Lightweight, Freestyle (≤66 kilograms), Men

There were eight competitors, with the overwhelming favorite being Finn Kustaa Pihlajamäki, who was 1924 freestyle bantamweight gold medalist and had won a silver medal in this class in 1928. He was already twice a European Champion in Greco-Roman by the time he came to Los Angeles, would eventually win nine European titles, and is considered one of the greatest wrestlers of the 1930s. In the first round, he met American Marvin Clodfelter, who had been a 1928 NCAA Champion in the US, but was not considered a threat to Pihlajamäki. But Clodfelter defeated the Finn by decision, and when Pihlajamäki won his next two bouts only by decision, he was eliminated on bad points.

The medal round came down to Sweden’s Gustaf Klarén, Hungary’s Károly Karpati, and France’s Charles Pacôme, who was the silver medalist from Amsterdam. Pacôme defeated both Klarén and Karpati to secure the gold medal with the silver going to Karpati. Karpati would return in 1936 and win the gold medal in this event at Berlin. He was also European Champion in this class in both 1930 and 1935. This was the only international appearance for Klarén.