Heavyweight, Freestyle (>97 kg), Men

Although Soviet Aleksandr Ivanitsky was the defending gold medalist, and had won four straight World titles from 1962-66, by 1968 he had been surpassed by his teammate, Aleksandr Medved, the light-heavyweight gold medalist at Tokyo. Medved had moved up to heavyweight and won the 1967 World Championship. His big challengers were expected to be Bulgaria’s Osman Duraliev, runner-up at both the Worlds and Europeans in 1967, and the always redoubtable German, Wilfried Dietrich. Form held as those three made the finals. Medved had defeated Duraliev by decision in round three and had thrown Dietrich in round five, which gave him the gold medal. Duraliev threw Dietrich in the final match to secure the silver medal.

Medved would return in 1972 and win a third consecutive gold medal, this time as a super-heavyweight, with Duraliev again finishing second to him. This was Dietrich’s fifth Olympic medal, an Olympic record for wrestling that was not matched until 2024 by Cuban Mijaín López. Dietrich would compete again in 1972, in both styles, but would not win another medal.