Heavyweight, Greco-Roman (>87 kilograms), Men

The heavy favorite should have been the Estonian Soviet Johannes Kotkas, who was the 1938-39 European Champion, representing Estonia, and won again in 1947 for the Soviet Union. Kotkas could not compete, however, as the Soviet Union did not enter the Olympics until 1952, and Estonia was no longer an independent nation, but he would return in 1952 and win the gold medal in this class at Helsinki. In Kotkas’ absence, the gold medal went to Turkey’s Ahmet Kireççi, who had won a bronze medal in middleweight freestyle at the 1936 Olympics. Kireççi won the gold with a final round unanimous decision over Italy’s Guido Fantoni, who took the bronze behind Sweden’s Tor Nilsson. Nilsson had lost to Kireççi by fall in 15:48 of the second round.