The men's Greco-Roman heavyweight competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin took place from 6 August to 9 August at the Deutschlandhalle. Nations were limited to one competitor.Official Olympic Report, la84.org. Retrieved 24 August 2018. This weight class allowed wrestlers weighing over 87kg.Official Report, p. 716.
This Greco-Roman wrestling competition continued to use the "bad points" elimination system introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics, with a slight modification. Each round featured all wrestlers pairing off and wrestling one bout (with one wrestler having a bye if there were an odd number). The loser received 3 points if the loss was by fall or unanimous decision and 2 points if the decision was 2-1 (this was the modification from prior years, where all losses were 3 points). The winner received 1 point if the win was by decision and 0 points if the win was by fall. At the end of each round, any wrestler with at least 5 points was eliminated.Official Report, p. 716.
Schedule Date Event 6 August 1936 Round 1 7 August 1936 Round 2 8 August 1936 Round 3 9 August 1936 Round 4Round 5
Results
Round 1
Of the six bouts, five were won by fall giving the winners 0 points and the losers 3 points. The remaining bout was a split decision, giving Donati 1 point for winning and Çoban 2 points for losing.Official Report, p. 726.
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Josef Klapuch Fall Alberts Zvejnieks Kurt Hornfischer Fall Stevan Nagy Aleardo Donati Decision, 2–1 Mehmet Çoban Hjalmar Nyström Fall Peter Larsen Kristjan Palusalu Fall Eduard Schöll John Nyman Fall Zoltan Kondorossy
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total 1 Kurt Hornfischer 0 0 0 1 Josef Klapuch 0 0 0 1 John Nyman 0 0 0 1 Hjalmar Nyström 0 0 0 1 Kristjan Palusalu 0 0 0 6 Aleardo Donati 0 1 1 7 Mehmet Çoban 0 2 2 8 Zoltan Kondorossy 0 3 3 8 Peter Larsen 0 3 3 8 Stevan Nagy 0 3 3 8 Eduard Schöll 0 3 3 8 Alberts Zvejnieks 0 3 3
Round 2
Four of the first round winners won again, with two finishing the second round at 0 points and two finishing the round at 1 point. Four of the first round losers lost again and were eliminated. Çoban, the loser of the split decision in the first round, won by fall to stay at 2 points. Donati, the winner of that first-round decision, fell to 4 points after losing in the second round. The remaining two men had 3 points after the round.
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Alberts Zvejnieks Fall Stevan Nagy Kurt Hornfischer Decision, 3–0 Josef Klapuch Hjalmar Nyström Decision, 3–0 Aleardo Donati Mehmet Çoban Fall Peter Larsen Kristjan Palusalu Fall Zoltan Kondorossy John Nyman Fall Eduard Schöll
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total 1 John Nyman 0 0 0 1 Kristjan Palusalu 0 0 0 3 Kurt Hornfischer 0 1 1 3 Hjalmar Nyström 0 1 1 5 Mehmet Çoban 2 0 2 6 Josef Klapuch 0 3 3 6 Alberts Zvejnieks 3 0 3 8 Aleardo Donati 1 3 4 9 Zoltan Kondorossy 3 3 6 9 Peter Larsen 3 3 6 9 Stevan Nagy 3 3 6 9 Eduard Schöll 3 3 6
Round 3
The two 0-point wrestlers faced each other; Palusalu won by decision, so both received their first points (1 for Palusalu, 3 for Nyman). Çoban beat Nyström in a split decision, which resulted in both finishing the round at 3 points. Hornfischer received his second point in a win by decision over Zvejnieks, who was eliminated with the second loss. Klapuch arrived late, being eliminated by losing by default to Donati (who, at 4 points going into the round, needed the 0 to stay in contention).
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Kurt Hornfischer Decision, 3–0 Alberts Zvejnieks Aleardo Donati Default Josef Klapuch Mehmet Çoban Decision, 2–1 Hjalmar Nyström Kristjan Palusalu Decision, 3–0 John Nyman
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total 1 Kristjan Palusalu 0 1 1 2 Kurt Hornfischer 1 1 2 3 Mehmet Çoban 2 1 3 3 John Nyman 0 3 3 3 Hjalmar Nyström 1 2 3 6 Aleardo Donati 4 0 4 7 Josef Klapuch 3 3 6 7 Alberts Zvejnieks 3 3 6
Round 4
This round eliminated half of the remaining wrestlers, with each bout's loser going over 5 points. Palusalu and Hornfischer ended the round with 2 points, Nyman with 3. The official report lists Çoban as 4th and Nyström as 5th.
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Kurt Hornfischer Fall Aleardo Donati Kristjan Palusalu Decision, 3–0 Mehmet Çoban John Nyman Fall Hjalmar Nyström
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total 1 Kristjan Palusalu 1 1 2 1 Kurt Hornfischer 2 0 2 3 John Nyman 3 0 3 4 Mehmet Çoban 3 3 6 5 Hjalmar Nyström 3 3 6 6 Aleardo Donati 4 3 7
Round 5
Palusalu's win ended the competition, eliminating Hornfischer. Palusalu had previously defeated Nyman, so any win for Palusalu in this round would secure the gold. Hornfischer had not faced Nyman, so a Hornfischer win here would have set up that match as a final round (with Palusalu still eligible for silver or even gold if the loss to Hornfischer had been by split decision).
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Kristjan Palusalu Decision, 3–0 Kurt Hornfischer John Nyman Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total Kristjan Palusalu 2 1 3 John Nyman 3 0 3 Kurt Hornfischer 2 3 5
References