| | Event type

Bantamweight, Freestyle (≤57 kilograms), Men

Date	29 – 31 July 1948 — 10:00-13:30-18:00-23:30 (all days)
Status	Olympic
Location	Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Kensington, London
Participants	15 from 15 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.

After four rounds, only Turkey’s Nasuh Akar and American Gerry Leeman remained undefeated. They both won again in round five, eliminating France’s Charles Kouyos and Belgian Joseph Trimpont, respectively. This set up a final between Akar and Leeman, with the Turk winning by fall in 8:52 to capture the gold medal. Bronze went to Kouyos, based on more wins, as Trimpont and he tied on bad points, but Trimpont had a bye in round two. The 1946 European Champion, Hungarian Lajos Bencze, who had beaten Akar in the European final, lost to Leeman in round three and was eliminated, eventually tying for fifth. Akar won the 1949 European Championship and the 1951 World Championship in this class.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	RE	Bad Points
1	Nasuh Akar	TUR	–	–	Gold
2	Gerry Leeman	USA	–	–	Silver
3	Charles Kouyos	FRA	–	–	Bronze
4	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	–	–
=5	Ray Cazaux	GBR	–	–
=5	Lajos Bencze	HUN	–	–
=5	Erik Persson	SWE	–	–
=5	Saad Hafez	EGY	–	–
AC	Erkki Johansson	FIN	Eliminated r3/6	6
AC	Han Sang-Ryong	KOR	Eliminated r3/6	6
AC	Nirmal Bhose	IND	Eliminated r2/6	5
AC	Norman May	CAN	Eliminated r2/6	6
AC	Pablo Santamaría	CUB	Eliminated r2/6	6
AC	Francisco Vicera	PHI	Eliminated r2/6	6
AC	Walter Wenger	SUI	Eliminated r2/6	6

Round One (29 July 1948)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	0
=1	Han Sang-Ryong	KOR	0
=1	Nasuh Akar	TUR	0
=1	Gerry Leeman	USA	0
=5	Charles Kouyos	FRA	1
=5	Ray Cazaux	GBR	1
=5	Lajos Bencze	HUN	1
=5	Erik Persson	SWE	1
9	Erkki Johansson	FIN	2
=10	Norman May	CAN	3
=10	Pablo Santamaría	CUB	3
=10	Saad Hafez	EGY	3
=10	Nirmal Bhose	IND	3
=10	Francisco Vicera	PHI	3
=10	Walter Wenger	SUI	3

Match #1	Lajos Bencze	HUN	decision (2-1)	Erkki Johansson	FIN
Match #2	Erik Persson	SWE	decision (3-0)	Walter Wenger	SUI
Match #3	Charles Kouyos	FRA	decision (3-0)	Saad Hafez	EGY
Match #4	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	fall (1:37)	Pablo Santamaría	CUB
Match #5	Nasuh Akar	TUR	fall (2:57)	Norman May	CAN
Match #6	Ray Cazaux	GBR	decision (3-0)	Francisco Vicera	PHI
Match #7	Gerry Leeman	USA	fall (7:35)	Nirmal Bhose	IND
Match #8	Han Sang-Ryong	KOR	bye

Round Two (30 July 1948)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	0
=1	Gerry Leeman	USA	0
=3	Charles Kouyos	FRA	1
=3	Nasuh Akar	TUR	1
=5	Lajos Bencze	HUN	2
=5	Erik Persson	SWE	2
=7	Saad Hafez	EGY	3
=7	Erkki Johansson	FIN	3
=7	Han Sang-Ryong	KOR	3
10	Ray Cazaux	GBR	4
11	Nirmal Bhose	IND	5	eliminated
=12	Norman May	CAN	6	eliminated
=12	Pablo Santamaría	CUB	6	eliminated
=12	Francisco Vicera	PHI	6	eliminated
=12	Walter Wenger	SUI	6	eliminated

Match #1	Erik Persson	SWE	decision (3-0)	Han Sang-Ryong	KOR
Match #2	Nasuh Akar	TUR	decision (3-0)	Walter Wenger	SUI
Match #3	Lajos Bencze	HUN	decision (3-0)	Norman May	CAN
Match #4	Erkki Johansson	FIN	decision (2-1)	Nirmal Bhose	IND
Match #5	Gerry Leeman	USA	fall (4:13)	Ray Cazaux	GBR
Match #6	Charles Kouyos	FRA	fall (0:28)	Francisco Vicera	PHI
Match #7	Saad Hafez	EGY	fall (2:30)	Pablo Santamaría	CUB
Match #8	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	bye

Round Three (30 July 1948)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	1
=1	Charles Kouyos	FRA	1
=1	Gerry Leeman	USA	1
4	Nasuh Akar	TUR	2
=5	Ray Cazaux	GBR	5	eliminated
=5	Lajos Bencze	HUN	5	eliminated
=5	Erik Persson	SWE	5	eliminated
=8	Saad Hafez	EGY	6	eliminated
=8	Erkki Johansson	FIN	6	eliminated
=8	Han Sang-Ryong	KOR	6	eliminated

Match #1	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	decision (3-0)	Han Sang-Ryong	KOR
Match #2	Nasuh Akar	TUR	decision (3-0)	Erik Persson	SWE
Match #3	Gerry Leeman	USA	decision (3-0)	Lajos Bencze	HUN
Match #4	Charles Kouyos	FRA	fall (10:38)	Erkki Johansson	FIN
Match #5	Ray Cazaux	GBR	decision (3-0)	Saad Hafez	EGY

Round Four (31 July 1948)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Nasuh Akar	TUR	2
=1	Gerry Leeman	USA	2
=3	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	4
=3	Charles Kouyos	FRA	4

Match #1	Nasuh Akar	TUR	fall (11:19)	Joseph Trimpont	BEL
Match #2	Gerry Leeman	USA	decision (3-0)	Charles Kouyos	FRA

Round Five (31 July 1948)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Nasuh Akar	TUR	2
2	Gerry Leeman	USA	3
=3	Joseph Trimpont	BEL	7	eliminated
=3	Charles Kouyos	FRA	7	eliminated

Match #1	Gerry Leeman	USA	decision (3-0)	Joseph Trimpont	BEL
Match #2	Nasuh Akar	TUR	fall (13:54)	Charles Kouyos	FRA

Final Round (31 July 1948)

Match #1	Nasuh Akar	TUR	fall (8:52)	Gerry Leeman	USA