Wrestling at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle middleweight

The men's freestyle middleweight competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin took place from 2 August to 4 August at the Deutschlandhalle. Nations were limited to one competitor.[1][2] This weight class was limited to wrestlers weighing up to 79kg.[3]

Men's freestyle middleweight
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
VenueDeutschlandhalle
Dates2–4 August
Competitors15 from 15 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Émile Poilvé  France
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Richard Voliva  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ahmet Kireççi  Turkey
← 1932
1948 →

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, 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.[3]

Schedule

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Date Event
2 August 1936 Round 1
4 August 1936 Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6

Results

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Round 1

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Of the winners, three won by fall and advanced with 0 points (a fourth man had a bye and also finished the round with 0 points) while four won by decision and moved to the second round with 1 point. The losers featured two by split decision (2 points), two by unanimous decision (3 points), and three by fall (3 points).[4]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
János Riheczky   Hungary Decision, 3–0 Karam Rasul   India
Richard Voliva   United States Fall Jan van der Merwe   South Africa
Ercole Gallegati   Italy Decision, 2–1 Ludvig Lindblom   Sweden
Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey Decision, 3–0 Hans Schedler   Germany
Kyösti Luukko   Finland Fall Frans Van Hoorebeke   Belgium
Émile Poilvé   France Fall Terry Evans   Canada
Jaroslav Sysel   Czechoslovakia Decision, 2–1 Leslie Jeffers   Great Britain
Ernst Krebs   Switzerland Bye N/A N/A
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Ernst Krebs   Switzerland 0 0 0
1 Kyösti Luukko   Finland 0 0 0
1 Émile Poilvé   France 0 0 0
1 Richard Voliva   United States 0 0 0
5 Ercole Gallegati   Italy 0 1 1
5 Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey 0 1 1
5 János Riheczky   Hungary 0 1 1
5 Jaroslav Sysel   Czechoslovakia 0 1 1
9 Leslie Jeffers   Great Britain 0 2 2
9 Ludvig Lindblom   Sweden 0 2 2
11 Terry Evans   Canada 0 3 3
11 Frans Van Hoorebeke   Belgium 0 3 3
11 Jan van der Merwe   South Africa 0 3 3
11 Karam Rasul   India 0 3 3
11 Hans Schedler   Germany 0 3 3

Round 2

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One of the quirks of the 1936 points system is that two losses did not necessarily eliminate a wrestler even though wrestlers could be eliminated with one or even no losses). This came into practice in the case of Lindblom here, who lost both the first two rounds by split decision, accumulating 2 points per loss for a total of 4—less than the 5 required for elimination. The other five men who finished the round at 0–2 had at least one loss by fall or unanimous decision, however, and were eliminated. Krebs was the only man to finish the round with 0 points, after a bye and a win by fall. The five men who were 2–0 had either 1 or 2 points. Three men were 1–1 and had either 3 or 4 points.[4]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Ernst Krebs   Switzerland Fall János Riheczky   Hungary
Richard Voliva   United States Decision, 3–0 Karam Rasul   India
Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey Decision, 2–1 Ludvig Lindblom   Sweden
Ercole Gallegati   Italy Decision, 3–0 Hans Schedler   Germany
Émile Poilvé   France Decision, 3–0 Kyösti Luukko   Finland
Jaroslav Sysel   Czechoslovakia Fall Frans Van Hoorebeke   Belgium
Leslie Jeffers   Great Britain Decision, 2–1 Terry Evans   Canada
N/A N/A Withdrew Jan van der Merwe   South Africa
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Ernst Krebs   Switzerland 0 0 0
2 Émile Poilvé   France 0 1 1
2 Jaroslav Sysel   Czechoslovakia 1 0 1
2 Richard Voliva   United States 0 1 1
5 Ercole Gallegati   Italy 1 1 2
5 Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey 1 1 2
7 Leslie Jeffers   Great Britain 2 1 3
7 Kyösti Luukko   Finland 0 3 3
9 Ludvig Lindblom   Sweden 2 2 4
9 János Riheczky   Hungary 1 3 4
11 Terry Evans   Canada 3 2 5
12 Frans Van Hoorebeke   Belgium 3 3 6
12 Jan van der Merwe   South Africa 3 3 6
12 Karam Rasul   India 3 3 6
12 Hans Schedler   Germany 3 3 6

Round 3

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Poilvé led after the round, at 3–0 and 1 point. Voliva was also 3–0, but had 2 points—the same as Krebs, who was 1–1. Kireççi was also 3–0 but had 3 points as all three wins came by decision and thus trailed Krebs. Luukko and Sysel were each 2–1. with 4 points. Gallegati (also at 2–1) was eliminated with 5 points. Further highlighting the odd results of the scoring system, the bout between Riheczky and Lindblom resulted in both being eliminated: Riheczky despite winning to improve to 2–1, while it took a third loss to finish Lindblom. Indeed, of the four men eliminated in this round, only Jeffers finished with 2 losses.[4]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Richard Voliva   United States Decision, 2–1 Ernst Krebs   Switzerland
János Riheczky   Hungary Decision, 3–0 Ludvig Lindblom   Sweden
Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey Decision, 3–0 Ercole Gallegati   Italy
Kyösti Luukko   Finland Decision, 3–0 Jaroslav Sysel   Czechoslovakia
Émile Poilvé   France Fall Leslie Jeffers   Great Britain
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Émile Poilvé   France 1 0 1
2 Ernst Krebs   Switzerland 0 2 2
2 Richard Voliva   United States 1 1 2
4 Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey 2 1 3
5 Kyösti Luukko   Finland 3 1 4
5 Jaroslav Sysel   Czechoslovakia 1 3 4
7 Ercole Gallegati   Italy 2 3 5
7 János Riheczky   Hungary 4 1 5
9 Leslie Jeffers   Great Britain 3 3 6
10 Ludvig Lindblom   Sweden 4 3 7

Round 4

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Krebs became the second wrestler in this event to withstand a second loss without being eliminated, moving to a 1–2 record but only 4 points because the win came by fall and both losses were by split decision. His opponent, Kireççi, also finished the round at 4 points with the win by decision adding 1 to his starting 3. Luukko was injured and could not finish the bout, leaving Voliva at 2 points. Poilvé won by fall to stay at 1 point, eliminating Sysel. The official rankings place Sysel 5th and Luukko 6th.[4]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey Decision, 2–1 Ernst Krebs   Switzerland
Richard Voliva   United States Withdrew Kyösti Luukko   Finland
Émile Poilvé   France Fall Jaroslav Sysel   Czechoslovakia
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Émile Poilvé   France 1 0 1
2 Richard Voliva   United States 2 0 2
3 Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey 3 1 4
3 Ernst Krebs   Switzerland 2 2 4
5 Jaroslav Sysel   Czechoslovakia 4 3 7
6 Kyösti Luukko   Finland 4 3 7

Round 5

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Krebs managed to finish in fourth place despite winning only one bout, finally being eliminated by Poilvé. The latter man retained the lead at 1 point in his fifth win. Kireççi was also eliminated in this round, earning the bronze medal. Voliva, like Poilvé, had five wins but more had come by decision, putting Voliva at 3 points.[4]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Émile Poilvé   France Fall Ernst Krebs   Switzerland
Richard Voliva   United States Decision, 2–1 Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
1 Émile Poilvé   France 1 0 1
2 Richard Voliva   United States 2 1 3
  Ahmet Kireççi   Turkey 4 2 6
4 Ernst Krebs   Switzerland 4 3 7

Round 6

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Points remained important into the final round, as Poilvé's 2-point advantage made the final not a direct competition for gold and silver. Instead, Voliva would need to win by fall or unanimous decision to take the gold. Poilvé would prevail even if he lost by split decision, as that result would give Voliva 4 points (adding 1 to his starting 3) but Poilvé only 3 (adding 2 to his starting 1). The Frenchman, however, won the match by fall, finishing a sterling performance of six wins with only one requiring a decision by the judges.[4]

Bouts
Winner Nation Victory Type Loser Nation
Émile Poilvé   France Fall Richard Voliva   United States
Points
Rank Wrestler Nation Start Earned Total
  Émile Poilvé   France 1 0 1
  Richard Voliva   United States 3 3 6

References

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  1. ^ "Wrestling at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's Middleweight, Freestyle". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  2. ^ Official Olympic Report, la84.org. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b Official Report, p. 716.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Official Report, p. 733.