Rowing at the Summer Olympics

Rowing at the Summer Olympics
Governing body	FISA
Events	14 (men: 8; women: 6)
Games
1896 • 1900 • 1904 • 1908 • 1912 • 1920 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1948 • 1952 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 2004 • 2008
Medalists (men • women)

Rowing at the Summer Olympics has been part of the competition since the 1900 Summer Olympics. Rowing was on the program at the 1896 Summer Olympics but was cancelled due to bad weather. Only men were allowed to compete until the women's events were introduced at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Lightweight rowing events (which have weight-limited crews) were introduced to the games in 1996. Qualifying for the rowing events is under the jurisdiction of the International Rowing Federation (or FISA, its French acronym). FISA predates the modern Olympics and was the first international sport federation to join the modern Olympic movement.

Events

At the current Olympics the following 14 events are offered:

• Men: Quad sculls, Double sculls, Single sculls, Eight, Coxless four, Coxless pair
• Lightweight Men: coxless four, double sculls
• Women: quad sculls, double sculls, single sculls, eight, coxless pair
• Lightweight Women: double sculls

The lightweight events were threatened in 2002 when the Programme Commission of the IOC recommended that, outside of combat sports (boxing & wrestling, but not fencing, shooting, and archery) and weightlifting, there should not be weight-category events. The Executive Board overturned this recommendation and the lightweight rowing has been continued.

In the early games (1900 and 1904) there were several other categories of events (Junior, Novice, Association, and Intermediate). A number of other boat classes have made an appearance at several games (sometimes for a long time) but have been subsequently dropped - sometimes quite recently. The primary loss has been in boats with coxwains, except for the eights, which have always been coxed. These were:

• Men's Coxed Pair (1900-1992)
• Men's Coxed Four (1900-1992)
• Women's Coxed Four (1976-1988)
• Women's Coxed Quad Sculls (1976-1984)
• Women's Coxless Four (1992 only)
• Men's Coxed Four with Inriggers^[1] (1912 only)
• Six-Man Naval Rowing Boats (1906 only)
• 17-Man Naval Rowing Boats (1906 only)

The non olympic boatclasses (only WC) is today LM1X, LM4X, LM2-, LM8+, LW1X, LW4X, W4-, M4+ and M2+

Race distances

Today all races are raced over a 2000 m course, but this did not become standard before the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. Before this it was raced over various distances. In Paris in 1900 (1,750 m), in St. Luois in 1904 (3218 m), in London in 1908 (2,412 m) also in 1948 (this also in London) the distance was different, this time 1,850 m. The 1908 and 1948 were held over the Henley Royal Regatta course.

Women's races were raced over 1,000 meters until 1988 when they were changed to 2,000 meters.

Early games featured match races between two or three boats (in 1952, between four or five boats).

The modern six boat side-by-side format was first adopted at the 1936 Olympic Games, and has been the standard since the 1956 Olympic Games.

Qualification

There is a limited number of crews permitted to race, so the International Rowing Federation holds qualification events in order to determine who competes at the Olympic Games. At the Olympic Games, each National Olympic Committee can only have one boat per event.

The main qualification comes from the previous year's World Rowing Championships. Other qualifying events are called "Continental Qualification Regattas", of which four are held during the year preceding the games - Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Final (open to everyone else). Each year FISA issues details of how many crews qualify at each regatta.

At the World Championships, the top finishing boats guarantee a place for that country - the rowers in the crew can be changed before the games. At the qualification regattas, it is the crew that wins that qualifies for the Olympics, and no changes can be made (except in the cases of illness or injuries).

Medal table

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	East Germany (GDR)	33	7	8	48
2	United States (USA)	31	31	22	84
3	Great Britain (GBR)	24	20	10	54
4	Germany (GER)	19	12	14	45
5	Romania (ROU)	19	10	8	37
6	Soviet Union (URS)	12	20	10	42
7	Italy (ITA)	10	13	12	35
8	Australia (AUS)	10	10	12	32
9	Canada (CAN)	9	14	15	38
10	France (FRA)	6	13	12	31
11	Switzerland (SUI)	6	8	9	23
12	Denmark (DEN)	6	3	10	19
13	New Zealand (NZL)	6	2	8	16
14	Netherlands (NED)	5	11	10	26
15	West Germany (FRG)	4	4	6	14
16	Germany (EUA)	4	4	1	9
17	Norway (NOR)	3	6	5	14
18	Bulgaria (BUL)	3	4	7	14
19	Poland (POL)	3	3	9	15
20	Finland (FIN)	3	1	3	7
21	Czechoslovakia (TCH)	2	2	7	11
22	Belarus (BLR)	2	1	4	7
23	China (CHN)	1	3	2	6
24	Yugoslavia (YUG)	1	1	3	5
25	Argentina (ARG)	1	1	2	4
	Slovenia (SLO)	1	1	2	4
27	Russia (RUS)	1	0	3	4
28	Mixed team (ZZX)	1	0	0	1
29	Belgium (BEL)	0	6	2	8
30	Austria (AUT)	0	3	2	5
31	Czech Republic (CZE)	0	2	0	2
	Estonia (EST)	0	2	0	2
	Sweden (SWE)	0	2	0	2
34	Uruguay (URU)	0	1	3	4
35	Hungary (HUN)	0	1	2	3
36	Croatia (CRO)	0	1	1	2
	Greece (GRE)	0	1	1	2
	Ukraine (UKR)	0	1	1	2
39	Spain (ESP)	0	1	0	1
40	Unified Team (EUN)	0	0	1	1
	Lithuania (LTU)	0	0	1	1
	South Africa (RSA)	0	0	1	1
	Total	226	226	229	681

Multiple medalists

The table shows those who have won at least 3 gold medals.

Athlete (nation)	Olympics	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total	Notes
Elisabeta Lipă Romania (ROU)	1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004	5	2	1	8	20 years between first and last gold medal
Steve Redgrave Great Britain (GBR)	1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000	5	0	1	6	Gold medals in 5 straight Games, 1984 Gold in the coxed four, 1988 Gold in the pair with Andy Holmes , 1992 and 1996 Gold in the pair with Matthew Pinsent and in 2000 Gold in the coxless four
Georgeta Damian Romania (ROU)	2000, 2004, 2008	5	0	1	6	Won the pair and the eights in both 2000 and 2004, and the pair again in 2008
Doina Ignat Romania (ROU)	1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008	4	1	1	6	Part of Romania's three-straight gold medalist eight
Viorica Susanu Romania (ROU)	1996, 2000, 2004, 2008	4	0	1	5	Won three medals in the women's eight, and two in the pair
Matthew Pinsent Great Britain (GBR)	1992, 1996, 2000, 2004	4	0	0	4	Four straight Olympic golds. Won with Stephen Redgrave in the pair in 1992 and 1996. In the coxless four in 2000 and in 2004
Kathrin Boron Germany (GER)	1992, 1996, 2000, 2004	4	0	0	4	Four straight Olympic golds
Jack Beresford Great Britain (GBR)	1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936	3	2	0	5	First rower to win a medal at 5 straight Olympics. WWII prevented the opportunity for a sixth medal
Constanţa Burcică Romania (ROU)	1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008	3	1	1	5	Won three gold medals in the women's lightweight double sculls
Elena Georgescu Romania (ROU)	1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008	3	1	1	5	Coxswain of Romania's women's eight
Marnie McBean Canada (CAN)	1992, 1996	3	0	1	4	Along with rowing partner Kathleen Heddle, Canadian with the most gold medals
Kathleen Heddle Canada (CAN)	1992, 1996	3	0	1	4	Won all her medals with rowing partner Marnie McBean
James Tomkins Australia (AUS)	1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004	3	0	1	4	Most medaled Australian rower
John B. Kelly, Sr. United States (USA)	1920, 1924	3	0	0	3	First rower to win 3 gold medals. Father of movie star turned princess Grace Kelly
Paul Costello United States (USA)	1920, 1924, 1928	3	0	0	3	First man to win 3 gold medals in the same event, the double sculls. Cousin of John B. Kelly, Sr.
Vyacheslav Ivanov Soviet Union (URS)	1956, 1960, 1964	3	0	0	3	Won all his medals in the single sculls
Siegfried Brietzke East Germany (GDR)	1972, 1976, 1980	3	0	0	3	First German triple gold medalist. Won in the pair and the coxless four
Pertti Karppinen Finland (FIN)	1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992	3	0	0	3	Won all his medals in the single sculls
Agostino Abbagnale Italy (ITA)	1988, 1996, 2000	3	0	0	3	His brothers Carmine and Giuseppe each won 2 gold medals.
Liliana Gafencu Romania (ROU)	1996, 2000, 2004	3	0	0	3	Won all three medals in Romania's women's eight
Drew Ginn Australia (AUS)	1996, 2004, 2008	3	0	0	3

Events

Men's

Women's

Nations

Nation	96	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	Years
Argentina (ARG)							9	9		3
Australasia (ANZ)					10																						1
Australia (AUS)							10	1	1	12
Austria (AUT)					6			2		9
Belgium (BEL)		11		10	6	20	15	21		7
Bohemia (BOH)					2																						1
Brazil (BRA)						5	2		18	21
Canada (CAN)			9	13	10	5	14	11	16	10
Czechoslovakia (TCH)						15		1		17
Denmark (DEN)					15	1		10		16
Estonia (EST)										1												7	1	3	7		5
Finland (FIN)					6
France (FRA)		47			17	14	23	26	5	19
Germany (GER)		21		3	26			23	16	26
Great Britain (GBR)		1		30	24	10	21	23	15	18
Hungary (HUN)				11	11		7	6		23
Italy (ITA)		1		1		6	17	26	20	22
Japan (JPN)								6	14	16
Monaco (MON)								5
Netherlands (NED)		13		4		12	17	21	2	11
New Zealand (NZL)						1			11
Norway (NOR)				9	24	13				1
Poland (POL)							6	14	8	11
Russia (RUS)					1
South Africa (RSA)								1		1
Spain (ESP)		5					10
Sweden (SWE)					28	6				5
Switzerland (SUI)						13	11	13		16
United States (USA)		9	35			15	20	26	26	26
Uruguay (URU)									1	8
Yugoslavia (YUG)										14
Nations	0	8	2	8	14	14	14	19	13	24
Rowers	0	108	44	81	186	136	182	245	153	313
Year	96	00	04	08	12	20	24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	96	00	04	08	24

Olympic Rowing Courses

• 2012: Dorney Lake, Buckinghamshire (UK)
• 2008: Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park (China)
• 2004: Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre, Schinias National Park(Greece)
• 2000: Sydney International Regatta Centre, Penrith Lake (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia,)
• 1996: Lake Lanier (Gainesville, Georgia, USA)
• 1992: L'Estany de Banyoles, Banyoles (Catalonia, Spain)
• 1928: Ringvaart Haarlemmermeerpolder, Amsterdam (The Netherlands) (often confused with the Bosbaan national rowing venue, which was only built in 1936)

A full list of olympic (and other) rowing courses can be found here

References

External links

v • d • e Rowing at the Summer Olympics 1896 • 1900 • 1904 • 1908 • 1912 • 1920 • 1924 • 1928 • 1932 • 1936 • 1948 • 1952 • 1956 • 1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980 • 1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004 • 2008 List of medalists (men, women)