| | Event type
Heavyweight, Freestyle (≤96 kilograms), Men
| Date | 28 – 29 August 2004 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Olympiako Gymnastirio Ano Liosion, Ano Liossia | |
| Participants | 21 from 21 countries | |
| Format | Round-robin pools, winner of each pool advanced to single-elimination tournament. | |
Georgia’s Eldar K’urt’anidze, Olympic bronze medalist in 2000, had won the last two World Championships, defeating Iran’s Ali Reza Heidari in the final both years. They met in the first match of pool four in Athina, with Heidari winning 3-2, and effectively eliminating K’urt’anidze from medal contention. Heidari went to the semi-finals, but he lost there to Uzbeki Magamed Ibragimov. Ibragimov met Russian Khadzhimurat Gatsalov, two-time European Champion, in the final. It was not a contest as Gatsalov won the gold medal, 4-1. Heidari held on to win the bronze medal by defeating American Daniel Cormier in a close match, 3-2.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khadzhimurat Gatsalov |  RUS | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Magomed Ibragimov |  UZB | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Ali Reza Heidari |  IRI | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Daniel Cormier |  USA | – | – | |||
| 5 | Rüstəm Ağayev |  AZE | – | – | |||
| 6 | Wang Yuanyuan |  CHN | – | – | |||
| 7 | Aliaksandr Shamarau |  BLR | 6 | 8 | |||
| 8 | Eldar K'urt'anidze |  GEO | 5 | 8 | |||
| 9 | Fatih Çakıroğlu |  TUR | 5 | 5 | |||
| 10 | Islam Bayramukov |  KAZ | 4 | 9 | |||
| 11 | Bartłomiej Bartnicki |  POL | 4 | 5 | |||
| 12 | Peter Pecha |  SVK | 4 | 5 | |||
| 13 | Alexandros Laliotis |  GRE | 4 | 4 | |||
| 14 | Vadym Tasoiev |  UKR | 3 | 6 | |||
| 15 | Aleksey Krupnyakov |  KGZ | 3 | 3 | |||
| 16 | Rolf Scherrer |  SUI | 2 | 2 | |||
| 17 | Krasimir Kochev |  BUL | 1 | 2 | |||
| 18 | Nico Jacobs |  NAM | 1 | 1 | |||
| 19 | Radovan Valach |  AUT | 1 | 1 | |||
| 20 | Antoine Jaoude |  BRA | 0 | 0 | |||
| 21 | Tüvshintöriin Enkhtuyaa |  MGL | 0 | 0 |
Round One (28 August 2004)
Pool A (28 August 2004)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wang Yuanyuan | CHN | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |||
| 2 | Peter Pecha | SVK | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |||
| 3 | Alexandros Laliotis | GRE | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Match #1 | Wang Yuanyuan | CHN | decision (3-1) (6:08) | Peter Pecha | SVK |
| Match #2 | Alexandros Laliotis | GRE | decision (3-2) (6:00) | Wang Yuanyuan | CHN |
| Match #3 | Peter Pecha | SVK | decision (4-1) (7:07) | Alexandros Laliotis | GRE |
Pool B (28 August 2004)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magomed Ibragimov | UZB | 2 | 0 | 6 | 7 | |||
| 2 | Aleksey Krupnyakov | KGZ | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | |||
| 3 | Krasimir Kochev | BUL | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Match #1 | Magomed Ibragimov | UZB | decision (3-0) (6:00) | Aleksey Krupnyakov | KGZ |
| Match #2 | Magomed Ibragimov | UZB | decision (4-0) (6:00) | Krasimir Kochev | BUL |
| Match #3 | Aleksey Krupnyakov | KGZ | decision (3-2) (6:00) | Krasimir Kochev | BUL |
Pool C (28 August 2004)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rüstəm Ağayev | AZE | 2 | 0 | 7 | 18 | |||
| 2 | Islam Bayramukov | KAZ | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | |||
| 3 | Nico Jacobs | NAM | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Match #1 | Rüstəm Ağayev | AZE | decision (7-2) (6:00) | Islam Bayramukov | KAZ |
| Match #2 | Rüstəm Ağayev | AZE | fall (11-0) (1:13) | Nico Jacobs | NAM |
| Match #3 | Islam Bayramukov | KAZ | decision (7-1) (6:00) | Nico Jacobs | NAM |
Pool D (28 August 2004)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ali Reza Heidari | IRI | 2 | 0 | 7 | 13 | |||
| 2 | Eldar K'urt'anidze | GEO | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | |||
| 3 | Antoine Jaoude | BRA | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Match #1 | Ali Reza Heidari | IRI | decision (3-2) (8:20) | Eldar K'urt'anidze | GEO |
| Match #2 | Ali Reza Heidari | IRI | grand superiority (10-0) (2:21) | Antoine Jaoude | BRA |
| Match #3 | Eldar K'urt'anidze | GEO | fall (6-0) (1:49) | Antoine Jaoude | BRA |
Pool E (28 August 2004)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khadzhimurat Gatsalov | RUS | 2 | 0 | 6 | 6 | |||
| 2 | Vadym Tasoiev | UKR | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | |||
| 3 | Rolf Scherrer | SUI | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Match #1 | Khadzhimurat Gatsalov | RUS | decision (3-0) (6:00) | Vadym Tasoiev | UKR |
| Match #2 | Khadzhimurat Gatsalov | RUS | decision (3-1) (6:00) | Rolf Scherrer | SUI |
| Match #3 | Vadym Tasoiev | UKR | decision (6-1) (6:00) | Rolf Scherrer | SUI |
Pool F (28 August 2004)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aliaksandr Shamarau | BLR | 2 | 0 | 6 | 8 | |||
| 2 | Fatih Çakıroğlu | TUR | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | |||
| 3 | Tüvshintöriin Enkhtuyaa | MGL | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Match #1 | Aliaksandr Shamarau | BLR | decision (3-1) (7:51) | Fatih Çakıroğlu | TUR |
| Match #2 | Aliaksandr Shamarau | BLR | decision (5-0) (6:00) | Tüvshintöriin Enkhtuyaa | MGL |
| Match #3 | Fatih Çakıroğlu | TUR | fall (4-0) (3:15) | Tüvshintöriin Enkhtuyaa | MGL |
Pool G (28 August 2004)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Wins | Losses | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Cormier | USA | 2 | 0 | 6 | 19 | |||
| 2 | Bartłomiej Bartnicki | POL | 1 | 1 | 4 | 5 | |||
| 3 | Radovan Valach | AUT | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Match #1 | Daniel Cormier | USA | decision (10-1) (6:00) | Bartłomiej Bartnicki | POL |
| Match #2 | Daniel Cormier | USA | decision (9-0) (6:00) | Radovan Valach | AUT |
| Match #3 | Bartłomiej Bartnicki | POL | decision (4-1) (6:00) | Radovan Valach | AUT |
Quarter-Finals (29 August 2004)
| Match #1 | Khadzhimurat Gatsalov | RUS | decision (3-0) (6:00) | Viachaslau Makaranka | BLR |
| Match #2 | Ali Reza Heidari | IRI | decision (5-0) (6:00) | Rüstəm Ağayev | AZE |
| Match #3 | Magomed Ibragimov | UZB | decision (4-1) (6:00) | Wang Yuanyuan | CHN |
Semi-Finals (29 August 2004)
| Match #1 | Khadzhimurat Gatsalov | RUS | decision (5-0) (6:08) | Daniel Cormier | USA |
| Match #2 | Magomed Ibragimov | UZB | decision (6-4) (6:00) | Ali Reza Heidari | IRI |
Final Round (29 August 2004)
| Match 1/2 | Khadzhimurat Gatsalov | RUS | decision (4-1) (6:00) | Magomed Ibragimov | UZB |
| Match 3/4 | Ali Reza Heidari | IRI | decision (3-2) (7:47) | Daniel Cormier | USA |
| Match 5/6 | Rüstəm Ağayev | AZE | fall (3-3) (0:58) | Wang Yuanyuan | CHN |