# Wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's freestyle heavyweight

The men's freestyle heavyweight competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki took place from 20 July to 23 July at Messuhalli. Nations were limited to one competitor. Heavyweight was the heaviest category, including wrestlers weighing over 87 kilograms (191.8 lb).

## 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 |
| Arsen Mekokishvili | Soviet Union | Fall | József Kovács | Hungary |
| Ken Richmond | Great Britain | Fall | Adolfo Ramírez | Argentina |
| Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | Fall | Josef Růžička | Czechoslovakia |
| Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | Fall | Ahad Vafadar | Iran |
| İrfan Atan | Turkey | Fall | William Kerslake | United States |
| Natale Vecchi | Italy | Decision, 3–0 | Auguste Baarendse | Belgium |
| Willi Waltner | Germany | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | İrfan Atan | Turkey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Arsen Mekokishvili | Soviet Union | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Willi Waltner | Germany | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Natale Vecchi | Italy | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | Auguste Baarendse | Belgium | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | William Kerslake | United States | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | József Kovács | Hungary | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Adolfo Ramírez | Argentina | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Josef Růžička | Czechoslovakia | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8 | Ahad Vafadar | Iran | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Arsen Mekokishvili | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Willi Waltner | Germany |
| Ken Richmond | Great Britain | Decision, 3–0 | József Kovács | Hungary |
| Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | Fall | Adolfo Ramírez | Argentina |
| Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | Fall | Josef Růžička | Czechoslovakia |
| İrfan Atan | Turkey | Decision, 2–1 | Ahad Vafadar | Iran |
| William Kerslake | United States | Fall | Auguste Baarendse | Belgium |
| Natale Vecchi | Italy | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | İrfan Atan | Turkey | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Arsen Mekokishvili | Soviet Union | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Natale Vecchi | Italy | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | William Kerslake | United States | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Willi Waltner | Germany | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Auguste Baarendse | Belgium | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | József Kovács | Hungary | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Adolfo Ramírez | Argentina | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Josef Růžička | Czechoslovakia | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Ahad Vafadar | Iran | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Willi Waltner | Germany | Decision, 2–1 | Natale Vecchi | Italy |
| Arsen Mekokishvili | Soviet Union | Decision, 2–1 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain |
| Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | Decision, 2–1 | İrfan Atan | Turkey |
| William Kerslake | United States | Fall | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Arsen Mekokishvili | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | William Kerslake | United States | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | İrfan Atan | Turkey | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | Natale Vecchi | Italy | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | Willi Waltner | Germany | 3 | 1 | 4 |

### Round 4

Kerslake took 5th place over Kangasniemi due to head-to-head results from round 3.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Arsen Mekokishvili | Soviet Union | Fall | Natale Vecchi | Italy |
| Ken Richmond | Great Britain | Fall | Willi Waltner | Germany |
| Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | Decision, 2–1 | William Kerslake | United States |
| İrfan Atan | Turkey | Decision, 3–0 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 1 | Arsen Mekokishvili | Soviet Union | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Ken Richmond | Great Britain | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | İrfan Atan | Turkey | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 | William Kerslake | United States | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | Taisto Kangasniemi | Finland | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 7 | Natale Vecchi | Italy | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 7 | Willi Waltner | Germany | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Medal rounds

Mekokishvili's victory over Richmond counted for the medal rounds. Mekokishvili then defeated Antonsson to win the gold medal at 2–0 against the other medalists. Antonsson then faced Richmond for the silver medal, with the Swede winning.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Arsen Mekokishvili | Soviet Union | Decision, 2–1 | Bertil Antonsson | Sweden |
| Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | Fall | Ken Richmond | Great Britain |

#### Points

| Wrestler | Nation | Wins | Losses | Start | Earned | Total |
| Arsen Mekokishvili | Soviet Union | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Bertil Antonsson | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Ken Richmond | Great Britain | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 |