| | Event type

Lightweight, Greco-Roman (≤67 kg), Men

Date	24 – 27 July 1952
Status	Olympic
Location	Messuhalli I, Helsinki
Participants	19 from 19 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.

Hungarian József Gál was the 1950 World Champion but competed in Helsinki only in freestyle, where he did not place. The defending champion was Sweden’s Gustav Freij and he was back, having placed second to Gál at the 1950 Worlds, and he would again win the World title in 1953. The final round in Helsinki came down to Freij, Soviet Shazam Saftin, and Czechoslovak Mikuláš Athanasov, and with Freij and Saftin both defeating Athanasov, the gold medal match came down to Freij against Saftin, with Saftin winning by a unanimous decision. Saftin was almost completely unknown, having won only two bronzes in the Soviet Nationals, and his only other major international medal was a bronze as a lightweight at the 1953 Worlds.

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Medalists Match Record / Round Eliminated	Bad Points
1	147	Shazam Safin	URS	2-0	–	Gold
2	221	Gustav Freij	SWE	1-1	–	Silver
3	278	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	0-2	–	Bronze
4	331	Gyula Tarr	HUN	–	–
=5	266	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	–	–
=5	84	Franco Benedetti	ITA	–	–
=5	187	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	–	–
AC	28	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	eliminated r3/7	5
AC	180	André Verdaine	FRA	eliminated r3/7	5
AC	230	Erich Schmidt	SAA	eliminated r3/7	5
AC	274	Jack Rasmussen	DEN	eliminated r3/7	6
AC	165	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL	eliminated r3/7	6
AC	16	Jan Cools	BEL	eliminated r3/7	7
AC	108	Georgios Petmezas	GRE	eliminated r2/7	5
AC	234	Heini Nettesheim	GER	eliminated r2/7	6
AC	45	Aristides Pérez	GUA	eliminated r2/7	6
AC	116	Metty Scheitler	LUX	eliminated r2/7	6
AC	159	Aage Eriksen	NOR	eliminated r2/7	6
AC	287	Raif Akbulut	TUR	withdrew r2/7	3
DNS	3	Osvaldo Blasi	ARG	–	–
DNS	266	Pauli Hämäläinen	FIN	–	–
DNS	179	R. Laugler	FRA	–	–
DNS	67	R. Myland	GRE	–	–
DNS	311	József Gál	HUN	–	–
DNS	330	Ferenc Fejes	HUN	–	–
DNS	55	A. Modjtabavi	IRI	–	–
DNS	96	Takeo Shimotori	ITA	–	–
DNS	113	Charif Damage	LBN	–	–
DNS	188	G. Lungu	ROU	–	–
DNS	201	Olle Anderberg	SWE	–	–
DNS	202	Henry Holmberg	SWE	–	–
DNS	286	Tevfik Yüce	TUR	–	–
DNS	146	L. Yegorov	URS	–	–

Round One

Date	24 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	331	Gyula Tarr	HUN	0	–
=1	84	Franco Benedetti	ITA	0	–
=1	187	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	0	–
=1	221	Gustav Freij	SWE	0	–
=5	16	Jan Cools	BEL	1	–
=5	28	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	1	–
=5	266	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	1	–
=5	180	André Verdaine	FRA	1	–
=5	278	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	1	–
=5	147	Shazam Safin	URS	1	–
=11	274	Jack Rasmussen	DEN	3	–
=11	234	Heini Nettesheim	GER	3	–
=11	108	Georgios Petmezas	GRE	3	–
=11	45	Aristides Pérez	GUA	3	–
=11	116	Metty Scheitler	LUX	3	–
=11	159	Aage Eriksen	NOR	3	–
=11	165	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL	3	–
=11	230	Erich Schmidt	SAA	3	–
=11	287	Raif Akbulut	TUR	3	withdrew

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	24 Jul	Jan Cools	BEL	Decision (3-0)	Metty Scheitler	LUX
Match #2	24 Jul	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	Decision (3-0)	Erich Schmidt	SAA
Match #3	24 Jul	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	Decision (3-0)	Georgios Petmezas	GRE
Match #4	24 Jul	André Verdaine	FRA	Decision (3-0)	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL
Match #5	24 Jul	Franco Benedetti	ITA	Fall (4:51)	Aristides Pérez	GUA
Match #6	24 Jul	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	Fall (2:10)	Aage Eriksen	NOR
Match #7	24 Jul	Shazam Safin	URS	Decision (3-0)	Raif Akbulut	TUR
Match #8	24 Jul	Gustav Freij	SWE	Fall (2:16)	Jack Rasmussen	DEN
Match #9	24 Jul	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	Decision (3-0)	Heini Nettesheim	GER
Match #10	24 Jul	Gyula Tarr	HUN

Round Two

Date	25 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	331	Gyula Tarr	HUN	1	–
=1	187	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	1	–
=1	221	Gustav Freij	SWE	1	–
=1	147	Shazam Safin	URS	1	–
=5	28	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	2	–
=5	278	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	2	–
=7	274	Jack Rasmussen	DEN	3	–
=7	84	Franco Benedetti	ITA	3	–
=7	165	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL	3	–
=10	180	André Verdaine	FRA	4	–
=10	16	Jan Cools	BEL	4	–
=10	266	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	4	–
=10	230	Erich Schmidt	SAA	4	–
=14	108	Georgios Petmezas	GRE	6	eliminated
=14	234	Heini Nettesheim	GER	6	eliminated
=14	45	Aristides Pérez	GUA	6	eliminated
=14	116	Metty Scheitler	LUX	6	eliminated
=14	159	Aage Eriksen	NOR	6	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	25 Jul	Gyula Tarr	HUN	Decision (3-0)	Jan Cools	BEL
Match #2	25 Jul	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	Decision (3-0)	Metty Scheitler	LUX
Match #3	25 Jul	Erich Schmidt	SAA	Decision (2-1)	Georgios Petmezas	GRE
Match #4	25 Jul	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	Decision (2-1)	André Verdaine	FRA
Match #5	25 Jul	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL	Fall (0:30)	Aristides Pérez	GUA
Match #6	25 Jul	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	Decision (3-0)	Franco Benedetti	ITA
Match #7	25 Jul	Shazam Safin	URS	Fall (12:35)	Aage Eriksen	NOR
Match #8	25 Jul	Gustav Freij	SWE	Decision (3-0)	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN
Match #9	25 Jul	Jack Rasmussen	DEN	Fall (14:16)	Heini Nettesheim	GER

Round Three

Date	26 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	147	Shazam Safin	URS	1	–
=2	331	Gyula Tarr	HUN	2	–
=2	221	Gustav Freij	SWE	2	–
=2	278	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	2	–
=5	266	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	4	–
=5	84	Franco Benedetti	ITA	4	–
=5	187	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	4	–
=8	28	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY	5	eliminated
=8	230	Erich Schmidt	SAA	5	eliminated
=10	274	Jack Rasmussen	DEN	6	eliminated
=10	165	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL	6	eliminated
=12	180	André Verdaine	FRA	7	eliminated
=12	16	Jan Cools	BEL	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	26 Jul	Gyula Tarr	HUN	Decision (3-0)	Kamal Bilaba'	EGY
Match #2	26 Jul	Erich Schmidt	SAA	Decision (3-0)	Jan Cools	BEL
Match #3	26 Jul	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	Default (injury)	Zbigniew Szajewski	POL
Match #4	26 Jul	Franco Benedetti	ITA	Decision (2-1)	André Verdaine	FRA
Match #5	26 Jul	Gustav Freij	SWE	Decision (3-0)	Dumitru Cuc	ROU
Match #6	26 Jul	Shazam Safin	URS	Fall (8:15)	Jack Rasmussen	DEN
Match #7	26 Jul	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN

Round Four

Date	26 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
=1	221	Gustav Freij	SWE	2	–
=1	278	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	2	–
=1	147	Shazam Safin	URS	2	–
4	331	Gyula Tarr	HUN	3	–
=5	266	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN	7	eliminated
=5	84	Franco Benedetti	ITA	7	eliminated
=5	187	Dumitru Cuc	ROU	7	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	26 Jul	Gyula Tarr	HUN	Decision (3-0)	Kalle Haapasalmi	FIN
Match #2	26 Jul	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	Fall (3:55)	Franco Benedetti	ITA
Match #3	26 Jul	Shazam Safin	URS	Decision (3-0)	Dumitru Cuc	ROU
Match #4	26 Jul	Gustav Freij	SWE

Round Five

Date	27 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	147	Shazam Safin	URS	2	–
2	221	Gustav Freij	SWE	3	–
3	278	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	5	–
4	331	Gyula Tarr	HUN	6	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	27 Jul	Gustav Freij	SWE	Decision (3-0)	Gyula Tarr	HUN
Match #2	27 Jul	Shazam Safin	URS	Fall (2:46)	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH

Round Six

Date	27 July 1952

Pos	Number	Competitor	NOC	Bad Points	Event Status
1	147	Shazam Safin	URS	2	–
2	221	Gustav Freij	SWE	3	–
3	278	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH	8	eliminated

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	27 Jul	Gustav Freij	SWE	Fall (3:30)	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH
Match #2	27 Jul	Shazam Safin	URS

Final Round

Date	27 July 1952

Match	Date/Time	Competitor	NOC	Result	Competitor	NOC
Match #1	27 Jul	Shazam Safin	URS	Decision (3-0)	Gustav Freij	SWE
Match #2	27 Jul	Mikuláš Athanasov	TCH