| | Event type
Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman (≤87 kilograms), Men
| Date | 24 – 27 July 1952 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Messuhalli I, Helsinki | |
| Participants | 10 from 10 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. | |
No wrestler was considered a heavy favorite with the event being quite open. The medalist round came down to Finland’s Kelpo Gröndahl, Soviet Georgian Shalva Chikhladze, and Sweden’s Karl-Erik Nilsson. Gröndahl defeated both wrestlers to win the gold medal, with the final match a dull affair against Chikhladze which came down to a split decision verdict for Gröndahl. He would later win the silver medal at the 1953 World Championships.
This was the end of Chikhladze’s career, who competed in Helsinki at 40-years-old. He had been Georgian half-heavyweight champion in 1932 and won the 1934 South Caucasus half-heavyweight title, but missed the best years of his career due to the war and the Soviets not entering international competition until the late 1940s.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | MMR/RE | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelpo Gröndahl |  FIN | 2-0 | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Shalva Chikhladze |  URS | 1-1 | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Karl-Erik Nilsson |  SWE | 0-2 | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Gyula Kovács |  HUN | – | – | |||
| 5 | İsmet Atlı |  TUR | – | – | |||
| =6 | Umberto Silvestri |  ITA | – | – | |||
| =6 | Michel Skaff |  LBN | – | – | |||
| Ovidiu Forai |  ROU | Eliminated r2/6 | 5 | ||||
| Max Leichter |  GER | Eliminated r2/6 | 6 | ||||
| Jos Schummer |  LUX | Eliminated r2/6 | 6 |
Round One (24 July 1952)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Kelpo Gröndahl | FIN | 0 | |||
| =1 | Shalva Chikhladze | URS | 0 | |||
| =3 | Umberto Silvestri | ITA | 1 | |||
| =3 | Michel Skaff | LBN | 1 | |||
| =3 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | SWE | 1 | |||
| =6 | Ovidiu Forai | ROU | 3 | |||
| =6 | İsmet Atlı | TUR | 3 | |||
| =6 | Max Leichter | GER | 3 | |||
| =6 | Gyula Kovács | HUN | 3 | |||
| =6 | Jos Schummer | LUX | 3 |
| Match #1 | Michel Skaff | LBN | decision (2-1) | Ovidiu Forai | ROU |
| Match #2 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | SWE | decision (3-0) | Gyula Kovács | HUN |
| Match #3 | Umberto Silvestri | ITA | decision (2-1) | İsmet Atlı | TUR |
| Match #4 | Kelpo Gröndahl | FIN | fall (3:30) | Jos Schummer | LUX |
| Match #5 | Shalva Chikhladze | URS | fall (9:22) | Max Leichter | GER |
Round Two (25 July 1952)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Kelpo Gröndahl | FIN | 1 | |||
| =1 | Shalva Chikhladze | URS | 1 | |||
| 3 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | SWE | 2 | |||
| =4 | İsmet Atlı | TUR | 3 | |||
| =4 | Gyula Kovács | HUN | 3 | |||
| =6 | Umberto Silvestri | ITA | 4 | |||
| =6 | Michel Skaff | LBN | 4 | |||
| =8 | Ovidiu Forai | ROU | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =8 | Max Leichter | GER | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =8 | Jos Schummer | LUX | 6 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Gyula Kovács | HUN | fall (10:40) | Michel Skaff | LBN |
| Match #2 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | SWE | decision (3-0) | Ovidiu Forai | ROU |
| Match #3 | İsmet Atlı | TUR | fall (2:15) | Jos Schummer | LUX |
| Match #4 | Shalva Chikhladze | URS | decision (3-0) | Umberto Silvestri | ITA |
| Match #5 | Kelpo Gröndahl | FIN | decision (3-0) | Max Leichter | GER |
Round Three (26 July 1952)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Kelpo Gröndahl | FIN | 1 | |||
| =1 | Shalva Chikhladze | URS | 1 | |||
| 3 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | SWE | 2 | |||
| 4 | Gyula Kovács | HUN | 4 | |||
| 5 | İsmet Atlı | TUR | 6 | eliminated | ||
| =6 | Umberto Silvestri | ITA | 7 | eliminated | ||
| =6 | Michel Skaff | LBN | 7 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | SWE | fall (4:40) | Michel Skaff | LBN |
| Match #2 | Gyula Kovács | HUN | decision (3-0) | İsmet Atlı | TUR |
| Match #3 | Kelpo Gröndahl | FIN | fall (2:18) | Umberto Silvestri | ITA |
| Match #4 | Shalva Chikhladze | URS | bye |
Round Four (27 July 1952)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelpo Gröndahl | FIN | 2 | |||
| 2 | Shalva Chikhladze | URS | 4 | |||
| 3 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | SWE | 5 | |||
| 4 | Gyula Kovács | HUN | 5 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Gyula Kovács | HUN | decision (3-0) | Shalva Chikhladze | URS |
| Match #2 | Kelpo Gröndahl | FIN | decision (2-1) | Karl-Erik Nilsson | SWE |
Round Five (27 July 1952)
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | Bad Points | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelpo Gröndahl | FIN | 2 | |||
| 2 | Shalva Chikhladze | URS | 4 | |||
| 3 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | SWE | 8 | eliminated |
| Match #1 | Shalva Chikhladze | URS | fall (2:39) | Karl-Erik Nilsson | SWE |
| Match #2 | Kelpo Gröndahl | FIN | bye |
Final Round (27 July 1952)
| Match #1 | Kelpo Gröndahl | FIN | decision (2-1) | Shalva Chikhladze | URS |
| Match #2 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | SWE | bye |