| | Event type
Middleweight, Greco-Roman (≤82 kilograms), Men
| Date | 19 – 20 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. | |
Turkey’s Hamza Yerlikaya was a clear favorite, having won the 1993 and 1995 World Championships, the former at only 16-years-old, and the 1996 European Championship. He won the gold medal in Atlanta quite easily, throwing a shut-out as nobody scored a point off him. In the final Yerlikaya met German Thomas Zander, the 1994 World Champion and a three-time European champ. Yerlikaya would return in 2000 and defend his gold medal in this class. He would also win six of the next seven European Championships.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamza Yerlikaya |  TUR | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Thomas Zander |  GER | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Valery Tsylents |  BLR | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Daulet Turlykhanov |  KAZ | – | – | |||
| 5 | Gotcha Tsitsiashvili |  ISR | – | – | |||
| 6 | Martin Lidberg |  SWE | – | – | |||
| 7 | Levon Geghamyan |  ARM | – | – | |||
| 8 | Raatbek Sanatbayev |  KGZ | – | – | |||
| 9 | Aleksandar Jovančević |  SCG | 7 | 16 | |||
| 10 | Sergey Tsvir |  RUS | 7 | 14 | |||
| 11 | Tuomo Karila |  FIN | 5 | 14 | |||
| 12 | Dan Henderson |  USA | 5 | 6 | |||
| 13 | Pavel Frinta |  CZE | 5 | 5 | |||
| 14 | Park Myeong-Seok |  KOR | 4 | 6 | |||
| 15 | Anton Arghira |  ROU | 1 | 3 | |||
| 16 | Elías Marcano |  VEN | 1 | 1 | |||
| =17 | Jean-Pierre Wafflard |  BEL | 0 | 0 | |||
| =17 | Péter Farkas |  HUN | 0 | 0 | |||
| =17 | Félix Isisola |  PER | 0 | 0 |
Round One (19 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Daulet Turlykhanov | KAZ | fall (10-0) (2:47) | Elías Marcano | VEN |
| Match #2 | Raatbek Sanatbayev | KGZ | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Aleksandar Jovančević | SCG |
| Match #3 | Valery Tsylents | BLR | grand superiority (10-0) (2:27) | Jean-Pierre Wafflard | BEL |
| Match #4 | Dan Henderson | USA | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Pavel Frinta | CZE |
| Match #5 | Martin Lidberg | SWE | decision (2-0) (8:00) | Levon Geghamyan | ARM |
| Match #6 | Sergey Tsvir | RUS | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Péter Farkas | HUN |
| Match #7 | Thomas Zander | GER | grand superiority (10-0) (2:33) | Félix Isisola | PER |
| Match #8 | Gotcha Tsitsiashvili | ISR | decision (2-0) (8:00) | Tuomo Karila | FIN |
| Match #9 | Park Myeong-Seok | KOR | decision (5-3) (5:39) | Anton Arghira | ROU |
| Match #10 | Hamza Yerlikaya | TUR | bye |
Round Two (19 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Hamza Yerlikaya | TUR | decision (7-0) (5:00) | Daulet Turlykhanov | KAZ |
| Match #2 | Valery Tsylents | BLR | decision (7-1) (5:00) | Raatbek Sanatbayev | KGZ |
| Match #3 | Martin Lidberg | SWE | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Dan Henderson | USA |
| Match #4 | Thomas Zander | GER | DQ (4-0) (1:27) | Sergey Tsvir | RUS |
| Match #5 | Gotcha Tsitsiashvili | ISR | decision (4-1) (5:00) | Park Myeong-Seok | KOR |
Quarter-Finals (20 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Hamza Yerlikaya | TUR | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Valery Tsylents | BLR |
| Match #2 | Martin Lidberg | SWE | bye | ||
| Match #3 | Thomas Zander | GER | bye | ||
| Match #4 | Gotcha Tsitsiashvili | ISR | bye |
Semi-Finals (20 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Hamza Yerlikaya | TUR | decision (1-0) (8:00) | Martin Lidberg | SWE |
| Match #2 | Thomas Zander | GER | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Gotcha Tsitsiashvili | ISR |
Final Round (20 July 1996)
| Match 1/2 | Hamza Yerlikaya | TUR | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Thomas Zander | GER |
| Match 3/4 | Valery Tsylents | BLR | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Daulet Turlykhanov | KAZ |
| Match 5/6 | Gotcha Tsitsiashvili | ISR | default (0-0) (0:00) | Martin Lidberg | SWE |
| Match 7/8 | Levon Geghamyan | ARM | default (0-0) (0:00) | Raatbek Sanatbayev | KGZ |
Classification Round Two (19 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Aleksandar Jovančević | SCG | grand superiority (11-1) (4:59) | Elías Marcano | VEN |
| Match #2 | Pavel Frinta | CZE | decision (2-0) (8:00) | Jean-Pierre Wafflard | BEL |
| Match #3 | Levon Geghamyan | ARM | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Péter Farkas | HUN |
| Match #4 | Tuomo Karila | FIN | grand superiority (11-0) (1:28) | Félix Isisola | PER |
| Match #5 | Anton Arghira | ROU | bye |
Classification Round Three (19 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Aleksandar Jovančević | SCG | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Anton Arghira | ROU |
| Match #2 | Levon Geghamyan | ARM | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Pavel Frinta | CZE |
| Match #3 | Daulet Turlykhanov | KAZ | decision (7-3) (5:00) | Tuomo Karila | FIN |
| Match #4 | Raatbek Sanatbayev | KGZ | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Dan Henderson | USA |
| Match #5 | Sergey Tsvir | RUS | grand superiority (11-0) (3:45) | Park Myeong-Seok | KOR |
Classification Round Four (20 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Levon Geghamyan | ARM | decision (2-0) (8:00) | Aleksandar Jovančević | SCG |
| Match #2 | Daulet Turlykhanov | KAZ | decision (4-3) (5:00) | Raatbek Sanatbayev | KGZ |
| Match #3 | Valery Tsylents | BLR | default (10-0) (3:39) | Sergey Tsvir | RUS |
Classification Round Five (20 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Daulet Turlykhanov | KAZ | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Levon Geghamyan | ARM |
| Match #2 | Valery Tsylents | BLR | bye |
Classification Round Six (20 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Valery Tsylents | BLR | decision (4-1) (5:00) | Martin Lidberg | SWE |
| Match #2 | Daulet Turlykhanov | KAZ | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Gotcha Tsitsiashvili | ISR |