| | Event type

Bantamweight, Greco-Roman (≤57 kilograms), Men

Date	3 – 6 August 1948 — 10:00-13:30-18:00-23:30 (all days)
Status	Olympic
Location	Empress Hall, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, Kensington, London
Participants	13 from 13 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.

Egypt’s Mahmoud Hassan had won the 1947 European Championships and came in as the favorite. He led after rounds 3-5, and advanced to a final against Sweden’s Kurt Pettersén, although Pettersén had lost his third-round match against Norway’s Reidar Merli. In the final round, Pettersén upset the Egyptian by unanimous decision to win the gold medal, with Hassan taking silver. Turkey’s Halil Kaya won bronze despite losing unanimous decisions in round three to Hungarian Lajos Bencze and to Hassan in round five.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	RE	Bad Points
1	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	–	–	Gold
2	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY	–	–	Silver
3	Halil Kaya	TUR	–	–	Bronze
4	Taisto Lempinen	FIN	–	–
5	Elvidio Flamini	ARG	–	–
=6	Lajos Bencze	HUN	–	–
=6	Reidar Merli	NOR	–	–
AC	Ken Irvine	GBR	Eliminated r3/6	6
AC	Nikolaos Biris	GRE	Eliminated r3/6	6
AC	Kurt Elias	AUT	Eliminated r3/6	7
AC	Kolle Lejserowitz	DEN	Eliminated r2/6	5
AC	Jésus Arenzana	FRA	Eliminated r2/6	6
AC	Francesco Suppo	ITA	Eliminated r2/6	6

Round One (3 August 1948)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Elvidio Flamini	ARG	0
=1	Nikolaos Biris	GRE	0
=1	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	0
=1	Halil Kaya	TUR	0
=5	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY	1
=5	Lajos Bencze	HUN	1
=5	Reidar Merli	NOR	1
=8	Kolle Lejserowitz	DEN	2
=8	Taisto Lempinen	FIN	2
=10	Kurt Elias	AUT	3
=10	Jésus Arenzana	FRA	3
=10	Ken Irvine	GBR	3
=10	Francesco Suppo	ITA	3

Match #1	Reidar Merli	NOR	decision (3-0)	Kurt Elias	AUT
Match #2	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY	decision (2-1)	Kolle Lejserowitz	DEN
Match #3	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	fall (11:54)	Francesco Suppo	ITA
Match #4	Lajos Bencze	HUN	decision (2-1)	Taisto Lempinen	FIN
Match #5	Halil Kaya	TUR	fall (12:01)	Jésus Arenzana	FRA
Match #6	Nikolaos Biris	GRE	fall (5:46)	Ken Irvine	GBR
Match #7	Elvidio Flamini	ARG	bye

Round Two (4 August 1948)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Halil Kaya	TUR	0
=2	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY	1
=2	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	1
4	Taisto Lempinen	FIN	2
=5	Elvidio Flamini	ARG	3
=5	Ken Irvine	GBR	3
=5	Nikolaos Biris	GRE	3
=8	Kurt Elias	AUT	4
=8	Lajos Bencze	HUN	4
=8	Reidar Merli	NOR	4
11	Kolle Lejserowitz	DEN	5	eliminated
=12	Jésus Arenzana	FRA	6	eliminated
=12	Francesco Suppo	ITA	6	eliminated

Match #1	Kurt Elias	AUT	decision (3-0)	Elvidio Flamini	ARG
Match #2	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY	fall (5:49)	Francesco Suppo	ITA
Match #3	Reidar Merli	NOR	DQ (both passivity)	Kolle Lejserowitz	DEN
Match #4	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	decision (3-0)	Lajos Bencze	HUN
Match #5	Taisto Lempinen	FIN	fall (8:16)	Jésus Arenzana	FRA
Match #6	Halil Kaya	TUR	fall (13:55)	Nikolaos Biris	GRE
Match #7	Ken Irvine	GBR	bye

Round Three (5 August 1948)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY	1
2	Taisto Lempinen	FIN	2
=3	Elvidio Flamini	ARG	3
=3	Halil Kaya	TUR	3
5	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	4
=6	Lajos Bencze	HUN	5	eliminated
=6	Reidar Merli	NOR	5	eliminated
=8	Ken Irvine	GBR	6	eliminated
=8	Nikolaos Biris	GRE	6	eliminated
10	Kurt Elias	AUT	7	eliminated

Match #1	Elvidio Flamini	ARG	fall (12:43)	Ken Irvine	GBR
Match #2	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY	fall (8:14)	Kurt Elias	AUT
Match #3	Reidar Merli	NOR	decision (3-0)	Kurt Pettersén	SWE
Match #4	Lajos Bencze	HUN	decision (3-0)	Halil Kaya	TUR
Match #5	Taisto Lempinen	FIN	fall (3:53)	Nikolaos Biris	GRE

Round Four (5 August 1948)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY	1
2	Halil Kaya	TUR	3
3	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	4
4	Taisto Lempinen	FIN	5	eliminated
5	Elvidio Flamini	ARG	6	eliminated

Match #1	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY	fall (19:53)	Elvidio Flamini	ARG
Match #2	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	fall (14:17)	Taisto Lempinen	FIN
Match #3	Halil Kaya	TUR	bye

Round Five (6 August 1948)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY	2
2	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	4
3	Halil Kaya	TUR	6	eliminated

Match #1	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY	decision (3-0)	Halil Kaya	TUR
Match #2	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	bye

Final Round (6 August 1948)

Match #1	Kurt Pettersén	SWE	decision (3-0)	Mahmoud Hassan	EGY