The freestyle heavyweight was one of five

freestyle wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling originated from Great Britain and the United States. Along with Greco-Roman, it is one of the two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games. American high school and men's college wrestling ...

weight classes contested on the

Wrestling at the 1908 Summer Olympics At the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, nine wrestling events were contested, all for men. There were four weight classes in Greco-Roman wrestling and five weight classes in freestyle wrestling. Greco-Roman reappeared for the first time since th ...

programme. Like all other wrestling events, it was open only to men. The

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

was the heaviest weight class, allowing wrestlers over 73 kilograms (161 lb). Eleven wrestlers competed; nine from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, one from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, and one from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The competition was held on July 23, 1908. Each nation could enter up to 12 wrestlers.Official Report, p. 40.

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 how and where they please except that "hair, flesh, ears, private parts, or clothes may not be seized"; striking, scratching, twisting fingers, butting, and kicking were prohibited. Holds "obtained that the fear of breakage or dislocation of a limb shall induce a wrestler to give the fall" were outlawed, and particularly the double-nelson, hammerlock, strangle, half-strangle, scissors, hang, flying mare with palm uppermost, and the foot twist.Official Report, pp. 621–22.

Results

Bracket

Standings

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wrestling At The 1908 Summer Olympics - Men's Freestyle Heavyweight Freestyle 5