# Wrestling at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight

The men's Greco-Roman light heavyweight competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki took place from 24 July to 27 July at Messuhalli. Nations were limited to one competitor. 79 to 87 kilograms (174.2 to 191.8 lb).

## Competition format

This Greco-Roman 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 |
| Michel Skaff | Lebanon | Decision, 2–1 | Ovidiu Forai | Romania |
| Karl-Erik Nilsson | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Gyula Kovács | Hungary |
| Umberto Silvestri | Italy | Decision, 2–1 | İsmet Atlı | Turkey |
| Kelpo Gröndahl | Finland | Fall | Jos Schummer | Luxembourg |
| Shalva Chikhladze | Soviet Union | Fall | Max Leichter | Germany |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Shalva Chikhladze | Soviet Union | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | Kelpo Gröndahl | Finland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | Sweden | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Umberto Silvestri | Italy | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Michel Skaff | Lebanon | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | İsmet Atlı | Turkey | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Ovidiu Forai | Romania | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Gyula Kovács | Hungary | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Max Leichter | Germany | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 6 | Jos Schummer | Luxembourg | 0 | 3 | 3 |

### Round 2
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Gyula Kovács | Hungary | Fall | Michel Skaff | Lebanon |
| Karl-Erik Nilsson | Sweden | Decision, 3–0 | Ovidiu Forai | Romania |
| İsmet Atlı | Turkey | Fall | Jos Schummer | Luxembourg |
| Shalva Chikhladze | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Umberto Silvestri | Italy |
| Kelpo Gröndahl | Finland | Decision, 3–0 | Max Leichter | Germany |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Shalva Chikhladze | Soviet Union | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | Kelpo Gröndahl | Finland | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | Sweden | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | İsmet Atlı | Turkey | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Gyula Kovács | Hungary | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 6 | Umberto Silvestri | Italy | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 6 | Michel Skaff | Lebanon | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 8 | Ovidiu Forai | Romania | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | Max Leichter | Germany | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 8 | Jos Schummer | Luxembourg | 3 | 3 | 6 |

### Round 3
#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Karl-Erik Nilsson | Sweden | Fall | Michel Skaff | Lebanon |
| Gyula Kovács | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | İsmet Atlı | Turkey |
| Kelpo Gröndahl | Finland | Fall | Umberto Silvestri | Italy |
| Shalva Chikhladze | Soviet Union | Bye | N/A | N/A |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Shalva Chikhladze | Soviet Union | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | Kelpo Gröndahl | Finland | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | Sweden | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | Gyula Kovács | Hungary | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | İsmet Atlı | Turkey | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | Umberto Silvestri | Italy | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 6 | Michel Skaff | Lebanon | 4 | 3 | 7 |

### Round 4

Nilsson's victory over Kovács in round 1 was the tie-breaker for third place and entry into the medal rounds.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Gyula Kovács | Hungary | Decision, 3–0 | Shalva Chikhladze | Soviet Union |
| Kelpo Gröndahl | Finland | Decision, 2–1 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | Sweden |

#### Points

| Rank | Wrestler | Nation | Start | Earned | Total |
| 1 | Kelpo Gröndahl | Finland | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Shalva Chikhladze | Soviet Union | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | Sweden | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 4 | Gyula Kovács | Hungary | 4 | 1 | 5 |

### Medal rounds

Gröndahl's victory over Nilsson in round 4 was counted for the medal rounds.

#### Bouts

| Winner | Nation | Victory Type | Loser | Nation |
| Shalva Chikhladze | Soviet Union | Decision, 3–0 | Karl-Erik Nilsson | Sweden |
| Kelpo Gröndahl | Finland | Decision, 2–1 | Shalva Chikhladze | Soviet Union |

#### Points

| Wrestler | Nation | Wins | Losses | Start | Earned | Total |
| Kelpo Gröndahl | Finland | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Shalva Chikhladze | Soviet Union | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Karl-Erik Nilsson | Sweden | 0 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 8 |