| | Event type
Flyweight, Greco-Roman (≤52 kilograms), Men
| Date | 19 – 20 July 1996 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia (Hall G) | |
| Participants | 20 from 20 countries | |
| Format | Single-elimination tournament with classification rounds for placements. | |
In March 1996 Armenian Armen Nazaryan lost the European title to Ukraine’s Andriy Kalashnykov in the final. In the odd method of international wrestling, in which the competitors are not seeded in any way, they met again in Atlanta, unfortunately in the first round, with Nazaryan winning easily this time, 10-0. Nazaryan advanced to the final where he met a surprising young American, Brandon Paulson. Paulson was little match for Nazaryan, who went ahead quickly 5-0, and held on for the gold medal. Despite his first-round loss Kalashnykov came through the losers’ table to win the bronze medal.
Nazaryan would soon move to Bulgaria and start gaining weight. Representing Bulgaria he won another Olympic gold in 2000 as a featherweight and a bronze medal in the lightweight class in 2004.
| Pos | Competitor(s) | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Armen Nazaryan |  ARM | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | Brandon Paulson |  USA | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | Andriy Kalashnykov |  UKR | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | Samvel Danielyan |  RUS | – | – | |||
| 5 | Lázaro Rivas |  CUB | – | – | |||
| 6 | Yordan Anev |  BUL | – | – | |||
| 7 | Ha Tae-Yeon |  KOR | – | – | |||
| 8 | Dariusz Jabłoński |  POL | – | – | |||
| 9 | Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan |  GER | 7 | 18 | |||
| 10 | Nurym Dyusenov |  KAZ | 7 | 15 | |||
| 11 | Ibad Akhmedau |  BLR | 6 | 16 | |||
| 12 | Valentin Rebegea |  ROU | 5 | 13 | |||
| 13 | Ulises Valentín |  DOM | 4 | 14 | |||
| 14 | Ruslanas Vartanovas |  LTU | 4 | 5 | |||
| 15 | Khaled El-Farej |  SYR | 3 | 3 | |||
| 16 | Shamsiddin Khudoyberdiyev |  UZB | 1 | 4 | |||
| =17 | Pappu Jadav |  IND | 0 | 0 | |||
| =17 | Tiebiri Godswill |  NGR | 0 | 0 | |||
| =17 | Joel Basaldua |  PER | 0 | 1 | |||
| =17 | Jon Rønningen |  NOR | 0 | 0 |
Round One (19 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Dariusz Jabłoński | POL | fall (6-0) (2:33) | Valentin Rebegea | ROU |
| Match #2 | Samvel Danielyan | RUS | decision (11-4) (5:00) | Shamsiddin Khudoyberdiyev | UZB |
| Match #3 | Ha Tae-Yeon | KOR | grand superiority (10-0) (3:33) | Pappu Jadav | IND |
| Match #4 | Armen Nazaryan | ARM | grand superiority (10-0) (4:22) | Andriy Kalashnykov | UKR |
| Match #5 | Lázaro Rivas | CUB | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Jon Rønningen | NOR |
| Match #6 | Khaled El-Farej | SYR | decision (3-1) (8:00) | Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan | GER |
| Match #7 | Yordan Anev | BUL | grand superiority (11-0) (1:21) | Tiebiri Godswill | NGR |
| Match #8 | Nurym Dyusenov | KAZ | decision (4-1) (5:00) | Ruslanas Vartanovas | LTU |
| Match #9 | Ibad Akhmedau | BLR | grand superiority (11-0) (1:17) | Ulises Valentín | DOM |
| Match #10 | Brandon Paulson | USA | fall (6-0) (1:37) | Joel Basaldua | PER |
Round Two (19 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Samvel Danielyan | RUS | decision (8-0) (5:00) | Dariusz Jabłoński | POL |
| Match #2 | Armen Nazaryan | ARM | grand superiority (12-2) (3:33) | Ha Tae-Yeon | KOR |
| Match #3 | Lázaro Rivas | CUB | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Khaled El-Farej | SYR |
| Match #4 | Yordan Anev | BUL | decision (9-6) (5:00) | Nurym Dyusenov | KAZ |
| Match #5 | Brandon Paulson | USA | decision (6-1) (5:00) | Ibad Akhmedau | BLR |
Quarter-Finals (20 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Armen Nazaryan | ARM | decision (3-0) (5:00) | Samvel Danielyan | RUS |
| Match #2 | Lázaro Rivas | CUB | bye | ||
| Match #3 | Yordan Anev | BUL | bye | ||
| Match #4 | Brandon Paulson | USA | bye |
Semi-Finals (20 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Armen Nazaryan | ARM | decision (7-1) (5:00) | Lázaro Rivas | CUB |
| Match #2 | Brandon Paulson | USA | decision (6-2) (5:00) | Yordan Anev | BUL |
Final Round (20 July 1996)
| Match 1/2 | Armen Nazaryan | ARM | decision (5-1) (5:00) | Brandon Paulson | USA |
| Match 3/4 | Andriy Kalashnykov | UKR | decision (4-1) (5:00) | Samvel Danielyan | RUS |
| Match 5/6 | Lázaro Rivas | CUB | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Yordan Anev | BUL |
| Match 7/8 | Ha Tae-Yeon | KOR | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Dariusz Jabłoński | POL |
Classification Round Two (19 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Valentin Rebegea | ROU | fall (12-0) (2:52) | Shamsiddin Khudoyberdiyev | UZB |
| Match #2 | Andriy Kalashnykov | UKR | grand superiority (11-0) (2:14) | Pappu Jadav | IND |
| Match #3 | Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan | GER | decision (9-0) (5:00) | Jon Rønningen | NOR |
| Match #4 | Ruslanas Vartanovas | LTU | decision (4-0) (5:00) | Tiebiri Godswill | NGR |
| Match #5 | Ulises Valentín | DOM | fall (14-1) (4:02) | Joel Basaldua | PER |
Classification Round Three (19 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Andriy Kalashnykov | UKR | decision (3-1) (5:00) | Valentin Rebegea | ROU |
| Match #2 | Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan | GER | decision (8-0) (5:00) | Ruslanas Vartanovas | LTU |
| Match #3 | Dariusz Jabłoński | POL | fall (3-0) (0:47) | Ulises Valentín | DOM |
| Match #4 | Ha Tae-Yeon | KOR | grand superiority (10-0) (2:56) | Khaled El-Farej | SYR |
| Match #5 | Nurym Dyusenov | KAZ | decision (5-4) (5:00) | Ibad Akhmedau | BLR |
Classification Round Four (20 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Andriy Kalashnykov | UKR | fall (3-0) (3:47) | Alfred Ter-Mkrtchyan | GER |
| Match #2 | Dariusz Jabłoński | POL | decision (3-2) (5:00) | Ha Tae-Yeon | KOR |
| Match #3 | Samvel Danielyan | RUS | grand superiority (11-0) (4:14) | Nurym Dyusenov | KAZ |
Classification Round Five (20 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Andriy Kalashnykov | UKR | decision (8-5) (5:37) | Dariusz Jabłoński | POL |
| Match #2 | Samvel Danielyan | RUS | bye |
Classification Round Six (20 July 1996)
| Match #1 | Samvel Danielyan | RUS | decision (9-8) (5:00) | Lázaro Rivas | CUB |
| Match #2 | Andriy Kalashnykov | UKR | decision (5-0) (5:00) | Yordan Anev | BUL |