[3] This Greco-Roman wrestling competition continued to use the "bad points" elimination system introduced at the 1928 Summer Olympics, with a slight modification.

[4] The number of wrestlers with 0 points dropped from five to two; Virtanen had a bye and Svedberg won by fall again.

Three wrestlers ended the round with 3 points (win by fall and loss, in either order).

Similarly, three continued to the next round with 4 points (win by decision and loss, in either order).

Tozzi was the only loser in the round to avoid elimination, as the 3 points of the loss moved him only to a total of 4.

[4] In the de facto gold medal final, Svedberg defeated Schäfer by split decision to take the Olympic victory.

Each man had 3 points, but the result of this round was itself the head-to-head tie-breaker that gave Svedberg the gold.