Bantamweight, Freestyle (≤57 kg), Men

Hideaki Tomiyama would have been favored, but could not compete because Japan supported the American-led boycott of Moskva. He was the 1978-79 World Champion, defeating Soviet Sergey Beloglazov in the 1979 final. In Tomiyama’s absence, Beloglazov had no competition, winning five of six matches by falls, earning 0.0 bad points, and defeating Mongolian Dugarsürengiin Oyuunbold in the final round on a disqualification when he was leading on points, 15-0. Silver went to North Korean Li Ho-Pyong who narrowly defeated Oyuunbold by criteria in the final round.

Beloglazov’s brother, Anatoly, had won the gold medal the day before in the flyweight division. Sergey Beloglazov would come to be the greatest bantamweight in the world in the 1980s, winning the World title in 1981, 1983, and 1985-87, and winning as a featherweight in 1982, when Anatoly won the bantamweight title. Neither could not compete at the 1984 Olympics because of the Soviet-led boycott, but Sergey would return in 1988 at Seoul and win a second gold in this class.