| | Event type
Lightweight, Freestyle (≤68 kilograms), Men
| Date | 29 – 30 July 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall G) | |
| Participants | 19 from 19 countries | |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament with classification rounds for placements. | |
Two-time defending champion Arsen Fadzayev of the Soviet Union was now representing his native Uzbekistan. The two favorites were 1995 World Champion Arayik Gevorgyan and Russian Vadim Bogiyev, who had won the last three European titles. Bogiyev had to open against Fadzayev, his former coach, but defeated him 3-1 to move on. Gevorgyan lost his semi-final match to American Townsend Saunders, the 1994 Goodwill Games champion, and gold medalist at the Pan American Games in 1991 and 1995. Saunders met Bogiyev for the gold medal and the match was very close, going into overtime, where it remained tied at the end of 8 minutes. Bogiyev was awarded the gold medal because he had had only two passivity calls to three for Saunders.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vadim Bogiyev |  RUS | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Townsend Saunders |  USA | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Zaza Zazirov |  UKR | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Yosvany Sánchez |  CUB | – | – | |||
| 5 | Arayik Gevorgyan |  ARM | – | – | |||
| 6 | Hwang Sang-Ho |  KOR | – | – | |||
| 7 | Küllo Kõiv |  EST | – | – | |||
| 8 | Ahmad Al-Aosta |  SYR | – | – | |||
| 9 | Aleh Hohal |  BLR | 8 | 10 | |||
| 10 | Akbar Fallah |  IRI | 8 | 9 | |||
| 11 | János Fórizs |  HUN | 5 | 15 | |||
| 12 | Craig Roberts |  CAN | 5 | 13 | |||
| 13 | Arsen Fadzayev |  UZB | 5 | 12 | |||
| 14 | Elşad Allahverdiyev |  AZE | 5 | 7 | |||
| 15 | Yüksel Şanlı |  TUR | 2 | 2 | |||
| 16 | Richard Weiss |  AUS | 1 | 2 | |||
| 17 | Félix Diédhiou |  SEN | 1 | 1 | |||
| =18 | Paulo Ibire |  ARG | 0 | 0 | |||
| =18 | Ibo Oziti |  NGR | 0 | 0 |
Round One (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Arsen Fadzayev | UZB | decision (2-2) (8:00) | Akbar Fallah | IRI |
| Match #2 | Zaza Zazirov | UKR | grand superiority (10-0) (3:13) | Ibo Oziti | NGR |
| Match #3 | Küllo Kõiv | EST | fall (12-0) (1:03) | Félix Diédhiou | SEN |
| Match #4 | Elşad Allahverdiyev | AZE | decision (3-0) (5:00) | János Fórizs | HUN |
| Match #5 | Hwang Sang-Ho | KOR | decision (7-0) (5:00) | Paulo Ibire | ARG |
| Match #6 | Aleh Hohal | BLR | decision (3-1) (5:10) | Yosvany Sánchez | CUB |
| Match #7 | Arayik Gevorgyan | ARM | decision (9-1) (5:00) | Ahmad Al-Aosta | SYR |
| Match #8 | Townsend Saunders | USA | decision (3-1) (5:36) | Yüksel Şanlı | TUR |
| Match #9 | Craig Roberts | CAN | grand superiority (12-2) (3:45) | Richard Weiss | AUS |
| Match #10 | Vadim Bogiyev | RUS | bye |
Round Two (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Vadim Bogiyev | RUS | decision (3-1) (6:24) | Arsen Fadzayev | UZB |
| Match #2 | Zaza Zazirov | UKR | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Küllo Kõiv | EST |
| Match #3 | Hwang Sang-Ho | KOR | decision (5-3) (5:00) | Elşad Allahverdiyev | AZE |
| Match #4 | Arayik Gevorgyan | ARM | decision (3-2) (5:38) | Aleh Hohal | BLR |
| Match #5 | Townsend Saunders | USA | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Craig Roberts | CAN |
Quarter-Finals (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Vadim Bogiyev | RUS | decision (6-4) (5:00) | Zaza Zazirov | UKR |
| Match #2 | Hwang Sang-Ho | KOR | bye | ||
| Match #3 | Arayik Gevorgyan | ARM | bye | ||
| Match #4 | Townsend Saunders | USA | bye |
Semi-Finals (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Vadim Bogiyev | RUS | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Hwang Sang-Ho | KOR |
| Match #2 | Townsend Saunders | USA | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Arayik Gevorgyan | ARM |
Final Round (30 July 1996)
| Match 1/2 | Vadim Bogiyev | RUS | decision (1-1) (8:00) | Townsend Saunders | USA |
| Match 3/4 | Zaza Zazirov | UKR | decision (8-6) (5:00) | Yosvany Sánchez | CUB |
| Match 5/6 | Arayik Gevorgyan | ARM | decision (0-0) (8:00) | Hwang Sang-Ho | KOR |
| Match 7/8 | Küllo Kõiv | EST | decision (7-2) (5:00) | Ahmad Al-Aosta | SYR |
Classification Round Two (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Akbar Fallah | IRI | decision (1-0) (8:00) | Ibo Oziti | NGR |
| Match #2 | János Fórizs | HUN | grand superiority (13-1) (2:35) | Félix Diédhiou | SEN |
| Match #3 | Yosvany Sánchez | CUB | grand superiority (10-0) (4:29) | Paulo Ibire | ARG |
| Match #4 | Ahmad Al-Aosta | SYR | decision (4-1) (5:00) | Yüksel Şanlı | TUR |
| Match #5 | Richard Weiss | AUS | bye |
Classification Round Three (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Akbar Fallah | IRI | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Richard Weiss | AUS |
| Match #2 | Yosvany Sánchez | CUB | decision (6-2) (5:00) | János Fórizs | HUN |
| Match #3 | Ahmad Al-Aosta | SYR | decision (11-9) (5:00) | Arsen Fadzayev | UZB |
| Match #4 | Küllo Kõiv | EST | decision (5-1) (5:00) | Elşad Allahverdiyev | AZE |
| Match #5 | Aleh Hohal | BLR | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Craig Roberts | CAN |
Classification Round Four (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Yosvany Sánchez | CUB | decision (3-1) (5:55) | Akbar Fallah | IRI |
| Match #2 | Küllo Kõiv | EST | decision (4-1) (5:00) | Ahmad Al-Aosta | SYR |
| Match #3 | Zaza Zazirov | UKR | decision (6-1) (5:00) | Aleh Hohal | BLR |
Classification Round Five (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Yosvany Sánchez | CUB | decision (6-0) (5:00) | Küllo Kõiv | EST |
| Match #2 | Zaza Zazirov | UKR | bye |
Classification Round Six (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Zaza Zazirov | UKR | fall (7-0) (4:55) | Hwang Sang-Ho | KOR |
| Match #2 | Yosvany Sánchez | CUB | decision (8-4) (5:00) | Arayik Gevorgyan | ARM |