| | Event type
Featherweight, Freestyle (≤62 kilograms), Men
| Date | 31 July – 1 August 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall G) | |
| Participants | 21 from 21 countries | |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament with classification rounds for placements. | |
Since the retirement of John Smith, gold medalist in 1988-92, this class had become much more open, with no clear favorite entering the 1996 Olympics. The last three World Champions were in Atlanta – American Tom Brands (1993), Russian Magomed Azizov (1994), and Ukrainian Elbrus Tedieiev (1995). Azizov had also won the 1993 and 1995-96 European Championships. Brands and Azizov met in the semi-finals where Brands won easily 4-1. He then met Korean Jang Jae-Seong, who had defeated Tedieiev in the quarters, in the final, crushing him, 7-0, for the gold medal. Tedieiev did come back to win the bronze medal, defeating Japan’s Takahiro Wada, 3-1.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Brands |  USA | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Jang Jae-Seong |  KOR | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Elbrus Tedieiev |  UKR | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Takahiro Wada |  JPN | – | – | |||
| 5 | Magomed Azizov |  RUS | – | – | |||
| 6 | Giovanni Schillaci |  ITA | – | – | |||
| 7 | Marty Calder |  CAN | – | – | |||
| 8 | Ramil Islamov |  UZB | – | – | |||
| 9 | István Demeter |  HUN | 9 | 16 | |||
| 10 | Arout Parsekian |  CYP | 8 | 16 | |||
| 11 | Siarhei Smal |  BLR | 6 | 14 | |||
| 12 | Șerban Mumjiev |  ROU | 5 | 14 | |||
| 13 | Jürgen Scheibe |  GER | 5 | 7 | |||
| 14 | Enrique Cubas |  PER | 4 | 8 | |||
| 15 | Len Zaslavsky |  AUS | 4 | 9 | |||
| 16 | Aníbal Nieves |  PUR | 3 | 8 | |||
| 17 | Jan Krzesiak |  POL | 2 | 8 | |||
| 18 | Tjaart du Plessis |  RSA | 2 | 2 | |||
| 19 | Abbas Haj Kenari |  IRI | 1 | 3 | |||
| =20 | Vath Chamroeun |  CAM | 0 | 0 | |||
| =20 | Martin Müller |  SUI | 0 | 0 |
Round One (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Takahiro Wada | JPN | grand superiority (11-0) (2:18) | Șerban Mumjiev | ROU |
| Match #2 | Enrique Cubas | PER | decision (7-7) (8:00) | Jan Krzesiak | POL |
| Match #3 | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR | decision (5-2) (5:00) | Arout Parsekian | CYP |
| Match #4 | Elbrus Tedieiev | UKR | decision (5-1) (5:00) | Tjaart du Plessis | RSA |
| Match #5 | István Demeter | HUN | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Aníbal Nieves | PUR |
| Match #6 | Tom Brands | USA | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Abbas Haj Kenari | IRI |
| Match #7 | Siarhei Smal | BLR | decision (6-0) (5:00) | Martin Müller | SUI |
| Match #8 | Jürgen Scheibe | GER | decision (4-2) (5:00) | Marty Calder | CAN |
| Match #9 | Magomed Azizov | RUS | grand superiority (10-0) (1:32) | Vath Chamroeun | CAM |
| Match #10 | Giovanni Schillaci | ITA | grand superiority (10-0) (2:14) | Len Zaslavsky | AUS |
| Match #11 | Ramil Islamov | UZB | bye |
Round Two (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Takahiro Wada | JPN | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Ramil Islamov | UZB |
| Match #2 | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Enrique Cubas | PER |
| Match #3 | Elbrus Tedieiev | UKR | grand superiority (11-1) (3:33) | István Demeter | HUN |
| Match #4 | Tom Brands | USA | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Siarhei Smal | BLR |
| Match #5 | Magomed Azizov | RUS | decision (8-2) (5:00) | Jürgen Scheibe | GER |
| Match #6 | Giovanni Schillaci | ITA | bye |
Quarter-Finals (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Giovanni Schillaci | ITA | decision (4-3) (8:00) | Takahiro Wada | JPN |
| Match #2 | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Elbrus Tedieiev | UKR |
| Match #3 | Tom Brands | USA | bye | ||
| Match #4 | Magomed Azizov | RUS | bye |
Semi-Finals (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR | decision (1-1) (8:00) | Giovanni Schillaci | ITA |
| Match #2 | Tom Brands | USA | decision (4-1) (5:00) | Magomed Azizov | RUS |
Final Round (1 August 1996)
| Match 1/2 | Tom Brands | USA | decision (7-0) (5:00) | Jang Jae-Seong | KOR |
| Match 3/4 | Elbrus Tedieiev | UKR | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Takahiro Wada | JPN |
| Match 5/6 | Magomed Azizov | RUS | default (0-0) (0:00) | Giovanni Schillaci | ITA |
| Match 7/8 | Marty Calder | CAN | decision (9-1) (5:00) | Ramil Islamov | UZB |
Classification Round Two (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Șerban Mumjiev | ROU | grand superiority (12-1) (5:00) | Jan Krzesiak | POL |
| Match #2 | Arout Parsekian | CYP | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Tjaart du Plessis | RSA |
| Match #3 | Aníbal Nieves | PUR | decision (8-3) (5:00) | Abbas Haj Kenari | IRI |
| Match #4 | Marty Calder | CAN | decision (6-0) (5:00) | Martin Müller | SUI |
| Match #5 | Len Zaslavsky | AUS | fall (9-0) (2:57) | Vath Chamroeun | CAM |
Classification Round Three (31 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Arout Parsekian | CYP | decision (7-2) (5:00) | Șerban Mumjiev | ROU |
| Match #2 | Marty Calder | CAN | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Aníbal Nieves | PUR |
| Match #3 | Ramil Islamov | UZB | grand superiority (10-0) (1:15) | Len Zaslavsky | AUS |
| Match #4 | István Demeter | HUN | grand superiority (11-1) (4:56) | Enrique Cubas | PER |
| Match #5 | Siarhei Smal | BLR | decision (8-1) (5:00) | Jürgen Scheibe | GER |
Classification Round Four (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Marty Calder | CAN | decision (10-4) (5:00) | Arout Parsekian | CYP |
| Match #2 | Ramil Islamov | UZB | decision (6-1) (5:00) | István Demeter | HUN |
| Match #3 | Takahiro Wada | JPN | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Siarhei Smal | BLR |
| Match #4 | Elbrus Tedieiev | UKR | bye |
Classification Round Five (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Elbrus Tedieiev | UKR | decision (5-4) (5:18) | Ramil Islamov | UZB |
| Match #2 | Takahiro Wada | JPN | decision (7-3) (5:00) | Marty Calder | CAN |
Classification Round Six (1 August 1996)
| Match #1 | Elbrus Tedieiev | UKR | decision (10-3) (5:00) | Giovanni Schillaci | ITA |
| Match #2 | Takahiro Wada | JPN | grand superiority (10-0) (2:22) | Magomed Azizov | RUS |