Welterweight, Greco-Roman (≤66 kg), Men

Fərid Mənsurov of Azerbaijan was the defending gold medalist and the 2007 World Champion and came in favored, but he lost his first bout against 2008 European Champion Armen Vardanian of Ukraine. Vardanian lost his next match against Kyrgyzstan’s Kanat Begaliyev, 2006 World runner-up, and Begaliyev continued on to the final. His opponent in the final was France’s Steeve Guénot, who had been runner-up at the 2007 Worlds. Guénot won a straight period victory to win gold, the first Olympic wrestling gold for France since Henri Deglane had won in 1924. Begaliyev won the first ever silver medal for Kyrgyzstan in any sport. Shortly after Guénot won gold, his brother, Christophe, took bronze in the middleweight Greco-Roman event. Three of the four medalists were from former Soviet republics.