| | Event type

Lightweight, Freestyle (≤67 kilograms), Men

Date	20 – 23 July 1952
Status	Olympic
Location	Messuhalli I, Helsinki / Messuhalli II, Helsinki
Participants	23 from 23 countries
Format	Win by fall = 0 points; win by decision = 1 point; loss of any type = 3 points. Three judges gave decisions, thus all decisions were either 2-1 or 3-0. Five bad points eliminated a wrestler. When only three wrestlers remained, if they had not yet met one another, they wrestled further rounds. Medal placements were determined by the match record among the medalists, with bad points as a tie breaker. A wrestler in the medal rounds could continue with 5 or more bad points.

Sweden’s Olle Anderberg was favored, having won the 1951 World Championships at this weight, the 1949 European title as a featherweight, and by 1952 he was also a three-time World Champion in Greco-Roman. He and American Tommy Evans were the dominant wrestlers in this class, both undefeated through six rounds, and they were joined in the final by Iranian Tofigh Jahanbakht. Both recorded unanimous decisions over Jahanbakht in the final round, but the gold medal was decided in a closely fought match in which Anderberg won over Evans by a split decision. Anderberg would win a silver medal at the 1954 Worlds, and compete at Melbourne in 1956, but he failed to medal at the latter tournament. Evans was NCAA Champion in 1952 and would repeat in 1954, also winning the AAU title that year. He also competed at the 1956 Olympics, both in freestyle and Greco-Roman, but without making the podium. Jahanbakht would win the 1954 World Championship in this class.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	MMR/RE	Bad Points
1	Olle Anderberg	SWE	2-0	–	Gold
2	Tommy Evans	USA	1-1	–	Silver
3	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	0-2	–	Bronze
4	Armenak Yaltyryan	URS	–	–
5	Risto Talosela	FIN	–	–
=6	Heini Nettesheim	GER	–	–
=6	Takeo Shimotori	JPN	–	–
AC	Jan Cools	BEL	Eliminated r4/8	7
AC	Blondie Pienaar	RSA	Eliminated r4/8	7
AC	Tevfik Yüce	TUR	Eliminated r3/8	4
AC	Dick Garrard	AUS	Eliminated r3/8	5
AC	József Gál	HUN	Eliminated r3/8	5
AC	Osvaldo Blasi	ARG	Eliminated r3/8	6
AC	Paul Besson	SUI	Eliminated r3/8	6
AC	Erik Østrand	DEN	Eliminated r3/8	7
AC	Garibaldo Nizzola	ITA	Withdrew r3/8	4
AC	Abdel Aziz Badr	EGY	Eliminated r2/8	6
AC	Ray Myland	GBR	Eliminated r2/8	6
AC	Aristides Pérez	GUA	Eliminated r2/8	6
AC	Jack Vard	IRL	Eliminated r2/8	6
AC	Oh Tae-Geun	KOR	Eliminated r2/8	6
AC	Mario Tovar	MEX	Eliminated r2/8	6
AC	Bjørn Larsson	NOR	Eliminated r2/8	6

Round One (20 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Osvaldo Blasi	ARG	0
=1	Risto Talosela	FIN	0
=1	Heini Nettesheim	GER	0
=1	Blondie Pienaar	RSA	0
=1	Olle Anderberg	SWE	0
=6	Dick Garrard	AUS	1
=6	Jan Cools	BEL	1
=6	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	1
=6	Garibaldo Nizzola	ITA	1
=6	Takeo Shimotori	JPN	1
=6	Tevfik Yüce	TUR	1
=6	Tommy Evans	USA	1
=13	Erik Østrand	DEN	3
=13	Abdel Aziz Badr	EGY	3
=13	Ray Myland	GBR	3
=13	Aristides Pérez	GUA	3
=13	József Gál	HUN	3
=13	Jack Vard	IRL	3
=13	Oh Tae-Geun	KOR	3
=13	Mario Tovar	MEX	3
=13	Bjørn Larsson	NOR	3
=13	Paul Besson	SUI	3
=13	Armenak Yaltyryan	URS	3

Match #1	Tevfik Yüce	TUR	decision (3-0)	Ray Myland	GBR
Match #2	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	decision (3-0)	József Gál	HUN
Match #3	Heini Nettesheim	GER	fall (4:16)	Oh Tae-Geun	KOR
Match #4	Osvaldo Blasi	ARG	fall (1:50)	Aristides Pérez	GUA
Match #5	Dick Garrard	AUS	decision (3-0)	Jack Vard	IRL
Match #6	Tommy Evans	USA	decision (3-0)	Abdel Aziz Badr	EGY
Match #7	Takeo Shimotori	JPN	decision (3-0)	Bjørn Larsson	NOR
Match #8	Jan Cools	BEL	decision (3-0)	Mario Tovar	MEX
Match #9	Garibaldo Nizzola	ITA	decision (3-0)	Erik Østrand	DEN
Match #10	Olle Anderberg	SWE	fall (14:06)	Armenak Yaltyryan	URS
Match #11	Risto Talosela	FIN	fall (13:10)	Paul Besson	SUI
Match #12	Blondie Pienaar	RSA	bye

Round Two (21 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Heini Nettesheim	GER	0
=2	Jan Cools	BEL	1
=2	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	1
=2	Olle Anderberg	SWE	1
=2	Tommy Evans	USA	1
=6	Dick Garrard	AUS	2
=6	Takeo Shimotori	JPN	2
=6	Tevfik Yüce	TUR	2
=9	Osvaldo Blasi	ARG	3
=9	Risto Talosela	FIN	3
=9	Blondie Pienaar	RSA	3
=9	Paul Besson	SUI	3
=9	Armenak Yaltyryan	URS	3
=14	Erik Østrand	DEN	4
=14	József Gál	HUN	4
=14	Garibaldo Nizzola	ITA	4	withdrew
=17	Abdel Aziz Badr	EGY	6	eliminated
=17	Ray Myland	GBR	6	eliminated
=17	Aristides Pérez	GUA	6	eliminated
=17	Jack Vard	IRL	6	eliminated
=17	Oh Tae-Geun	KOR	6	eliminated
=17	Mario Tovar	MEX	6	eliminated
=17	Bjørn Larsson	NOR	6	eliminated

Match #1	Tevfik Yüce	TUR	decision (3-0)	Blondie Pienaar	RSA
Match #2	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	fall (8:45)	Ray Myland	GBR
Match #3	József Gál	HUN	decision (3-0)	Oh Tae-Geun	KOR
Match #4	Heini Nettesheim	GER	fall (1:42)	Aristides Pérez	GUA
Match #5	Dick Garrard	AUS	decision (3-0)	Osvaldo Blasi	ARG
Match #6	Tommy Evans	USA	fall (7:29)	Jack Vard	IRL
Match #7	Takeo Shimotori	JPN	decision (3-0)	Abdel Aziz Badr	EGY
Match #8	Jan Cools	BEL	fall (10:30)	Bjørn Larsson	NOR
Match #9	Erik Østrand	DEN	decision (3-0)	Mario Tovar	MEX
Match #10	Olle Anderberg	SWE	decision (3-0)	Garibaldo Nizzola	ITA
Match #11	Armenak Yaltyryan	URS	fall (13:10)	Risto Talosela	FIN
Match #12	Paul Besson	SUI	bye

Round Three (22 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Olle Anderberg	SWE	1
=2	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	2
=2	Tommy Evans	USA	2
=4	Heini Nettesheim	GER	3
=4	Risto Talosela	FIN	3
=4	Takeo Shimotori	JPN	3
=7	Jan Cools	BEL	4
=7	Blondie Pienaar	RSA	4
=7	Armenak Yaltyryan	URS	4
=10	Tevfik Yüce	TUR	5	eliminated
=10	Dick Garrard	AUS	5	eliminated
=10	József Gál	HUN	5	eliminated
=13	Osvaldo Blasi	ARG	6	eliminated
=13	Paul Besson	SUI	6	eliminated
15	Erik Østrand	DEN	7	eliminated

Match #1	Blondie Pienaar	RSA	decision (3-0)	Paul Besson	SUI
Match #2	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	decision (2-1)	Tevfik Yüce	TUR
Match #3	József Gál	HUN	decision (2-1)	Heini Nettesheim	GER
Match #4	Tommy Evans	USA	decision (3-0)	Osvaldo Blasi	ARG
Match #5	Takeo Shimotori	JPN	decision (3-0)	Dick Garrard	AUS
Match #6	Olle Anderberg	SWE	fall (7:17)	Jan Cools	BEL
Match #7	Armenak Yaltyryan	URS	decision (3-0)	Erik Østrand	DEN
Match #8	Risto Talosela	FIN	bye

Round Four (22 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Olle Anderberg	SWE	1
2	Tommy Evans	USA	2
3	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	3
=4	Risto Talosela	FIN	4
=4	Armenak Yaltyryan	URS	4
=6	Heini Nettesheim	GER	6	eliminated
=6	Takeo Shimotori	JPN	6	eliminated
=8	Jan Cools	BEL	7	eliminated
=8	Blondie Pienaar	RSA	7	eliminated

Match #1	Risto Talosela	FIN	decision (3-0)	Blondie Pienaar	RSA
Match #2	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	decision (2-1)	Heini Nettesheim	GER
Match #3	Tommy Evans	USA	fall (9:25)	Jan Cools	BEL
Match #4	Olle Anderberg	SWE	fall (9:15)	Takeo Shimotori	JPN
Match #5	Armenak Yaltyryan	URS	bye

Round Five (23 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Olle Anderberg	SWE	1
2	Tommy Evans	USA	2
3	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	4
=4	Risto Talosela	FIN	7	eliminated
=4	Armenak Yaltyryan	URS	7	eliminated

Match #1	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	decision (3-0)	Armenak Yaltyryan	URS
Match #2	Tommy Evans	USA	fall (4:59)	Risto Talosela	FIN
Match #3	Olle Anderberg	SWE	bye

Round Six (23 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Olle Anderberg	SWE	2
=1	Tommy Evans	USA	2
3	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	7

Match #1	Olle Anderberg	SWE	decision (3-0)	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI
Match #2	Tommy Evans	USA	bye

Round Seven (23 July 1952)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Olle Anderberg	SWE	3
2	Tommy Evans	USA	5
3	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	7	eliminated

Match #1	Olle Anderberg	SWE	decision (2-1)	Tommy Evans	USA
Match #2	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI	bye

Final Round (23 July 1952)

Match #1	Tommy Evans	USA	decision (3-0)	Tofigh Jahanbakht	IRI
Match #2	Olle Anderberg	SWE	bye