Super-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman (≤130 kilograms), Men
| Date | 15 August 2016 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Arena Carioca 2, Parque Olímpico da Barra, Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro | |
| Participants | 19 from 19 countries | |
| Format | Single elimination tournament. Competitors losing to the finalists entered repechage tournament for bronze medals. | |
The five-time World champion, Cuban legend Mijaín López entered the Rio Olympics looking for his third Olympic gold medal. Standing in his way was his rival, Turkey’s Riza Kayaalp, the 2015 World champion who beat López for gold in Las Vegas for the World title the previous year. After that, Heiki Nabi of Estonia, the 2012 Olympic silver medalist, who captured his first World title a decade previous in 2006, and a second in 2013 (along with a 2014 World bronze) was looking for a spot on the podium.
En route to the final round, López and Kayaalp dominated each of their first three Olympic matches with both not allowing an opponent a single point on them. All three of Kayaalp’s preliminary matches ended earlier than the allotted time – two were won by technical fall, and one by him pinning his opponent just after the first minute. López defeated Sergey Semyonov of Russia in the semi-finals by a score of 3-0, while Kayaalp beat Eduard Popp of Germany 8-0.
And in what was the third straight year that López and Kayaalp have met in a final round of a major international tournament, they faced off for Olympic gold in Rio in a very chippy match. López beat Kayaalp 6-0, to became just the third wrestler to win three Olympic gold medals in Greco-Roman joining legend Soviet/Russian wrestler Aleksandr Karelin as the only two to win all three Greco golds consecutively. The win also put López in a tie for most wrestling medals all-time across all disciplines.
The bronze medals went to Azerbaijan’s Sabah Şəriəti and Russia’s Sergey Semyonov.
| Pos | Wrestler | NOC | CP | VF | ST | TP | TPR | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mijaín López |  CUB | 12 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | Gold | ||
| 2 | Rıza Kayaalp |  TUR | 13 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 6 | Silver | ||
| =3 | Sabah Şəriəti |  AZE | 12 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 7 | Bronze | ||
| =3 | Sergey Semyonov |  RUS | 12 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 7 | Bronze | ||
| =5 | Eduard Popp |  GER | 6 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 12 | |||
| =5 | Heiki Nabi |  EST | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | |||
| 7 | Iakobi Kajaia |  GEO | 9 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 6 | |||
| 8 | Johan Eurén |  SWE | 5 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 7 | |||
| 9 | Oleksandr Chernetskyi |  UKR | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 2 | |||
| 10 | Bashir Babajanzadeh |  IRI | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | |||
| 11 | Murat Ramonov |  KGZ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | |||
| 12 | Robby Smith |  USA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | |||
| 13 | Meng Qiang |  CHN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |||
| 14 | Nurmakhan Tynaliyev |  KAZ | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| 15 | Muminzhon Abdullayev |  UZB | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 16 | Eduard Soghomonyan |  BRA | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |||
| =17 | Ivan Popov |  AUS | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |||
| =17 | Abdellatif Mohamed |  EGY | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | |||
| 19 | Erwin Caraballo |  VEN | – | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
Round One (15 August 2016)
Winner of each match advanced to round two. Losers to eventual finalists advanced to repêchage round one.
| Match #1 | Rıza Kayaalp | TUR | Bye | ||
| Match #2 | Erwin Caraballo | VEN | Bye | ||
| Match #3 | Sabah Şəriəti | AZE | Bye | ||
| Match #4 | Robby Smith | USA | Bye | ||
| Match #5 | Meng Qiang | CHN | Bye | ||
| Match #6 | Bashir Babajanzadeh | IRI | Bye | ||
| Match #7 | Eduard Popp | GER | Bye | ||
| Match #8 | Nurmakhan Tynaliyev | KAZ | Bye | ||
| Match #9 | Mijaín López | CUB | Bye | ||
| Match #10 | Heiki Nabi | EST | Bye | ||
| Match #11 | Johan Eurén | SWE | Bye | ||
| Match #12 | Ivan Popov | AUS | Bye | ||
| Match #13 | Muminzhon Abdullayev | UZB | Bye | ||
| Match #14 | Sergey Semyonov | RUS | Murat Ramonov | KGZ | Decision (8 - 4) |
| Match #15 | Oleksandr Chernetskyi | UKR | Abdellatif Mohamed | EGY | Great Superiority (9 - 0) |
| Match #16 | Iakobi Kajaia | GEO | Eduard Soghomonyan | BRA | Great Superiority (8 - 0) |
Round Two (15 August 2016)
Winner of each match advanced to quarter-finals. Losers to eventual finalists advanced to repêchage round one.
| Match #1 | Rıza Kayaalp | TUR | Erwin Caraballo | VEN | Great Superiority (8 - 0) |
| Match #2 | Sabah Şəriəti | AZE | Robby Smith | USA | Decision (8 - 2) |
| Match #3 | Bashir Babajanzadeh | IRI | Meng Qiang | CHN | Decision (3 - 1) |
| Match #4 | Eduard Popp | GER | Nurmakhan Tynaliyev | KAZ | Decision by shutout (1 - 0) |
| Match #5 | Mijaín López | CUB | Heiki Nabi | EST | Decision by shutout (3 - 0) |
| Match #6 | Johan Eurén | SWE | Ivan Popov | AUS | Fall (1:23) |
| Match #7 | Sergey Semyonov | RUS | Muminzhon Abdullayev | UZB | Decision by shutout (3 - 0) |
| Match #8 | Iakobi Kajaia | GEO | Oleksandr Chernetskyi | UKR | Fall (5:12) |
Quarter-Finals (15 August 2016)
Winner of each match advanced to semi-finals. Losers to eventual finalists advanced to repêchage round two.
| Match #1 | Rıza Kayaalp | TUR | Sabah Şəriəti | AZE | Fall (1:03) |
| Match #2 | Eduard Popp | GER | Bashir Babajanzadeh | IRI | Decision (3 - 1) |
| Match #3 | Mijaín López | CUB | Johan Eurén | SWE | Decision by shutout (4 - 0) |
| Match #4 | Sergey Semyonov | RUS | Iakobi Kajaia | GEO | Decision by shutout (5 - 0) |
Semi-Finals (15 August 2016)
Winner of each match advanced to final. Losers advanced to repêchage final.
| Match #1 | Rıza Kayaalp | TUR | Eduard Popp | GER | Great Superiority (8 - 0) |
| Match #2 | Mijaín López | CUB | Sergey Semyonov | RUS | Decision by shutout (3 - 0) |
Repêchage Round One (15 August 2016)
Winner of each match advanced to repêchage round two.
| Match #1 | Erwin Caraballo | VEN | Bye | ||
| Match #2 | Heiki Nabi | EST | Bye |
Repêchage Round Two (15 August 2016)
Winner of each match advanced to repêchage final.
| Match #1 | Sabah Şəriəti | AZE | Erwin Caraballo | VEN | Great Superiority (8 - 0) |
| Match #2 | Heiki Nabi | EST | Johan Eurén | SWE | Decision by shutout (3 - 0) |
Repêchage Final (15 August 2016)
| Match #1 | Sabah Şəriəti | AZE | Eduard Popp | GER | Fall (1:48) |
| Match #2 | Sergey Semyonov | RUS | Heiki Nabi | EST | Decision by shutout (6 - 0) |
Final Round (15 August 2016)
| Match 1/2 | Mijaín López | CUB | Rıza Kayaalp | TUR | Decision by shutout (6 - 0) |