| 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 | 17 from 17 countries | |
| Format | Scoring by negative 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 negative points eliminated a wrestler. | |
Sweden’s Olle Anderberg came in as the favorite, having won the 1947 European Championship, and he would come to dominate this class, winning the 1950 and 1953 World Championships.
However, in round three in 1948, Anderberg lost by fall in only 2:48 to Turk Mehmet Oktav. This did not eliminate Anderberg, however, and, after five rounds, the final round came down to him, Oktav, and Hungarian Ferenc Tóth, runner-up at the 1934 and 1947 Europeans (to Anderberg in 1947), and twice a European freestyle champion before World War II. Anderberg defeated Tóth in the final in a long match, winning by fall at 15:30, and this eliminated Tóth, but Oktav’s third-round victory over Anderberg was decisive, giving the Turk the gold medal, as Anderberg won silver, and Tóth bronze.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Round Eliminated | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Mehmet Oktav |  TUR | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | – | Olle Anderberg |  SWE | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | 50 | Ferenc Tóth |  HUN | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | – | Georg Weidner |  AUT | – | – | |||
| 5 | – | Luigi Campanella |  ITA | – | – | |||
| =6 | – | El-Sayed Kandil |  EGY | – | – | |||
| =6 | – | Erkki Talosela |  FIN | – | – | |||
| =6 | – | Safi Taha |  LBN | – | – | |||
| =6 | – | Egil Solsvik |  NOR | – | – | |||
| 10 | – | Antoine Merle |  FRA | eliminated r3/6 | 6 | |||
| =11 | – | Antonios Gryllos |  GRE | eliminated r3/6 | 7 | |||
| =11 | – | Henk Dijk |  NED | eliminated r3/6 | 7 | |||
| 13 | – | Omar Blebel |  ARG | eliminated r2/6 | 5 | |||
| =14 | – | Jack Mortimer |  GBR | eliminated r2/6 | 6 | |||
| =14 | – | Raymond Strasser |  LUX | eliminated r2/6 | 6 | |||
| =14 | 56 | Adolf Müller |  SUI | DQ (overweight) r2/6 | 6 | |||
| 17 | – | Jan Stehlík |  TCH | withdrew r2/6 | 2 |
| Date | 3 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | – | Antoine Merle | FRA | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Luigi Campanella | ITA | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Safi Taha | LBN | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Olle Anderberg | SWE | 0 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Mehmet Oktav | TUR | 0 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Erkki Talosela | FIN | 1 | – | ||
| =6 | 50 | Ferenc Tóth | HUN | 1 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Henk Dijk | NED | 1 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Egil Solsvik | NOR | 1 | – | ||
| 10 | – | Jan Stehlík | TCH | 2 | withdrew | ||
| =11 | – | Omar Blebel | ARG | 3 | – | ||
| =11 | – | Georg Weidner | AUT | 3 | – | ||
| =11 | – | El-Sayed Kandil | EGY | 3 | – | ||
| =11 | – | Jack Mortimer | GBR | 3 | – | ||
| =11 | – | Antonios Gryllos | GRE | 3 | – | ||
| =11 | – | Raymond Strasser | LUX | 3 | – | ||
| =11 | 56 | Adolf Müller | SUI | 3 | – |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 03 Aug | Erkki Talosela | FIN | Decision (3-0) | El-Sayed Kandil | EGY | |
| Match #2 | 03 Aug | Henk Dijk | NED | Decision (3-0) | Omar Blebel | ARG | |
| Match #3 | 03 Aug | Luigi Campanella | ITA | Fall (10:00) | Antonios Gryllos | GRE | |
| Match #4 | 03 Aug | Egil Solsvik | NOR | Decision (3-0) | Adolf Müller | SUI | |
| Match #5 | 03 Aug | Safi Taha | LBN | Fall (1:46) | Raymond Strasser | LUX | |
| Match #6 | 03 Aug | Ferenc Tóth | HUN | Decision (2-1) | Jan Stehlík | TCH | |
| Match #7 | 03 Aug | Antoine Merle | FRA | Fall (1:51) | Jack Mortimer | GBR | |
| Match #8 | 03 Aug | Olle Anderberg | SWE | Fall (14:29) | Georg Weidner | AUT | |
| Match #9 | 03 Aug | Mehmet Oktav | TUR |
| Date | 4 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Olle Anderberg | SWE | 0 | – | ||
| =2 | 50 | Ferenc Tóth | HUN | 1 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Luigi Campanella | ITA | 1 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Safi Taha | LBN | 1 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Mehmet Oktav | TUR | 1 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Georg Weidner | AUT | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Antoine Merle | FRA | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Egil Solsvik | NOR | 3 | – | ||
| =9 | – | El-Sayed Kandil | EGY | 4 | – | ||
| =9 | – | Erkki Talosela | FIN | 4 | – | ||
| =9 | – | Antonios Gryllos | GRE | 4 | – | ||
| =9 | – | Henk Dijk | NED | 4 | – | ||
| 13 | – | Omar Blebel | ARG | 5 | eliminated | ||
| =14 | – | Jack Mortimer | GBR | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =14 | – | Raymond Strasser | LUX | 6 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 04 Aug | Mehmet Oktav | TUR | Decision (3-0) | Erkki Talosela | FIN | |
| Match #2 | 04 Aug | El-Sayed Kandil | EGY | Decision (3-0) | Henk Dijk | NED | |
| Match #3 | 04 Aug | Antonios Gryllos | GRE | Decision (2-1) | Omar Blebel | ARG | |
| Match #4 | 04 Aug | Luigi Campanella | ITA | Decision (2-1) | Egil Solsvik | NOR | |
| Match #5 | 04 Aug | Ferenc Tóth | HUN | Fall (5:01) | Jack Mortimer | GBR | |
| Match #6 | 04 Aug | Georg Weidner | AUT | Fall (1:51) | Raymond Strasser | LUX | |
| Match #7 | 04 Aug | Safi Taha | LBN | Decision (3-0) | Antoine Merle | FRA | |
| Match #8 | 04 Aug | Olle Anderberg | SWE | ||||
| Match #9 | 04 Aug | ||||||
| Match #10 | 04 Aug |
| Date | 5 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Mehmet Oktav | TUR | 1 | – | ||
| 2 | – | Luigi Campanella | ITA | 2 | – | ||
| =3 | – | Georg Weidner | AUT | 3 | – | ||
| =3 | 50 | Ferenc Tóth | HUN | 3 | – | ||
| =3 | – | Olle Anderberg | SWE | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | – | El-Sayed Kandil | EGY | 4 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Erkki Talosela | FIN | 4 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Safi Taha | LBN | 4 | – | ||
| =6 | – | Egil Solsvik | NOR | 4 | – | ||
| 10 | – | Antoine Merle | FRA | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =11 | – | Antonios Gryllos | GRE | 7 | eliminated | ||
| =11 | – | Henk Dijk | NED | 7 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Aug | Mehmet Oktav | TUR | Fall (2:48) | Olle Anderberg | SWE | |
| Match #2 | 05 Aug | Erkki Talosela | FIN | Fall (7:21) | Henk Dijk | NED | |
| Match #3 | 05 Aug | El-Sayed Kandil | EGY | Fall (3:31) | Antonios Gryllos | GRE | |
| Match #4 | 05 Aug | Luigi Campanella | ITA | Decision (2-1) | Ferenc Tóth | HUN | |
| Match #5 | 05 Aug | Egil Solsvik | NOR | Decision (3-0) | Antoine Merle | FRA | |
| Match #6 | 05 Aug | Georg Weidner | AUT | Fall (11:21) | Safi Taha | LBN |
| Date | 5 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | Mehmet Oktav | TUR | 2 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Georg Weidner | AUT | 3 | – | ||
| =2 | 50 | Ferenc Tóth | HUN | 3 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Luigi Campanella | ITA | 3 | – | ||
| =2 | – | Olle Anderberg | SWE | 3 | – | ||
| =6 | – | El-Sayed Kandil | EGY | 7 | eliminated | ||
| =6 | – | Erkki Talosela | FIN | 7 | eliminated | ||
| =6 | – | Safi Taha | LBN | 7 | eliminated | ||
| =6 | – | Egil Solsvik | NOR | 7 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 05 Aug | Olle Anderberg | SWE | Fall (13:02) | Erkki Talosela | FIN | |
| Match #2 | 05 Aug | Mehmet Oktav | TUR | Decision (3-0) | El-Sayed Kandil | EGY | |
| Match #3 | 05 Aug | Luigi Campanella | ITA | Decision (3-0) | Safi Taha | LBN | |
| Match #4 | 05 Aug | Ferenc Tóth | HUN | Fall (16:36) | Egil Solsvik | NOR | |
| Match #5 | 05 Aug | Georg Weidner | AUT |
| Date | 6 August 1948 |
|---|
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Bad Points | Event Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | 50 | Ferenc Tóth | HUN | 3 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Olle Anderberg | SWE | 3 | – | ||
| =1 | – | Mehmet Oktav | TUR | 3 | – | ||
| 4 | – | Georg Weidner | AUT | 5 | eliminated | ||
| 5 | – | Luigi Campanella | ITA | 6 | eliminated |
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 06 Aug | Mehmet Oktav | TUR | Decision (2-1) | Georg Weidner | AUT | |
| Match #2 | 06 Aug | Olle Anderberg | SWE | Fall (13:02) | Luigi Campanella | ITA | |
| Match #3 | 06 Aug | Ferenc Tóth | HUN |
| Date | 6 August 1948 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 06 Aug | Olle Anderberg | SWE | Fall (15:30) | Ferenc Tóth | HUN | |
| Match #2 | 06 Aug | Mehmet Oktav | TUR |
