Heavyweight, Freestyle (>87 kilograms), Men

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, 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.