| | Event type
Lightweight, Freestyle (≤63 kilograms), Men
| Date | 28 – 30 September 2000 — 09:30-17:00 (all days) | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Sydney Exhibition Centre, Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, Sydney, New South Wales (Halls 1 & 2) | |
| Participants | 19 from 19 countries | |
| Format | Round-robin pools, winner of each pool advanced to single-elimination tournament. | |
The two leading contenders were Russian Murad Umakhanov and Bulgarian Serafim Barzakov, who had met several times at recent World and European meets. Umakhanov was wrestling in memory of his brother, Shamil, who had been killed during the 1998 Russian Championships, when a balcony collapsed, killing 15 people. Both Umakhanov and Barzakov made it to the knockout round, where Umakhanov fought a close semi-final match against Korean Jang Jae-Seong, winning on criteria, after tying 4-4. The final, and the gold medal, went to Umakhanov, 3-2, when he scored a final point with only 15 seconds left in the match. Barzakov would come back to win the 2001 World Championships and silver medals at the 2003 and 2005 Worlds. Jang won the bronze medal with an easy victory over Iran’s Mohammad Talaei.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murad Umakhanov |  RUS | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Serafim Barzakov |  BUL | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Jang Jae-Seong |  KOR | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Mohammad Talaei |  IRI | – | – | |||
| 5 | Arshak Hayrapetyan |  ARM | – | – | |||
| 6 | Carlos Ortiz |  CUB | – | – | |||
| 7 | Şamil Əfəndiyev |  AZE | 8 | 17 | |||
| 8 | Štefan Fernyák |  SVK | 6 | 4 | |||
| 9 | Cary Kolat |  USA | 5 | 10 | |||
| 10 | Ruslan Bodișteanu |  MDA | 5 | 11 | |||
| 11 | Elbrus Tedieiev |  UKR | 4 | 9 | |||
| 12 | Mikalai Savin |  BLR | 4 | 8 | |||
| 13 | Kazuyuki Miyata |  JPN | 4 | 5 | |||
| 14 | Jo Yong-Son |  PRK | 2 | 6 | |||
| 15 | Otar Tushishvili |  GEO | 2 | 4 | |||
| 16 | Maksat Boburbekov |  KGZ | 2 | 3 | |||
| 17 | Ramil Islamov |  UZB | 0 | 2 | |||
| 18 | Musa Ilhan |  AUS | 0 | 0 | |||
| 19 | Jürgen Scheibe |  GER | 0 | 0 |
Round One (28 September 2000)
Round One Pool One (28 September 2000)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serafim Barzakov | BUL | 2 | 0 | 6 | 7 | |||
| 2 | Ruslan Bodișteanu | MDA | 1 | 1 | 5 | 11 | |||
| 3 | Jürgen Scheibe | GER | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Match #1 | Serafim Barzakov | BUL | decision (4-1) (6:00) | Ruslan Bodișteanu | MDA |
| Match #2 | Serafim Barzakov | BUL | decision (3-0) (6:00) | Jürgen Scheibe | GER |
| Match #3 | Ruslan Bodișteanu | MDA | grand superiority (10-0) (4:02) | Jürgen Scheibe | GER |
Round One Pool Two (28 September 2000)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlos Ortiz | CUB | 2 | 0 | 6 | 10 | |||
| 2 | Kazuyuki Miyata | JPN | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |||
| 3 | Otar Tushishvili | GEO | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Match #1 | Carlos Ortiz | CUB | decision (4-1) (6:00) | Kazuyuki Miyata | JPN |
| Match #2 | Carlos Ortiz | CUB | decision (6-1) (6:00) | Otar Tushishvili | GEO |
| Match #3 | Kazuyuki Miyata | JPN | decision (4-3) (7:33) | Otar Tushishvili | GEO |
Round One Pool Three (28 September 2000)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mohammad Talaei | IRI | 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 | |||
| 2 | Cary Kolat | USA | 1 | 1 | 5 | 10 | |||
| 3 | Ramil Islamov | UZB | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Match #1 | Mohammad Talaei | IRI | decision (5-4) (6:00) | Cary Kolat | USA |
| Match #2 | Mohammad Talaei | IRI | default (injury) (0-0) (0:00) | Ramil Islamov | UZB |
| Match #3 | Cary Kolat | USA | fall (6-2) (5:52) | Ramil Islamov | UZB |
Round One Pool Four (28 September 2000)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arshak Hayrapetyan | ARM | 2 | 0 | 6 | 13 | |||
| 2 | Mikalai Savin | BLR | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | |||
| 3 | Maksat Boburbekov | KGZ | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Match #1 | Arshak Hayrapetyan | ARM | decision (7-4) (6:00) | Mikalai Savin | BLR |
| Match #2 | Arshak Hayrapetyan | ARM | decision (6-2) (6:00) | Maksat Boburbekov | KGZ |
| Match #3 | Mikalai Savin | BLR | decision (4-1) (6:23) | Maksat Boburbekov | KGZ |
Round One Pool Five (28 September 2000)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murad Umakhanov | RUS | 2 | 0 | 7 | 22 | |||
| 2 | Elbrus Tedieiev | UKR | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | |||
| 3 | Jo Yong-Son | PRK | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Match #1 | Murad Umakhanov | RUS | grand superiority (13-3) (6:00) | Elbrus Tedieiev | UKR |
| Match #2 | Murad Umakhanov | RUS | decision (9-2) (6:00) | Jo Yong-Son | PRK |
| Match #3 | Elbrus Tedieiev | UKR | decision (6-4) (6:00) | Jo Yong-Son | PRK |
Round One Pool Six (28 September 2000)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR | 3 | 0 | 11 | 29 | |||
| 2 | Şamil Əfəndiyev | AZE | 2 | 1 | 8 | 17 | |||
| 3 | Štefan Fernyák | SVK | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | |||
| 4 | Musa Ilhan | AUS | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Match #1 | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR | decision (6-1) (6:00) | Şamil Əfəndiyev | AZE |
| Match #2 | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR | grand superiority (13-3) (4:59) | Štefan Fernyák | SVK |
| Match #3 | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR | grand superiority (10-0) (1:50) | Musa Ilhan | AUS |
| Match #4 | Şamil Əfəndiyev | AZE | decision (6-1) (6:00) | Štefan Fernyák | SVK |
| Match #5 | Şamil Əfəndiyev | AZE | grand superiority (10-0) (2:23) | Musa Ilhan | AUS |
| Match #6 | Štefan Fernyák | SVK | default (injury) (0-0) (0:00) | Musa Ilhan | AUS |
Quarter-finals (29 September 2000)
| Match #1 | Serafim Barzakov | BUL | decision (4-1) (6:25) | Carlos Ortiz | CUB |
| Match #2 | Mohammad Talaei | IRI | decision (3-2) (6:00) | Arshak Hayrapetyan | ARM |
| Match #3 | Murad Umakhanov | RUS | bye | ||
| Match #4 | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR | bye |
Semi-finals (29 September 2000)
| Match #1 | Serafim Barzakov | BUL | decision (4-0) (6:57) | Mohammad Talaei | IRI |
| Match #2 | Murad Umakhanov | RUS | decision (4-4) (6:00) | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR |
Final Round (30 September 2000)
| Match 1/2 | Murad Umakhanov | RUS | decision (3-2) (6:00) | Serafim Barzakov | BUL |
| Match 3/4 | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR | grand superiority (12-2) (5:20) | Mohammad Talaei | IRI |
| Match 5/6 | Arshak Hayrapetyan | ARM | default (injury) (0-0) (0:00) | Carlos Ortiz | CUB |