Rowing at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's coxed four

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Men's coxed four
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Steve Redgrave; this event was the first of his five gold medals in rowing
VenueLake Casitas
Dates30 July – 5 August
Competitors40 from 8 nations
Winning time6:18.64[1]
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s)  Great Britain
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  New Zealand
← 1980
1988 →
Rowing at the
1984 Summer Olympics
Single scullsmenwomen
Double scullsmenwomen
Quadruple scullsmenwomen
Coxless pairmenwomen
Coxed pairmen
Coxless fourmen
Coxed fourmenwomen
Eightmenwomen

The men's coxed four (M4+) competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Casitas in Ventura County, California, United States. There were 8 boats (40 competitors) from 8 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event.[nb 1][3] It was held from 30 July to 5 August and the dominant nations were missing from the event due to the Eastern Bloc boycott. Great Britain dominated the regatta, winning the nation's first rowing gold since the 1948 Summer Olympics, back then in front of their home crowd at the Henley Royal Regatta course. The 1984 event started Steve Redgrave's Olympic rowing success that would eventually see him win five Olympic gold medals. It was Great Britain's first victory in the men's coxed four and first medal of any colour in the event since 1912. The other medaling nations had also not been to the podium in the coxed four recently; the United States took silver, that nation's first medal in the event since 1952, while New Zealand's bronze was its first medal since 1968.

Background

This was the 17th appearance of the event. Rowing had been on the programme in 1896 but was cancelled due to bad weather. The coxed four was one of the four initial events introduced in 1900. It was not held in 1904 or 1908, but was held at every Games from 1912 to 1992 when it (along with the men's coxed pair) was replaced with the men's lightweight double sculls and men's lightweight coxless four.[4]

East Germany was the dominating country for the men's coxed four competition; since the 1977 World Rowing Championships, they had won this competition every year but at the most recent world championship in 1983, New Zealand claimed the title, displacing East Germany to the silver medal.[3][5] The second most dominating nation at the time was the Soviet Union, which had claimed five top three finishes since the 1976 Summer Olympics.[3][5][6][7][8][9] Both these Eastern Bloc nations were part of the boycott in 1984, and that left New Zealand as the reigning world champion as the favourite for the event.[3] The USA was also highly rated, having won world championship silver and bronze in 1981 and 1982, respectively,[9][10] and gold at the Pan American Games in 1983.[3]

For the second consecutive Games (and fifth time in the last eight), no nations made their debut in the event. The United States made its 14th appearance, most of any nation to that point.

Previous M4+ competitions

Competition Gold Silver Bronze
1976 Summer Olympics[6]  Soviet Union  East Germany  West Germany
1977 World Rowing Championships[11]  East Germany  West Germany  Bulgaria
1978 World Rowing Championships[12]  East Germany  West Germany  Bulgaria
1979 World Rowing Championships[7]  East Germany  Soviet Union  West Germany
1980 Summer Olympics[8]  East Germany  Soviet Union  Poland
1981 World Rowing Championships[9]  East Germany  United States  Soviet Union
1982 World Rowing Championships[10]  East Germany  Czechoslovakia  United States
1983 World Rowing Championships[5]  New Zealand  East Germany  Soviet Union

Competition format

The coxed four event featured five-person boats, with four rowers and a coxswain. It was a sweep rowing event, with the rowers each having one oar (and thus each rowing on one side). The competition used the 2000 metres distance that became standard at the 1912 Olympics and which has been used ever since except at the 1948 Games.[13]

With a small field again, the competition continued to use the three-round format from 1980.

  • Semifinals: Two heats of 4 boats each. The top boat in each heat (2 total) advanced directly to Final A. The remaining boats (6 total) went to the repechage.
  • Repechage: One heat of 6 boats. The top four boats rejoined the semifinal winners in Final A. The other boats (2 total) went to Final B.
  • Final: Two finals. Final A consisted of the top 6 boats. Final B placed boats 7 and 8.

Schedule

All times are

UTC-7
)

Date Time Round
Monday, 30 July 1984 Semifinals
Thursday, 2 August 1984 Repechage
Friday, 3 August 1984 Final B
Sunday, 5 August 1984 Final A

Results

None of the eight teams swapped the position of their rowers during the competition.[14]

Statue to Sir Steve Redgrave, who won the first of his five Olympic gold medals at this event

Semifinals

The two heats in round one were rowed on 30 July. The winner of each heat advanced to the A final, while the remaining teams went to the repechage.[15]

Semifinal 1

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1
Siro Meli (cox)  Italy 6:23.04 QA
2
Manfred Klein (cox)  West Germany 6:28.29 R
3
Paul Tessier (cox)  Canada 6:29.19 R
4
Manuel Mandel (cox)  Brazil 6:39.88 R

Semifinal 2

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1
Adrian Ellison (cox)  Great Britain 6:18.79 QA
2
John Stillings (cox)  United States 6:21.94 R
3
Brett Hollister (cox)  New Zealand 6:27.18 R
4
Akihiro Koike (cox)  Japan 6:54.51 R

Repechage

One heat was rowed in the repechage on 2 August. The first four teams advanced to the A final, while the remaining two teams went to the B final.[16]

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1
Brett Hollister (cox)  New Zealand 6:26.18 QA
2
John Stillings (cox)  United States 6:27.55 QA
3
Manfred Klein (cox)  West Germany 6:29.19 QA
4
Paul Tessier (cox)  Canada 6:29.76 QA
5
Manuel Mandel (cox)  Brazil 6:33.44 QB
6
Akihiro Koike (cox)  Japan 6:55.33 QB

Finals

Final B

The B final was rowed on 3 August.[1][17]

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time
7
Manuel Mandel (cox)  Brazil 6:47.13
8
Akihiro Koike (cox)  Japan 6:52.62

Final A

The A final was rowed on 5 August.[1][17]

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s)
Adrian Ellison (cox)  Great Britain 6:18.64
2nd place, silver medalist(s)
John Stillings (cox)  United States 6:20.28
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Brett Hollister (cox)  New Zealand 6:23.68
4
Siro Meli (cox)  Italy 6:26.44
5
Paul Tessier (cox)  Canada 6:28.78
6
Manfred Klein (cox)  West Germany 6:34.23

Footnotes

  1. ^ The official Olympic report states that 9 teams with 45 competitors participated, but then lists 8 teams in total[2]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Perelman 1985b, p. 529.
  2. ^ Perelman 1985b, pp. 525–529.
  3. ^ a b c d e Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  4. ^ "Coxed Fours, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
  5. ^
    International Rowing Federation
    . Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  6. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1976 Montréal Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  7. ^
    International Rowing Federation
    . Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  8. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1980 Moskva Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  9. ^
    International Rowing Federation
    . Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  10. ^
    International Rowing Federation. Archived from the original
    on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  11. International Rowing Federation
    . Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  12. International Rowing Federation
    . Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  13. ^ "Why Do We Race 2000m? The History Behind the Distance". World Rowing. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  14. ^ Perelman 1985b, pp. 528f.
  15. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours Round One". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  16. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours Round One Repêchage". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  17. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours Final Round". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 November 2016.

References

  • Perelman, Richard B., ed. (1985). Official Report Los Angeles 1984, Volume 1: Organization and Planning. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee.
  • Perelman, Richard B., ed. (1985). Official Report Los Angeles 1984, Volume 2: Competition and Summary and Results. Los Angeles: Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee.
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