Wrestling at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight

The Greco-Roman light heavyweight was one of four Greco-Roman wrestling weight classes contested on the Wrestling at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Like all other wrestling events, it was open only to men. The light heavyweight was the second-heaviest weight class, allowing wrestlers up to 93 kilograms (205 lb).[1] Each nation could enter up to 12 wrestlers.[2]

Men's light heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling at the Games of the IV Olympiad
Venue	White City Stadium
Date	July 22
Competitors	21 from 10 nations
Medalists
Verner Weckman  Finland Yrjö Saarela  Finland Carl Jensen  Denmark

Competition format

The event was a single-elimination tournament with a bronze medal match between the semifinal losers. The final and bronze medal match were best two-of-three, while all other rounds were a single bout. Bouts were 15 minutes, unless one wrestler lost by fall (two shoulders on the ground at the same time). Other than falls, decisions were made by the judges or, if they did not agree, the referee.

Wrestlers could "take hold only from the head and not lower than the waist." The "hair, flesh, ears, private parts, or clothes may not be seized"; striking, scratching, twisting fingers, tripping, and grabbing legs were prohibited. Holds "obtained that the fear of breakage or dislocation of a limb shall cause the wrestler to give the fall" were outlawed, and particularly the double-nelson, arm up back with bar on, hammerlock, strangle, half-strangle, hang, and flying mare with palm uppermost.[3]

Results

Standings

Place	Wrestler	Nation
1	Verner Weckman	Finland
2	Yrjö Saarela	Finland
3	Carl Jensen	Denmark
4	Hugó Payr	Hungary
5	Arthur Banbrook	Great Britain
	Marcel Dubois	Belgium
	Fritz Larsson	Sweden
	Jacob van Westrop	Netherlands
9	Charles Brown	Great Britain
	Jussi Kivimäki	Finland
	August Meesen	Belgium
	Edward Nixson	Great Britain
	Leendert van Oosten	Netherlands
	William West	Great Britain
	Douwe Wijbrands	Netherlands
	Yevgeny Zamotin	Russia
17	Harald Christiansen	Denmark
	Harold Foskett	Great Britain
	György Luntzer	Hungary
	Henri Nielsen	Denmark
	Miroslav Šustera	Bohemia

Bracket

First Round

Second Round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Decision

Fritz Larsson (SWE)

Decision

Harald Christiansen (DEN)

Fritz Larsson (SWE)

Fall (5:33)

Douwe Wijbrands (NED)

Douwe Wijbrands (NED)

Fall (4:10)

György Luntzer (HUN)

Fritz Larsson (SWE)

Fall (7:29)

Verner Weckman (FIN)

Walter West (GBR)

Fall (1:53)

Miroslav Šustera (BOH)

Walter West (GBR)

Verner Weckman (FIN)

Fall (11:36)

Verner Weckman (FIN)

Hugó Payr (HUN)

Fall (9:08)

Hugó Payr (HUN)

Yevgeny Zamotin (RUS)

Decision

Hugó Payr (HUN)

Jacob van Westrop (NED)

Decision

Jacob van Westrop (NED)

Jussi Kivimäki (FIN)

2–1 (fall by 4:22/fall (5:07)/fall (16:10))

Verner Weckman (FIN)

Fall (3:50)

Yrjö Saarela (FIN)

Yrjö Saarela (FIN)

Fall (2:31)

Henri Nielsen (DEN)

Yrjö Saarela (FIN)

Edward Nixson (GBR)

Fall (12:24)

Yrjö Saarela (FIN)

Fall (1:30)

Marcel Dubois (BEL)

Marcel Dubois (BEL)

Fall (1:35)

Harold Foskett (GBR)

Marcel Dubois (BEL)

Charles Brown (GBR)

Fall (5:35)

Yrjö Saarela (FIN)

Carl Jensen (DEN)

Third place

Fall (8:41)

2–0 (falls 2:04/1:40)

Carl Jensen (DEN)

Carl Jensen (DEN)

Leendert van Oosten (NED)

Hugó Payr (HUN)

Fall (2:28)

Carl Jensen (DEN)

Arthur Banbrook (GBR)

Fall (7:11)

Arthur Banbrook (GBR)

August Meesen (BEL)

References

1. "Wrestling at the 1908 London Summer Games: Men's Light-Heavyweight, Greco-Roman". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
2. Official Report, p. 40.
3. Official Report, pp. 621–23.

Sources

• Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
• De Wael, Herman (2001). "Greco-Roman Wrestling 1908". Herman's Full Olympians. Retrieved 29 May 2006.