Half-Lightweight (≤65 kilograms), Men

The 1983 World Champion was Nikolay Solodukhin of the USSR, the defending gold medalist in the event. He would have been heavily favored. In his absence, Japan’s Yoshiyuki Matsuoka, runner-up to Solodukhin in 1983, was considered the likely winner. Others to watch were Marc Alexandre (FRA), the 1984 European Champion, and Korean Hwang Jeong-O, bronze medalist at the 1981 Worlds. The two pool finals were very different matches. Alexandre met Matsuoka in what would have been a great final. The Japanese attacked from the start, but Alexandre countered and it was not until the final seconds that Matsuoka made it thru to the gold medal match. The other pool final was met by derisive boos, as Hwang met Italy’s Sandro Rosati, and the match was marked by multiple passivity warnings, and very little wrestling. In the final, Matsuoka continued to show his dominance, as Hwang was never in the match, but did last for seven minutes, with Matsuoka winning with a yuko by seoi-nage at the five minute mark.