The men's Greco-Roman heavyweight was one of thirteen wrestling events held as part of the wrestling at the 1928 Summer Olympics programme.[1] The competition was held from August 2 to 5, and featured 15 wrestlers from 15 nations.[2]
| Men's heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling at the Games of the IX Olympiad | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Krachtsportgebouw | ||||||||||||
| Dates | August 2–5 | ||||||||||||
| Competitors | 15 from 15 nations | ||||||||||||
| Medalists | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Competition format
This Greco-Roman wrestling competition introduced an elimination system based on the accumulation of points. 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.[2][3]
Results
Round 1
The first round produced 4 winners by fall (0 points), 1 bye (0 points), 3 winners by decision (1 point), and 7 losers (3 points).
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josef Urban |  Czechoslovakia | Fall | Gustave Colpaert |  Belgium |
| Aleardo Donati |  Italy | Fall | Simon de Lanfranchi |  France |
| Georg Gehring |  Germany | Fall | Emil Larsen |  Denmark |
| Mehmet Çoban |  Turkey | Decision | Jorge Briola |  Argentina |
| Eugen Wiesberger Sr. |  Austria | Decision | Alberts Zvejnieks |  Latvia |
| Rajmund Badó |  Hungary | Fall | Ibrahim Sobh |  Egypt |
| Rudolf Svensson |  Sweden | Decision | Hjalmar Nyström |  Finland |
| Jacob Simonis |  Netherlands | Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
Round 2
All 7 bouts were won by fall, with none of the winners gaining any points. Donati, Gehring, and Urban stayed at 0; Çoban, Svensson (with a bye), and Weisberger stayed at 1; Nyström and Zvejnieks stayed at 3. Also with 3 points were Badó and Simonis, after their first loss each. The other 5 round 2 losers had also lost in round 1; they were eliminated.
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josef Urban | Czechoslovakia | Fall | Jacob Simonis | Netherlands |
| Aleardo Donati | Italy | Fall | Gustave Colpaert | Belgium |
| Georg Gehring | Germany | Fall | Simon de Lanfranchi | France |
| Mehmet Çoban | Turkey | Fall | Emil Larsen | Denmark |
| Alberts Zvejnieks | Latvia | Fall | Jorge Briola | Argentina |
| Eugen Wiesberger Sr. | Austria | Fall | Ibrahim Sobh | Egypt |
| Hjalmar Nyström | Finland | Fall | Rajmund Badó | Hungary |
| Rudolf Svensson | Sweden | Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | R1 | R2 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aleardo Donati | Italy | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Josef Urban | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Georg Gehring | Germany | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Mehmet Çoban | Turkey | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Rudolf Svensson | Sweden | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Eugen Wiesberger Sr. | Austria | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Rajmund Badó | Hungary | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Hjalmar Nyström | Finland | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Jacob Simonis | Netherlands | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | Alberts Zvejnieks | Latvia | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | Jorge Briola | Argentina | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | Gustave Colpaert | Belgium | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | Simon de Lanfranchi | France | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | Emil Larsen | Denmark | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | Ibrahim Sobh | Egypt | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Round 3
The Urban–Donati and Gehring–Çoban bouts each featured 2 wrestlers with fewer than 2 points and therefore no elimination possible for either wrestler in the bout. The Nyström–Wiesberger bout also ended in no eliminations, as Nyström won by decision to leave both wrestlers at 4 points. Zvejnieks and Simonis were eliminated. Urban was the only man left with 0 points; Gehring and Svensson also remained below 2 points and thus safe from elimination in the next round.
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudolf Svensson | Sweden | Fall | Jacob Simonis | Netherlands |
| Josef Urban | Czechoslovakia | Fall | Aleardo Donati | Italy |
| Georg Gehring | Germany | Decision | Mehmet Çoban | Turkey |
| Rajmund Badó | Hungary | Fall | Alberts Zvejnieks | Latvia |
| Hjalmar Nyström | Finland | Decision | Eugen Wiesberger Sr. | Austria |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josef Urban | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | Georg Gehring | Germany | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Rudolf Svensson | Sweden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Rajmund Badó | Hungary | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Aleardo Donati | Italy | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Mehmet Çoban | Turkey | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | Hjalmar Nyström | Finland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | Eugen Wiesberger Sr. | Austria | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 9 | Jacob Simonis | Netherlands | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Alberts Zvejnieks | Latvia | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
Round 4
All 4 bouts this round were won by fall; Nyström and Wiesberger needed to win that way to continue, as they started (and ended) with 4 points. Svensson and Gehring each stayed at 1 point, now in the lead as Urban took his first loss and moved to 3 points. The other three losers, Badó, Çoban, and Donati, were eliminated.
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudolf Svensson | Sweden | Fall | Josef Urban | Czechoslovakia |
| Georg Gehring | Germany | Fall | Aleardo Donati | Italy |
| Hjalmar Nyström | Finland | Fall | Mehmet Çoban | Turkey |
| Eugen Wiesberger Sr. | Austria | Fall | Rajmund Badó | Hungary |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georg Gehring | Germany | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | Rudolf Svensson | Sweden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Josef Urban | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Hjalmar Nyström | Finland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Eugen Wiesberger Sr. | Austria | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Rajmund Badó | Hungary | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Aleardo Donati | Italy | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | Mehmet Çoban | Turkey | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
Round 5
The two leaders faced off (neither could be eliminated, however), with Svensson prevailing (ultimately securing himself the gold medal). Urban, who had 0 points after 3 rounds, now had 6 points after two consecutive losses and was eliminated in 5th place. Wiesberger was also eliminated in his victory over Urban, as he needed a win by fall to continue but won by decision instead. Nyström had a bye.
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rudolf Svensson | Sweden | Fall | Georg Gehring | Germany |
| Eugen Wiesberger Sr. | Austria | Decision | Josef Urban | Czechoslovakia |
| Hjalmar Nyström | Finland | Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rudolf Svensson | Sweden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | Georg Gehring | Germany | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| 2 | Hjalmar Nyström | Finland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Eugen Wiesberger Sr. | Austria | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | Josef Urban | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
Round 6
The only bout possible was Nyström against Gehring, as Svensson had already faced each of the other wrestlers. Svensson thus ended up with his second bye of the tournament and the gold medal.
- Bouts
| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hjalmar Nyström | Finland | Decision | Georg Gehring | Germany |
| Rudolf Svensson | Sweden | Bye | N/A | N/A |
- Points
| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Rudolf Svensson | Sweden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 | Hjalmar Nyström | Finland | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
 | Georg Gehring | Germany | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 |