Wrestling at the 1968 Summer Olympics

The 1968 wrestling tournament was conducted at the Pista de Hielo Insurgentes, an indoor arena built specifically for the 1968 Olympics. It has since become an indoor ice rink. There was no change in the wrestling programme in 1968, as the same eight events, and weight limits, were held in freestyle and Greco-Roman. In 1972, the programme would expand to 10 events in both classes. Competition was again conducted by a negative (bad) point system, with 6 points eliminating a wrestler. However, the system was tweaked once again, with scoring as follows: win by fall: 0.0 points; win by superior decision: -0.5 points; win by decision: -1.0 points; draw: -2.5 points; loss by decision: -3.0 points; loss by superior decision: -3.5 points; and a loss by fall: -4.0 points. The negative (bad) point system was effectively a double elimination tournament. When three wrestlers remained in any class, they entered a medal round-robin competition, with previous match results carried over.

As they had since they entered Olympic wrestling competition in 1952, the Soviet Union won the most medals, with nine. They won three gold medals, trailing Japan’s four. The Soviets won six Greco-Roman medals, but only one event, as Hungary, Bulgaria, and the GDR (East Germany) won two Greco-Roman golds. In freestyle, Bulgaria and Mongolia both won four medals, but won no events, as Japan won three freestyle gold medals.