Lightweight, Greco-Roman (≤63 kg), Men

Pool one was stacked, because FILA still refused to seed the wrestlers. The three wrestlers in pool one were Russia’s Varteres Samurgashev, the 2000 European Champion, Poland’s Włodzimierz Zawadzki, the defending Olympic gold medalist, and Turkey’s Şeref Eroğlu, the 1997 World Champion and runner-up in 1998-99. Samurgashev won the pool in a mild upset. Another contender was Kazakh Mkhitar Manukyan, the 1998-99 World Champion, but in those meets he competed for Armenia. Manukyan was eliminated in pool five by Cuban Juan Luis Marén, bronze medalist in this class in 1992 and silver medalist in 1996. Marén and Samurgashev advanced to the final, Samurgashev winning in overtime. This gave Marén his third consecutive medal in the class. Samurgashev competed at the 2004-08 Olympics, winning a bronze medal in 2004 as a middleweight. Marén would also compete at Athina in 2004, but did not extend his medal-winning streak.