The men's freestyle featherweight competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki took place from 20 July to 23 July at Messuhalli. Nations were limited to one competitor. Featherweight was the third-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, removing the slight modification introduced in 1936 and used until 1948 (which had a reduced penalty for a loss by 2–1 decision). 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. 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. This elimination continued until the medal rounds, which began when 3 wrestlers remained. These 3 wrestlers each faced each other in a round-robin medal round (with earlier results counting, if any had wrestled another before); record within the medal round determined medals, with bad points breaking ties.
Results
Round 1
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Armand Bernard Fall Ignacio Lugo Risaburo Tominaga Fall Marco Antonio Girón Rauno Mäkinen Decision, 3–0 Rolf Ellerbrock Géza Hoffmann Decision, 3–0 Jef Mewis Próspero Mammana Decision, 3–0 John Elliott Antonio Randi Fall Joe Henson Henry Holmberg Decision, 3–0 Gonzalo Monte-Manibog Bayram Şit Fall Roger Bielle Ibrahim Dadashov Fall Abdel Fattah Essawi Nasser Givehchi Decision, 3–0 Herbie Hall Keshav Mangave Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 0 1 1 7 0 1 1 7 0 1 1 7 0 1 1 7 0 1 1 12 0 3 3 12 0 3 3 12 0 3 3 12 0 3 3 12 0 3 3 12 0 3 3 12 0 3 3 12 0 3 3 12 0 3 3 12 0 3 3
Round 2
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Keshav Mangave Walkover Ignacio Lugo Armand Bernard Fall Marco Antonio Girón Rauno Mäkinen Fall Risaburo Tominaga Jef Mewis Decision, 3–0 Rolf Ellerbrock Géza Hoffmann Fall Próspero Mammana Joe Henson Fall John Elliott Henry Holmberg Decision, 3–0 Antonio Randi Roger Bielle Decision, 3–0 Gonzalo Monte-Manibog Bayram Şit Decision, 3–0 Ibrahim Dadashov Abdel Fattah Essawi Fall Herbie Hall Nasser Givehchi Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 3 1 0 1 3 1 0 1 3 0 1 1 7 1 1 2 8 0 3 3 8 3 0 3 8 3 0 3 8 0 3 3 8 0 3 3 13 3 1 4 13 1 3 4 13 3 1 4 16 3 3 6 16 3 3 6 16 3 3 6 16 3 3 6 16 3 3 6 16 3 3 6
Round 3
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Nasser Givehchi Decision, 3–0 Keshav Mangave Risaburo Tominaga Fall Armand Bernard Rauno Mäkinen Decision, 3–0 Jef Mewis Joe Henson Fall Géza Hoffmann Próspero Mammana Decision, 2–1 Antonio Randi Bayram Şit Decision, 3–0 Henry Holmberg Ibrahim Dadashov Decision, 3–0 Roger Bielle Abdel Fattah Essawi Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 4 0 3 3 4 3 0 3 4 3 0 3 4 0 3 3 4 3 0 3 9 3 1 4 9 1 3 4 11 2 3 5 11 4 1 5 13 3 3 6 14 4 3 7 14 4 3 7
Round 4
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Nasser Givehchi Decision, 2–1 Abdel Fattah Essawi Keshav Mangave Fall Armand Bernard Risaburo Tominaga Decision, 3–0 Géza Hoffmann Bayram Şit Fall Rauno Mäkinen Joe Henson Decision, 2–1 Ibrahim Dadashov
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total 1 2 0 2 2 2 1 3 2 3 0 3 4 3 1 4 4 3 1 4 6 2 3 5 7 3 3 6 7 3 3 6 9 4 3 7 9 4 3 7
Round 5
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Nasser Givehchi Decision, 2–1 Risaburo Tominaga Joe Henson Decision, 3–0 Keshav Mangave Bayram Şit Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total 1 2 0 2 2 3 1 4 3 4 1 5 4 3 3 6 5 4 3 7
Medal rounds
None of the three wrestlers that made it to the medal rounds had faced each other previously, so each wrestled the other two. Şit defeated each of the other two wrestlers to take the gold medal; Givehchi prevailed over Henson to take silver.
Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation Bayram Şit Decision, 3–0 Nasser Givehchi Bayram Şit Fall Joe Henson Nasser Givehchi Decision, 2–1 Joe Henson
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Wins Losses Start Earned Total 2 0 2 1 3 1 1 4 4 8 0 2 5 6 11
References
General