Wrestling at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's Greco-Roman middleweight
The Greco-Roman middleweight competition at the 1912 Summer Olympics was part of the wrestling programme. The event was held from July 6, 1912, to July 15, 1912. The official name was Middleweight A. A maximum of 12 wrestlers from the same nation were allowed to start. 38 wrestlers from 13 nations competed. The Swedish hosts had the strongest team with nine wrestlers. The competition used a form of double-elimination tournament. Rather than using the brackets that are now standard for double-elimination contests, each wrestler drew a number. The drawing and weighing was held on Sunday, July 6 from 2p.m. to 3.30p.m. at the Stadium. Each man would face off against the wrestler with the next number, provided he had not already faced that wrestler and that the wrestler was not from the same nation as him. When only three wrestlers remain, the double-elimination halts and a special final round is used to determine the order of the medals.
Results
First round
38 wrestlers began the competition.
Losses
Winner
Loser
Losses
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
Second round
and Wiktor Melin withdrew after their first round losses. 36 wrestlers started the second round, 19 with no losses and 17 with one. 11 were eliminated. 8 survived potential elimination. 6 received their first loss, while 13 remained undefeated.
Losses
Winner
Loser
Losses
1
2
0
1
0
1
0
2
0
2
0
1
1
2
0
1
1
2
0
1
1
2
0
2
0
2
0
2
0
2
1
2
0
1
0
Bye
—
1
Bye
—
Third round
25 wrestlers started the third round, 13 with no losses and 12 with one. 6 were eliminated. 6 survived potential elimination. 7 received their first loss, while 6 remained undefeated.
Losses
Winner
Loser
Losses
0
1
1
2
1
2
0
2
0
2
0
1
1
1
0
2
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
2
0
1
Fourth round
withdrew after his first loss, in the third round. 18 wrestlers started the fourth round, 6 with no losses and 12 with one. Of the 9 matches, 8 resulted in an elimination. Only in the match between undefeated pair Johansson and Lundstein did both wrestlers continue to the fifth round. In the four matches between an undefeated wrestler and one with one loss, the undefeated man won again, making Lundstein the only wrestler to lose undefeated status. The four remaining matches were all between two men with one loss apiece. 8 wrestlers were eliminated. 4 survived potential elimination. 1 received his first loss, while 5 remained undefeated.
Losses
Winner
Loser
Losses
1
2
0
2
0
2
0
1
1
2
1
2
1
2
0
2
0
2
Fifth round
10 wrestlers started the fifth round, 5 with no losses and 5 with one. 2 of the 5 matches resulted in double losses. Asikainen and Johanson both received their first loss in their match, while Klein took his first loss in the match that eliminated Westerlund. In all, 4 wrestlers were eliminated. 1 survived potential elimination. 3 received their first losses, while 2 remained undefeated.
Losses
Winner
Loser
Losses
0
2
1*
1*
1
2
1*
2*
0
2
Sixth round
6 wrestlers started the sixth round, 2 with no losses and 4 with one. Only one man was eliminated in the sixth round. The other two matches were both potential eliminations, but the man with one loss came out on top of the undefeated wrestler in both of those. Thus, all 5 remaining men had one loss going into the seventh and last elimination round.
5 wrestlers started the seventh round, all with one loss. Asikainen's bye in the roundguaranteed him a medal. Klein defeated Jokinen to join him in the medals round, while Johansson defeated Åberg to make the third.
Losses
Winner
Loser
Losses
1
2
1
2
1
Bye
—
Final round
With three wrestlers remaining, all of the previous results were ignored for the final round. The bout between Klein and Asikainen turned out to be the last match, which lasted 11 hours and forty minutes, which is the world's longest wrestling match. After Klein finally claimed victory, he was completely exhausted and was ruled unfit to compete in the final. Thus Johanson, whose only loss in the elimination rounds had been via a double loss to Asikainen, became the gold medalist.
