Middleweight, Greco-Roman (≤82 kilograms), Men

Soviet Gennady Korban was a slight favorite over Romaniana Ion Draica. Korban was the 1979 World and 1980 European Champion, while Draica had won the 1978 Worlds and was European Champion from 1977-79. In the first two rounds, however, Draica lost both matches when he was disqualified for passivity, which eliminated him from the tournament. After four rounds Korban and Bulgarian Pavel Pavlov, bronze medalist at the 1979 Worlds and 1980 Europeans, were tied with only 1.0 bad points, and advanced to the final round along with Poland’s Jan Dołgowicz, runner-up at the 1978-79 Europeans. Korban had already defeated Dołgowicz by decision in round four, so when he defeated Pavlov in the first round of the final, winning by a 13-7, the gold medal was Korban’s. Pavlov easily threw Dołgowicz in 1:28 to secure the silver medal.