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| Event type

Heavyweight, Freestyle (>87 kilograms), Men

Date29 – 31 July 1948 — 10:00-13:30-18:00-23:30 (all days)
StatusOlympic
LocationEmpress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Kensington, London
Participants9 from 9 countries
FormatElimination 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.

There were only nine entrants in the men’s freestyle heavyweight event, and thus it required only four rounds to get to a final round match. Round four matched Australian Jim Armstrong against Turkey’s Sadik Esen, with Armstrong winning by fall in 12:30, and Hungary’s Gyula Bobís defeating Sweden’s Bertil Antonsson by split decision. Bobís had been the bronze medalist in this class at the 1937 European Championships, while Antonsson was the 1946 European Champion. Bobís then met Armstrong for the gold medal, with the Hungarian winning by fall in 9:49.

Bobís did not retire, winning silver in Greco-Roman at the 1950 World Championships. Antonsson would repeat as silver medalist in this class in 1952 and also competed at the 1956 and 1960 Olympics, with less success. He won the 1949 European and 1951 World Championships in this class. Armstrong would win the 1950 British Empire Games title in this class, and he also played cricket for Australia in an Ashes’ Test match against Great Britain in 1946.

PosCompetitor(s)NOCREBad Points
1Gyula BóbisHUNGold
2Bertil AntonssonSWESilver
3Jim ArmstrongAUSBronze
4Sadik EsenTUR
=5Abdul Ghasem SahkdariIRI
=5Josef RůžičkaTCH
ACDick HuttonUSAEliminated r3/56
ACFred OberlanderGBREliminated r2/55
ACWilly LardonSUIEliminated r2/56

Round One (29 July 1948)

PosCompetitor(s)NOCBad Points
1Abdul Ghasem SahkdariIRI0
=2Jim ArmstrongAUS1
=2Gyula BóbisHUN1
=2Bertil AntonssonSWE1
=2Josef RůžičkaTCH1
6Dick HuttonUSA2
=7Fred OberlanderGBR3
=7Willy LardonSUI3
=7Sadik EsenTUR3

Match #1 Josef RůžičkaTCH
decision (2-1)
Dick HuttonUSA
Match #2 Jim ArmstrongAUS
decision (3-0)
Fred OberlanderGBR
Match #3 Gyula BóbisHUN
decision (3-0)
Willy LardonSUI
Match #4 Bertil AntonssonSWE
decision (3-0)
Sadik EsenTUR
Match #5 Abdul Ghasem SahkdariIRI bye

Round Two (30 July 1948)

PosCompetitor(s)NOCBad Points
=1Gyula BóbisHUN1
=1Bertil AntonssonSWE1
=3Abdul Ghasem SahkdariIRI2
=3Josef RůžičkaTCH2
5Dick HuttonUSA3
=6Jim ArmstrongAUS4
=6Sadik EsenTUR4
8Fred OberlanderGBR5eliminated
9Willy LardonSUI6eliminated

Match #1 Josef RůžičkaTCH
decision (2-1)
Fred OberlanderGBR
Match #2 Dick HuttonUSA
decision (2-1)
Abdul Ghasem SahkdariIRI
Match #3 Gyula BóbisHUN
fall (6:14)
Jim ArmstrongAUS
Match #4 Sadik EsenTUR
decision (3-0)
Willy LardonSUI
Match #5 Bertil AntonssonSWE bye

Round Three (30 July 1948)

PosCompetitor(s)NOCBad Points
=1Gyula BóbisHUN1
=1Bertil AntonssonSWE1
=3Jim ArmstrongAUS4
=3Sadik EsenTUR4
=5Abdul Ghasem SahkdariIRI5eliminated
=5Josef RůžičkaTCH5eliminated
7Dick HuttonUSA6eliminated

Match #1 Bertil AntonssonSWE
fall (8:41)
Abdul Ghasem SahkdariIRI
Match #2 Jim ArmstrongAUS
retired (2:36)
Dick HuttonUSA
Match #3 Gyula BóbisHUN
fall (9:06)
Josef RůžičkaTCH
Match #4 Sadik EsenTUR bye

Round Four (31 July 1948)

PosCompetitor(s)NOCBad Points
1Gyula BóbisHUN2
2Bertil AntonssonSWE3
3Jim ArmstrongAUS4
4Sadik EsenTUR7eliminated

Match #1 Jim ArmstrongAUS
fall (12:30)
Sadik EsenTUR
Match #2 Gyula BóbisHUN
decision (2-1)
Bertil AntonssonSWE

Final Round (31 July 1948)

Match #1 Bertil AntonssonSWE
fall (9:49)
Jim ArmstrongAUS
Match #2 Gyula BóbisHUN bye