| | Event type

Heavyweight, Freestyle (>87 kg), Men

Date	3 – 4 August 1936
Status	Olympic
Location	Deutschlandhalle, Berlin
Participants	11 from 11 countries
Format	Elimination by bad points. Win by fall = 0 points; win by decision = 1 point; loss by 2-1 decision = 2 points; loss by 3-0 decision = 3 points; loss by fall = 3 points. Three judges gave decisions, thus all decisions were either 2-1 or 3-0. Five bad points eliminated a wrestler.

Estonian Kristjan Palusalu had only previously competed in one international event, the 1933 European Greco-Roman Championships, in which he placed fourth. He had already won five Estonian titles in freestyle and four in Greco-Roman by the time of the 1936 Olympics. In Berlin, he made history by winning the heavyweight class in both freestyle and Greco-Roman, the only time this has ever happened (as of 2024), making him the absolute champion wrestler of the year. In 1937, he won the European title in Greco-Roman before retiring in 1938 due to a shoulder injury. In 1991, Palusalu was voted the greatest Estonian athlete of all-time.

Palusalu won his gold medal in this class with a final round unanimous decision over Finland’s Hjalmar Nyström, who won bronze. The silver went to Czechoslovak Josef Klapuch, who had been runner-up at the 1934 European Championships in this class, in which Nyström finished third.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Round Eliminated	Bad Points
1	23	Kristjan Palusalu	EST	–	–	Gold
2	90	Josef Klapuch	TCH	–	–	Silver
3	35	Hjalmar Nyström	FIN	–	–	Bronze
4	72	Nils Åkerlindh	SWE	–	–
5	40	Robert Herland	FRA	–	–
6	82	Willy Bürki	SUI	–	–
AC	131	Georg Gehring	GER	eliminated r3/5	5
AC	17	George Chiga	CAN	eliminated r3/5	6
AC	97	Mehmet Çoban	TUR	eliminated r3/5	7
AC	13	Léon Charlier	BEL	eliminated r2/5	6
AC	117	Roy Dunn	USA	eliminated r2/5	6
DNS	132	Eugen Lägeler	GER	–	–
DNS	83	Henri Wernli	SUI	–	–
DNS	75	Georg Nilsson	SWE	–	–
DNS	118	Howell Scobey, Jr.	USA	–	–

Round One

Date	3 August 1936 — 10:00

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points
=1	23	Kristjan Palusalu	EST	0
=1	35	Hjalmar Nyström	FIN	0
=1	40	Robert Herland	FRA	0
=1	72	Nils Åkerlindh	SWE	0
=5	82	Willy Bürki	SUI	1
=5	97	Mehmet Çoban	TUR	1
7	131	Georg Gehring	GER	2
=8	13	Léon Charlier	BEL	3
=8	17	George Chiga	CAN	3
=8	90	Josef Klapuch	TCH	3
=8	117	Roy Dunn	USA	3

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	03 Aug	Kristjan Palusalu	EST	Fall (10:50)	Josef Klapuch	TCH
Match #2	03 Aug	Mehmet Çoban	TUR	Decision (3-0)	Léon Charlier	BEL
Match #3	03 Aug	Willy Bürki	SUI	Decision (2-1)	Georg Gehring	GER
Match #4	03 Aug	Nils Åkerlindh	SWE	Fall (13:30)	Roy Dunn	USA
Match #5	03 Aug	Hjalmar Nyström	FIN	Fall (10:11)	George Chiga	CAN
Match #6	03 Aug	Robert Herland	FRA

Round Two

Date	4 August 1936 — 11:00

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	23	Kristjan Palusalu	EST	0	–
=2	82	Willy Bürki	SUI	1	–
=2	72	Nils Åkerlindh	SWE	1	–
=4	35	Hjalmar Nyström	FIN	2	–
=4	131	Georg Gehring	GER	2	–
=6	17	George Chiga	CAN	3	–
=6	40	Robert Herland	FRA	3	–
=6	90	Josef Klapuch	TCH	3	–
9	97	Mehmet Çoban	TUR	4	–
=10	13	Léon Charlier	BEL	6	eliminated
=10	117	Roy Dunn	USA	6	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	04 Aug	Kristjan Palusalu	EST	Fall (6:45)	Robert Herland	FRA
Match #2	04 Aug	Josef Klapuch	TCH	Fall (7:40)	Léon Charlier	BEL
Match #3	04 Aug	Georg Gehring	GER	Fall (3:03)	Mehmet Çoban	TUR
Match #4	04 Aug	Willy Bürki	SUI	Fall (0:49)	Roy Dunn	USA
Match #5	04 Aug	Nils Åkerlindh	SWE	Decision (2-1)	Hjalmar Nyström	FIN
Match #6	04 Aug	George Chiga	CAN

Round Three

Date	4 August 1936 — 19:00

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	23	Kristjan Palusalu	EST	1	–
=1	72	Nils Åkerlindh	SWE	1	–
3	35	Hjalmar Nyström	FIN	2	–
4	40	Robert Herland	FRA	3	–
=5	82	Willy Bürki	SUI	4	–
=5	90	Josef Klapuch	TCH	4	–
7	131	Georg Gehring	GER	5	eliminated
8	17	George Chiga	CAN	6	eliminated
9	97	Mehmet Çoban	TUR	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	04 Aug	Robert Herland	FRA	Fall (3:45)	George Chiga	CAN
Match #2	04 Aug	Kristjan Palusalu	EST	Decision (3-0)	Mehmet Çoban	TUR
Match #3	04 Aug	Josef Klapuch	TCH	Decision (3-0)	Georg Gehring	GER
Match #4	04 Aug	Nils Åkerlindh	SWE	Fall (9:49)	Willy Bürki	SUI
Match #5	04 Aug	Hjalmar Nyström	FIN

Round Four

Date	4 August 1936 — 20:00

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	23	Kristjan Palusalu	EST	1	–
2	35	Hjalmar Nyström	FIN	2	–
=3	72	Nils Åkerlindh	SWE	4	–
=3	90	Josef Klapuch	TCH	4	–
5	40	Robert Herland	FRA	6	eliminated
6	82	Willy Bürki	SUI	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	04 Aug	Hjalmar Nyström	FIN	Fall (11:05)	Robert Herland	FRA
Match #2	04 Aug	Kristjan Palusalu	EST	Fall (6:15)	Willy Bürki	SUI
Match #3	04 Aug	Josef Klapuch	TCH	Fall (2:02)	Nils Åkerlindh	SWE

Final Round

Date	4 August 1936 — 21:00

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	04 Aug	Kristjan Palusalu	EST	Decision (3-0)	Hjalmar Nyström	FIN
Match #2	04 Aug	Josef Klapuch	TCH