| | Event type
Light-Flyweight, Freestyle (≤48 kilograms), Men
| Date | 29 – 30 July 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall G) | |
| Participants | 19 from 19 countries | |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament with classification rounds for placements. | |
This class would be discontinued after 1996, as the International Wrestling Federation (FILA) shuffled weight limits to decrease the number of weight classes, as mandated by the IOC. North Korean Kim Il-Ong was the defending gold medalist but had not been permitted to compete internationally by his nation since 1992. This would change in April 1996, when he was allowed to compete at the Asian Qualifying Tournament. In his absence Cuban Alexis Vila had won the 1993-94 World Championships and the 1995 World title had gone to Russian Vugar Orudzhov, who also won the Europeans that year. Kim again went through the tournament undefeated, however, despite his lack of international competition in the ensuring four years, and won the gold medal by defeating Armenian Armen Mkrtchyan in the final, 5-4. Vila and Orudzhov met for the bronze medal, won by Vila, 5-2.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kim Il-Ong |  PRK | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Armen Mkrtchyan |  ARM | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Alexis Vila |  CUB | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Vugar Orudzhev |  RUS | – | – | |||
| 5 | Jeong Sun-Won |  KOR | – | – | |||
| 6 | Vitalie Railean |  MDA | – | – | |||
| 7 | Gheorghe Corduneanu |  ROU | – | – | |||
| 8 | Rob Eiter |  USA | – | – | |||
| 9 | Isaac Jacob |  NGR | 8 | 9 | |||
| 10 | Viktor Yefteni |  UKR | 6 | 11 | |||
| 11 | Vlatko Sokolov |  MKD | 5 | 18 | |||
| 12 | Luvsan–Ishiin Sergelenbaatar |  MGL | 5 | 9 | |||
| 13 | Nikos Tskouaseli |  GRE | 5 | 6 | |||
| 14 | Fariborz Besarati |  SWE | 2 | 5 | |||
| 15 | José Manuel Restrepo |  COL | 1 | 4 | |||
| 16 | Paul Ragusa |  CAN | 1 | 1 | |||
| =17 | Filiberto Fernández |  MEX | 0 | 0 | |||
| =17 | Mynor Ramírez |  GUA | 0 | 0 | |||
| =17 | Vladimir Torgovkin |  KGZ | 0 | 0 |
Round One (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Alexis Vila | CUB | decision (4-0) (6:04) | Isaac Jacob | NGR |
| Match #2 | Rob Eiter | USA | grand superiority (12-0) (4:29) | Mynor Ramírez | GUA |
| Match #3 | Armen Mkrtchyan | ARM | grand superiority (10-0) (3:57) | José Manuel Restrepo | COL |
| Match #4 | Vitalie Railean | MDA | grand superiority (10-0) (2:23) | Vlatko Sokolov | MKD |
| Match #5 | Nikos Tskouaseli | GRE | decision (3-2) (6:00) | Gheorghe Corduneanu | ROU |
| Match #6 | Kim Il-Ong | PRK | grand superiority (12-2) (4:36) | Fariborz Besarati | SWE |
| Match #7 | Viktor Yefteni | UKR | decision (6-4) (5:00) | Vugar Orudzhev | RUS |
| Match #8 | Luvsan–Ishiin Sergelenbaatar | MGL | decision (7-1) (5:00) | Paul Ragusa | CAN |
| Match #9 | Jeong Sun-Won | KOR | grand superiority (11-0) (3:58) | Vladimir Torgovkin | KGZ |
| Match #10 | Filiberto Fernández | MEX | bye |
Round Two (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Alexis Vila | CUB | grand superiority (11-0) (1:54) | Filiberto Fernández | MEX |
| Match #2 | Armen Mkrtchyan | ARM | decision (9-2) (5:00) | Rob Eiter | USA |
| Match #3 | Vitalie Railean | MDA | decision (10-1) (5:00) | Nikos Tskouaseli | GRE |
| Match #4 | Kim Il-Ong | PRK | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Viktor Yefteni | UKR |
| Match #5 | Jeong Sun-Won | KOR | decision (3-1) (6:23) | Luvsan–Ishiin Sergelenbaatar | MGL |
Quarter-Finals (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Armen Mkrtchyan | ARM | decision (4-2) (7:06) | Alexis Vila | CUB |
| Match #2 | Vitalie Railean | MDA | bye | ||
| Match #3 | Kim Il-Ong | PRK | bye | ||
| Match #4 | Jeong Sun-Won | KOR | bye |
Semi-Finals (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Armen Mkrtchyan | ARM | decision (7-2) (5:00) | Vitalie Railean | MDA |
| Match #2 | Kim Il-Ong | PRK | decision (3-1) (5:25) | Jeong Sun-Won | KOR |
Final Round (30 July 1996)
| Match 1/2 | Kim Il-Ong | PRK | decision (5-4) (5:00) | Armen Mkrtchyan | ARM |
| Match 3/4 | Alexis Vila | CUB | decision (5-2) (5:00) | Vugar Orudzhev | RUS |
| Match 5/6 | Jeong Sun-Won | KOR | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Vitalie Railean | MDA |
| Match 7/8 | Gheorghe Corduneanu | ROU | decision (3-1) (5:27) | Rob Eiter | USA |
Classification Round Two (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Isaac Jacob | NGR | decision (3-0) (5:14) | Mynor Ramírez | GUA |
| Match #2 | Vlatko Sokolov | MKD | grand superiority (15-4) (4:15) | José Manuel Restrepo | COL |
| Match #3 | Gheorghe Corduneanu | ROU | decision (6-3) (5:00) | Fariborz Besarati | SWE |
| Match #4 | Vugar Orudzhev | RUS | grand superiority (12-0) (1:36) | Paul Ragusa | CAN |
| Match #5 | Vladimir Torgovkin | KGZ | bye |
Classification Round Three (29 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Isaac Jacob | NGR | default (0-0) (0:00) | Vladimir Torgovkin | KGZ |
| Match #2 | Gheorghe Corduneanu | ROU | decision (7-3) (5:00) | Vlatko Sokolov | MKD |
| Match #3 | Vugar Orudzhev | RUS | grand superiority (10-0) (1:14) | Filiberto Fernández | MEX |
| Match #4 | Rob Eiter | USA | decision (11-2) (5:00) | Nikos Tskouaseli | GRE |
| Match #5 | Viktor Yefteni | UKR | decision (5-1) (5:00) | Luvsan–Ishiin Sergelenbaatar | MGL |
Classification Round Four (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Gheorghe Corduneanu | ROU | decision (7-6) (5:00) | Isaac Jacob | NGR |
| Match #2 | Vugar Orudzhev | RUS | decision (10-4) (5:00) | Rob Eiter | USA |
| Match #3 | Alexis Vila | CUB | decision (8-0) (5:00) | Viktor Yefteni | UKR |
Classification Round Five (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Vugar Orudzhev | RUS | grand superiority (10-0) (3:10) | Gheorghe Corduneanu | ROU |
| Match #2 | Alexis Vila | CUB | bye |
Classification Round Six (30 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Alexis Vila | CUB | grand superiority (10-0) (3:39) | Vitalie Railean | MDA |
| Match #2 | Vugar Orudzhev | RUS | decision (5-1) (5:00) | Jeong Sun-Won | KOR |