| 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. | |
Three wrestlers were expected to contend for the medals. Poland’s Andrzej Wroński was Olympic gold medalist in this class in 1988 and had finished fourth in 1992, and had won the Worlds and Europeans in 1994. Belarussian Sergey Lishtvan had won the 1996 European Championships. Sweden’s Mikael Ljungberg was World Champion in 1993 and 1995. Also highly considered was Cuba’s Héctor Milián, the defending gold medalist. Form held in this class as the semi-finals came down to Lishtvan against Ljungberg, and Wroński against Milián. Both matches were close but Wroński and Lishtvan advanced to the final. The final was excruciatingly boring, ending in a scoreless tie, decided by an officials’ decision, as Wroński won his second gold medal. Ljungberg won the bronze medal and would return in 2000 at Sydney and win gold.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | CP | TP | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Andrzej Wroński | POL | – | – | Gold | ||
| 2 | 9 | Siarhei Lishtvan | BLR | – | – | Silver | ||
| 3 | 2 | Mikael Ljungberg | SWE | – | – | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 5 | Teymuraz Edisherashvili | RUS | – | – | |||
| 5 | 13 | Héctor Milián | CUB | – | – | |||
| 6 | 17 | Igor Grabovetchi | MDA | – | – | |||
| 7 | 8 | Heorhiy Soldadze | UKR | – | – | |||
| 8 | 10 | Todor Manov | BUL | – | – | |||
| 9 | 1 | Takashi Nonomura | JPN | 7 | 13 | |||
| 10 | 3 | Stipe Damjanović | CRO | 6 | 12 | |||
| 11 | 18 | Urs Bürgler | SUI | 6 | 15 | |||
| 12 | 11 | Jason Gleasman | USA | 5 | 16 | |||
| 13 | 15 | Giuseppe Giunta | ITA | 4 | 3 | |||
| 14 | 16 | Bakur Gogitidze | GEO | 4 | 4 | |||
| 15 | 6 | Emilio Suárez | VEN | 3 | 3 | |||
| 16 | 12 | Ba Yanchuan | CHN | 1 | 2 | |||
| =17 | 20 | Mohamed Naouar | TUN | 0 | 0 | |||
| =17 | 4 | Mohamed Basri | MAR | 0 | 0 | |||
| =17 | 7 | Juan Diego Giraldo | COL | 0 | 0 | |||
| =17 | 14 | Colbie Bell | CAN | 0 | 0 |
| Date | 19 July 1996 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Mikael Ljungberg | SWE | 10 | Takashi Nonomura | JPN | |
| Match #2 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Stipe Damjanović | CRO | 6 | Mohamed Basri | MAR | |
| Match #3 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Teymuraz Edisherashvili | RUS | 6 | Emilio Suárez | VEN | |
| Match #4 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Heorhiy Soldadze | UKR | 4 | Juan Diego Giraldo | COL | |
| Match #5 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Siarhei Lishtvan | BLR | 2 | Todor Manov | BUL | |
| Match #6 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Jason Gleasman | USA | 15 | Ba Yanchuan | CHN | |
| Match #7 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Héctor Milián | CUB | 12 | Colbie Bell | CAN | |
| Match #8 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Giuseppe Giunta | ITA | 1 | Bakur Gogitidze | GEO | |
| Match #9 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Igor Grabovetchi | MDA | 4 | Urs Bürgler | SUI | |
| Match #10 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Andrzej Wroński | POL | 10 | Mohamed Naouar | TUN |
| Date | 19 July 1996 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Mikael Ljungberg | SWE | 5 | Stipe Damjanović | CRO | |
| Match #2 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Heorhiy Soldadze | UKR | 6 | Teymuraz Edisherashvili | RUS | |
| Match #3 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Siarhei Lishtvan | BLR | 3 | Jason Gleasman | USA | |
| Match #4 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Héctor Milián | CUB | 3 | Giuseppe Giunta | ITA | |
| Match #5 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Andrzej Wroński | POL | 0 | Igor Grabovetchi | MDA |
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Mikael Ljungberg | SWE | 5 | Heorhiy Soldadze | UKR | |
| Match #2 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Siarhei Lishtvan | BLR | ||||
| Match #3 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Héctor Milián | CUB | ||||
| Match #4 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Andrzej Wroński | POL |
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Siarhei Lishtvan | BLR | 2 | Mikael Ljungberg | SWE | |
| Match #2 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Andrzej Wroński | POL | 2 | Héctor Milián | CUB |
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match 1/2 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Andrzej Wroński | POL | 0 | Siarhei Lishtvan | BLR | |
| Match 3/4 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Mikael Ljungberg | SWE | 3 | Teymuraz Edisherashvili | RUS | |
| Match 5/6 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Héctor Milián | CUB | ||||
| Match 7/8 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Heorhiy Soldadze | UKR |
| Date | 19 July 1996 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Takashi Nonomura | JPN | 10 | Mohamed Basri | MAR | |
| Match #2 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Emilio Suárez | VEN | 3 | Juan Diego Giraldo | COL | |
| Match #3 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Todor Manov | BUL | 4 | Ba Yanchuan | CHN | |
| Match #4 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Bakur Gogitidze | GEO | 3 | Colbie Bell | CAN | |
| Match #5 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Urs Bürgler | SUI | 11 | Mohamed Naouar | TUN |
| Date | 19 July 1996 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Takashi Nonomura | JPN | 3 | Emilio Suárez | VEN | |
| Match #2 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Todor Manov | BUL | 3 | Bakur Gogitidze | GEO | |
| Match #3 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Stipe Damjanović | CRO | 6 | Urs Bürgler | SUI | |
| Match #4 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Teymuraz Edisherashvili | RUS | 4 | Jason Gleasman | USA | |
| Match #5 | 19 Jul | Hall G | Igor Grabovetchi | MDA | 3 | Giuseppe Giunta | ITA |
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Todor Manov | BUL | 2 | Takashi Nonomura | JPN | |
| Match #2 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Teymuraz Edisherashvili | RUS | 5 | Stipe Damjanović | CRO | |
| Match #3 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Igor Grabovetchi | MDA | 2 | Heorhiy Soldadze | UKR |
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Teymuraz Edisherashvili | RUS | 3 | Todor Manov | BUL | |
| Match #2 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Igor Grabovetchi | MDA |
| Date | 20 July 1996 |
|---|
| Match | Date/Time | Location | Competitor | NOC | Result | Competitor | NOC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Match #1 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Mikael Ljungberg | SWE | 5 | Igor Grabovetchi | MDA | |
| Match #2 | 20 Jul | Hall G | Teymuraz Edisherashvili | RUS | 1 | Héctor Milián | CUB |