| | Event type

Flyweight, Freestyle (≤52 kilograms), Men

Date	27 – 31 August 1972
Status	Olympic
Location	Ringer-Judo-Halle, Messegelände (Halle 14), München
Participants	24 from 24 countries
Format	Scoring by negative points, with negative points given for any result short of a fall. Accumulation of 6 negative points eliminated the wrestler. When three or fewer wrestlers remained, they advanced to a final round, with preliminary results carried forward.

There was no clear favorite in this class, but Japan’s Kiyomi Kato dominated the early rounds. After six rounds he had only 1½ bad points, and led over Soviet Arsen Alakhverdiyev, and North Korean Kim Gwong-Hyong, who both had 5½ bad points. Kato then decisively defeated both of them in the final round to win the gold medal easily. Kim and Alakhverdiyev drew in their match, but Alakhverdiyev won the silver medal on an arcane tie-breaker.

Kato had no significant international record prior to the 1972 Olympics, the highlight being a silver at the 1970 Asian Games, and none afterwards. Alakhverdiyev had won the 1972 European Championships and would win that title again in 1973 and 1975. As always, Kim had no known international record, as North Korea rarely let their athletes venture out of the country except for the Olympics.

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	RE	Bad Points
1	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	–	–	Gold
2	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	–	–	Silver
3	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	–	–	Bronze
4	Sudesh Kumar	IND	–	–
5	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	–	–
6	Gordon Bertie	CAN	–	–
AC	John Kinsela	AUS	Eliminated r4/7	7,0
AC	Henrik Gál	HUN	Eliminated r4/7	7,0
AC	Ali Rıza Alan	TUR	Eliminated r4/7	7,5
AC	Vincenzo Grassi	ITA	Eliminated r4/7	8,0
AC	Kim Yeong-Jun	KOR	Eliminated r3/7	7,0
AC	Andrzej Kudelski	POL	Eliminated r3/7	7,0
AC	Dorjzovdyn Ganbat	MGL	Eliminated r3/7	7,5
AC	Jimmy Carr	USA	Eliminated r3/7	8,0
AC	Florentino Martínez	MEX	Eliminated r3/7	9,0
AC	Bayo Baev	BUL	Withdrew r3/7	2,0
AC	Miguel Alonso	CUB	Eliminated r2/7	6,5
AC	Mohammad Arref	AFG	Eliminated r2/7	7,0
AC	Mario Sabatini	FRG	Eliminated r2/7	7,0
AC	Pedro Piñeda	GUA	Eliminated r2/7	7,5
AC	Wanelge Castillo	PAN	Eliminated r2/7	7,5
AC	Willi Bock	GDR	Eliminated r2/7	8,0
AC	Javier León	PER	Eliminated r2/7	8,0
AC	Mohammad Ghorbani	IRI	Withdrew r2/7	4,0

Round One (27 August 1972 — 10:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Gordon Bertie	CAN	0,0
=1	Henrik Gál	HUN	0,0
=1	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	0,0
=1	Kim Yeong-Jun	KOR	0,0
=1	Andrzej Kudelski	POL	0,0
=6	John Kinsela	AUS	0,5
=6	Dorjzovdyn Ganbat	MGL	0,5
=8	Sudesh Kumar	IND	1,0
=8	Florentino Martínez	MEX	1,0
=8	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	1,0
=8	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	1,0
=12	Bayo Baev	BUL	2,0
=12	Vincenzo Grassi	ITA	2,0
=14	Mohammad Arref	AFG	3,0
=14	Mario Sabatini	FRG	3,0
=14	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	3,0
=14	Ali Rıza Alan	TUR	3,0
=18	Miguel Alonso	CUB	3,5
=18	Pedro Piñeda	GUA	3,5
=20	Willi Bock	GDR	4,0
=20	Mohammad Ghorbani	IRI	4,0	withdrew
=20	Wanelge Castillo	PAN	4,0
=20	Javier León	PER	4,0
=20	Jimmy Carr	USA	4,0

Match #1	Bayo Baev	BUL	draw	Vincenzo Grassi	ITA
Match #2	Dorjzovdyn Ganbat	MGL	decision	Miguel Alonso	CUB
Match #3	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	decision	Mohammad Arref	AFG
Match #4	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	fall (5:57)	Mohammad Ghorbani	IRI
Match #5	Andrzej Kudelski	POL	fall (8:57)	Wanelge Castillo	PAN
Match #6	Gordon Bertie	CAN	fall (2:14)	Javier León	PER
Match #7	Kim Yeong-Jun	KOR	fall (4:57)	Jimmy Carr	USA
Match #8	Sudesh Kumar	IND	decision	Ali Rıza Alan	TUR
Match #9	Henrik Gál	HUN	fall (1:56)	Willi Bock	GDR
Match #10	Florentino Martínez	MEX	decision	Mario Sabatini	FRG
Match #11	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	decision	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK
Match #12	John Kinsela	AUS	decision	Pedro Piñeda	GUA

Round Two (28 August 1972 — 19:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
=1	Henrik Gál	HUN	0,0
=1	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	0,0
3	John Kinsela	AUS	0,5
=4	Gordon Bertie	CAN	1,0
=4	Sudesh Kumar	IND	1,0
=4	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	1,0
7	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	1,5
8	Bayo Baev	BUL	2,0
=9	Vincenzo Grassi	ITA	3,0
=9	Andrzej Kudelski	POL	3,0
=9	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	3,0
=9	Ali Rıza Alan	TUR	3,0
=13	Kim Yeong-Jun	KOR	4,0
=13	Jimmy Carr	USA	4,0
15	Dorjzovdyn Ganbat	MGL	4,5
16	Florentino Martínez	MEX	5,0
17	Miguel Alonso	CUB	6,5	eliminated
=18	Mohammad Arref	AFG	7,0	eliminated
=18	Mario Sabatini	FRG	7,0	eliminated
=20	Pedro Piñeda	GUA	7,5	eliminated
=20	Wanelge Castillo	PAN	7,5	eliminated
=22	Willi Bock	GDR	8,0	eliminated
=22	Javier León	PER	8,0	eliminated

Match #1	Bayo Baev	BUL	DQ (passivity)	Dorjzovdyn Ganbat	MGL
Match #2	Vincenzo Grassi	ITA	decision	Miguel Alonso	CUB
Match #3	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	fall (8:35)	Mohammad Arref	AFG
Match #4	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	decision	Wanelge Castillo	PAN
Match #5	Gordon Bertie	CAN	decision	Andrzej Kudelski	POL
Match #6	Jimmy Carr	USA	fall (5:56)	Javier León	PER
Match #7	Sudesh Kumar	IND	fall (4:01)	Kim Yeong-Jun	KOR
Match #8	Ali Rıza Alan	TUR	fall (1:54)	Willi Bock	GDR
Match #9	Henrik Gál	HUN	fall (7:41)	Mario Sabatini	FRG
Match #10	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	fall (7:47)	Florentino Martínez	MEX
Match #11	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	fall (4:16)	Pedro Piñeda	GUA
Match #12	John Kinsela	AUS	bye

Round Three (29 August 1972 — 10:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	0,0
=2	Gordon Bertie	CAN	1,0
=2	Sudesh Kumar	IND	1,0
=2	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	1,0
5	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	2,5
6	Henrik Gál	HUN	3,0
7	John Kinsela	AUS	3,5
=8	Vincenzo Grassi	ITA	4,0
=8	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	4,0
=8	Ali Rıza Alan	TUR	4,0
=11	Kim Yeong-Jun	KOR	7,0	eliminated
=11	Andrzej Kudelski	POL	7,0	eliminated
13	Dorjzovdyn Ganbat	MGL	7,5	eliminated
14	Jimmy Carr	USA	8,0	eliminated
15	Florentino Martínez	MEX	9,0	eliminated

Match #1	Vincenzo Grassi	ITA	decision	John Kinsela	AUS
Match #2	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	decision	Dorjzovdyn Ganbat	MGL
Match #3	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	fall (2:55)	Andrzej Kudelski	POL
Match #4	Gordon Bertie	CAN	fall (3:35)	Jimmy Carr	USA
Match #5	Ali Rıza Alan	TUR	decision	Kim Yeong-Jun	KOR
Match #6	Sudesh Kumar	IND	fall (7:07)	Florentino Martínez	MEX
Match #7	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	decision	Henrik Gál	HUN
Match #8	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	bye

Round Four (30 August 1972 — 10:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	0,5
2	Sudesh Kumar	IND	1,0
3	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	1,5
4	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	2,5
=5	Gordon Bertie	CAN	4,5
=5	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	4,5
=7	John Kinsela	AUS	7,0	eliminated
=7	Henrik Gál	HUN	7,0	eliminated
9	Ali Rıza Alan	TUR	7,5	eliminated
10	Vincenzo Grassi	ITA	8,0	eliminated

Match #1	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	decision	John Kinsela	AUS
Match #2	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	fall (7:43)	Vincenzo Grassi	ITA
Match #3	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	decision	Gordon Bertie	CAN
Match #4	Sudesh Kumar	IND	fall (3:17)	Henrik Gál	HUN
Match #5	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	decision	Ali Rıza Alan	TUR

Round Five (30 August 1972 — 19:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	1,5
2	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	3,5
3	Sudesh Kumar	IND	4,0
4	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	4,5
5	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	5,5
6	Gordon Bertie	CAN	7,5	eliminated

Match #1	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	draw	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS
Match #2	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	decision	Sudesh Kumar	IND
Match #3	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	decision	Gordon Bertie	CAN

Round Six (31 August 1972 — 10:00)

Pos	Competitor(s)	NOC	Bad Points
1	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	1,5
=2	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	5,5
=2	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	5,5
4	Sudesh Kumar	IND	7,0	eliminated
5	Petre Ciarnău	ROU	7,5	eliminated

Match #1	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	fall (1:35)	Petre Ciarnău	ROU
Match #2	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS	decision	Sudesh Kumar	IND
Match #3	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	bye

Final Round (31 August 1972 — 19:00)

Match #1	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK	draw	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS
Match #2	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	decision	Kim Gwong-Hyong	PRK
Match #3	Kiyomi Kato	JPN	decision	Arsen Alakhverdiyev	URS