match #8 | Ri Yong-Sam | PRK | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Harun Doğan | TUR |
| Match #9 | Serafim Barzakov | BUL | grand superiority (10-0) (3:23) | Cory O'Brien | AUS |
| Match #10 | Šaban Trstena | MKD | decision (4-3) (6:28) | Alejandro Puerto | CUB |
| Match #11 | Aliaksandr Huzau | BLR | bye |
Round Two (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Aliaksandr Huzau | BLR | decision (5-3) (5:00) | Mohammad Talaei | IRI |
| Match #2 | Damir Zakhartdinov | UZB | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Artur Fyodorov | KAZ |
| Match #3 | Gia Sissaouri | CAN | decision (1-1) (8:00) | Bagautdin Umakhanov | RUS |
| Match #4 | Kendall Cross | USA | decision (4-2) (5:00) | Sonny Abe | JPN |
| Match #5 | Šaban Trstena | MKD | bye | ||
| Match #6 | Ri Yong-Sam | PRK | decision (5-1) (6:00) | Serafim Barzakov | BUL |
Quarter-Finals (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Šaban Trstena | MKD | decision (7-3) (5:00) | Aliaksandr Huzau | BLR |
| Match #2 | Gia Sissaouri | CAN | decision (8-0) (5:00) | Damir Zakhartdinov | UZB |
| Match #3 | Kendall Cross | USA | bye | ||
| Match #4 | Ri Yong-Sam | PRK | bye |
Semi-Finals (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Gia Sissaouri | CAN | decision (4-1) (6:43) | Šaban Trstena | MKD |
| Match #2 | Kendall Cross | USA | grand superiority (12-2) (4:59) | Ri Yong-Sam | PRK |
Final Round (30 July 1996)
| Match 1/2 | Kendall Cross | USA | decision (5-3) (5:00) | Gia Sissaouri | CAN |
| Match 3/4 | Ri Yong-Sam | PRK | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Harun Doğan | TUR |
| Match 5/6 | Šaban Trstena | MKD | decision (4-3) (5:00) | Mohammad Talaei | IRI |
| Match 7/8 | Aliaksandr Huzau | BLR | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Damir Zakhartdinov | UZB |
Classification Round Two (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Arif Abdullayev | AZE | grand superiority (11-0) (1:59) | Aslanbek Fidarov | UKR |
| Match #2 | Nazim Alidjanov | MDA | decision (7-6) (5:00) | Tserenbaataryn Tsogtbayar | MGL |
| Match #3 | Michele Liuzzi | ITA | decision (5-1) (5:00) | Bogdan Ciufulescu | ROU |
| Match #4 | Harun Doğan | TUR | fall (3-0) (0:51) | Talata Embalo | GBS |
| Match #5 | Alejandro Puerto | CUB | decision (9-1) (5:00) | Cory O'Brien | AUS |
Classification Round Three (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Arif Abdullayev | AZE | decision (4-3) (5:00) | Nazim Alidjanov | MDA |
| Match #2 | Harun Doğan | TUR | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Michele Liuzzi | ITA |
| Match #3 | Mohammad Talaei | IRI | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Alejandro Puerto | CUB |
| Match #4 | Bagautdin Umakhanov | RUS | decision (5-2) (5:00) | Artur Fyodorov | KAZ |
| Match #5 | Sonny Abe | JPN | decision (5-3) (5:00) | Serafim Barzakov | BUL |
Classification Round Four (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Harun Doğan | TUR | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Arif Abdullayev | AZE |
| Match #2 | Mohammad Talaei | IRI | decision (1-0) (8:00) | Bagautdin Umakhanov | RUS |
| Match #3 | Aliaksandr Huzau | BLR | decision (6-5) (5:00) | Sonny Abe | JPN |
| Match #4 | Damir Zakhartdinov | UZB | bye |
Classification Round Five (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Mohammad Talaei | IRI | decision (4-2) (5:00) | Damir Zakhartdinov | UZB |
| Match #2 | Harun Doğan | TUR | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Aliaksandr Huzau | BLR |
Classification Round Six (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Harun Doğan | TUR | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Šaban Trstena | MKD |
| Match #2 | Ri Yong-Sam | PRK | fall (4-0) (3:28) | Mohammad Talaei | IRI |