The men's freestyle lightweight competition at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo took place from 11 to 14 October at the Komazawa Gymnasium. Nations were limited to one competitor. Lightweight was the fourth-lightest category, including wrestlers weighing .
Competition format
This freestyle wrestling competition continued to use the "bad points" elimination system introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics for Greco-Roman and at the 1932 Summer Olympics for freestyle wrestling, as adjusted at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Each bout awarded 4 points. If the victory was by fall, the winner received 0 and the loser 4. If the victory was by decision, the winner received 1 and the loser 3. If the bout was tied, each wrestler received 2 points. A wrestler who accumulated 6 or more points was eliminated. Rounds continued until there were 3 or fewer uneliminated wrestlers. If only 1 wrestler remained, he received the gold medal. If 2 wrestlers remained, point totals were ignored and they faced each other for gold and silver (if they had already wrestled each other, that result was used). If 3 wrestlers remained, point totals were ignored and a round-robin was held among those 3 to determine medals (with previous head-to-head results, if any, counting for this round-robin).
Results
Round 1
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Mahmut Atalay Decision Zarbeg Beriashvili Muhammad Bashir Decision Stefanos Ioannidis Udey Chand Decision Arto Savolainen Enyu Valchev Fall Tham Kook Chin Gregory Ruth Decision Matti Poikala Iwao Horiuchi Decision Danzandarjaagiin Sereeter Sidney Marsh Fall Alejandro Echaniz Abdullah Movahed Decision Kenny Stephenson Klaus Rost Decision Rodger Doner Jeong Dong-gu Decision Tony Greig Djan-Aka Djan Decision Carlos Alberto Vario
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation R1 1 0 1 0 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3 Jeong Dong-gu 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 12 3 12 Danzandarjaagiin Sereeter 3 12 3 12 3 12 3 12 3 12 3 12 3 12 3 21 4 21 Tham Kook Chin 4
Round 2
Valchev was the only wrestler to win both of his bouts by fall to stay at 0 points. Seven wrestlers were eliminated with losses in each of the first two rounds. Fifteen advanced to round 3.
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Mahmut Atalay Decision Stefanos Ioannidis Zarbeg Beriashvili Decision Muhammad Bashir Enyu Valchev Fall Udey Chand Arto Savolainen Fall Tham Kook Chin Iwao Horiuchi Decision Matti Poikala Gregory Ruth Decision Danzandarjaagiin Sereeter Kenny Stephenson Decision Alejandro Echaniz Abdullah Movahed Decision Sidney Marsh Klaus Rost Fall Tony Greig Jeong Dong-gu Decision Djan-Aka Djan Carlos Alberto Vario Decision Rodger Doner
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation R1 R2 Total 1 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 3 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 Jeong Dong-gu 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 3 1 1 2 8 0 3 3 8 3 0 3 10 1 3 4 10 3 1 4 10 1 3 4 10 3 1 4 10 3 1 4 10 1 4 5 16 Danzandarjaagiin Sereeter 3 3 6 16 3 3 6 16 3 3 6 16 3 3 6 20 4 3 7 20 3 4 7 20 Tham Kook Chin 4 4 8
Round 3
Five competitors were eliminated, leaving 10 to continue forward. Valchev, with his third win by fall, stayed at 0 points.
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Mahmut Atalay Fall Muhammad Bashir Zarbeg Beriashvili Decision Udey Chand Enyu Valchev Fall Arto Savolainen Iwao Horiuchi Decision Gregory Ruth Sidney Marsh Decision Kenny Stephenson Abdullah Movahed Decision Jeong Dong-gu Klaus Rost Decision Djan-Aka Djan Carlos Alberto Vario Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation R1 R2 R3 Total 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 1 0 2 2 1 0 1 2 4 1 1 1 3 4 1 1 1 3 6 0 3 1 4 6 3 1 0 4 8 3 1 1 5 8 Jeong Dong-gu 1 1 3 5 8 1 1 3 5 11 1 4 3 7 11 1 3 3 7 11 3 0 4 7 11 3 1 3 7 15 1 3 4 8
Round 4
This round was highly unusual in that 3 of the 4 winners were eliminated along with only 2 of the 4 losers. Beriashvili defeated Valchev to give the latter wrestler his first points, but the Soviet picked up his 6th point in doing so and was eliminated. The match between Ruth and Marsh resulted in both wrestlers receiving enough points for elimination. The bout between Horiuchi and Movahed, where a victory of any kind would eliminate the loser and allow the victor to continue, resulted in a draw—keeping both men in the competition.
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Mahmut Atalay Decision Carlos Alberto Vario Zarbeg Beriashvili Decision Enyu Valchev Gregory Ruth Decision Sidney Marsh Iwao Horiuchi Tie Abdullah Movahed Jeong Dong-gu Decision Klaus Rost
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation R1 R2 R3 R4 Total 1 1 1 0 1 3 1 0 0 0 3 3 3 1 1 1 2 5 3 1 1 1 2 5 3 1 0 1 3 5 6 3 1 1 1 6 6 Jeong Dong-gu 1 1 3 1 6 6 1 1 3 1 6 9 0 3 1 3 7 9 3 1 0 3 7
Round 5
Rost had the great fortune to receive the bye in this round, guaranteeing he would continue while the field narrowed. Horiuchi's victory over Atalay in this round eliminated both men at 6 points; it also ultimately served as the tie-breaker between the two for the bronze medal. In the other match of the round, Movahed needed a win by fall to stay in competition, while Valchev would continue with any win or a tie. A Movahed victory by decision would eliminate both (and leave Rost alone uneliminated). Ultimately, the match ended in a tie; Valchev continued on to face Rost in the final while Movahed took 5th place.
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Iwao Horiuchi Decision Mahmut Atalay Enyu Valchev Tie Abdullah Movahed Klaus Rost Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 Total 1 1 0 1 3 0 5 1 0 0 0 3 2 5 1 1 1 2 1 6 4 1 1 0 1 3 6 5 1 1 1 2 2 7
Final round
With only two wrestlers left, they faced each other in a gold medal bout. Valchev defeated Rost by decision.
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Enyu Valchev Decision Klaus Rost
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Points 1 3
References
General