History
Although heavyweight wrestling at the 1896 Olympics was billed as Greco-Roman, it was actually what is now considered freestyle wrestling, since leg holds were allowed.
True Greco-Roman wrestling, in which holds below the waist are prohibited, was introduced to the Olympic games in 1906.
From 1938 through 1980, medals were based on round robin competition. The wrestler with the fewest penalty points in the final round won the gold medal. If two or more wrestlers had the same number of penalty points in the in the final round, standings were based on the number of penalty points in previous rounds.
For those years, the number of penalty points is shown. For all other years, the score of the gold medal match is shown.
The following abbreviations are used: Dec = Decision, Ret = Opponent Retired, WO = Walkover.
Weight limits have changed a number of times through the years. The limits shown are those used at the 2004 Olympics for divisions in which competition was held in 2004. For other divisions, the weight limit is shown for the most recent Olympics at which the even took place.