Rowing at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's coxless four

The men's coxless four (M4-) competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics took place at the rowing basin on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was held from 18 to 25 July and was won by the team from East Germany.[1]

Men's coxless four
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
VenueOlympic basin at Notre Dame Island
Date18–25 July
Competitors61 from 15 nations
Teams15
Winning time6:37.42
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Siegfried Brietzke
Andreas Decker
Stefan Semmler
Wolfgang Mager
 East Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Ole Nafstad
Arne Bergodd
Finn Tveter
Rolf Andreassen
 Norway
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Raul Arnemann
Nikolay Kuznetsov
Valeriy Dolinin
Anushavan Gassan-Dzhalalov
 Soviet Union
← 1972
1980 →

Background

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The East German team was the undisputed favourite going into this event. Over the last few years, their rowers had won this class at almost all major regattas. After West Germany won the inaugural world championships in 1962, East Germany won all subsequent events in 1966, 1970, and 1974.[1] Of the last four European Rowing Championships (the event was discontinued after 1973), they won gold in three of four of the events (1967, 1971, and 1973),[1][2][3] and bronze in 1969.[4] Other favourites included the Soviet Union and West Germany.[1]

Previous M4- competitions

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Competition Gold Silver Bronze
1966 World Rowing Championships[5]   East Germany   Soviet Union   Netherlands
1967 European Rowing Championships[4]   East Germany ? ?
1968 Summer Olympics[6]   East Germany   Hungary   Italy
1969 European Rowing Championships[4] ? ?   East Germany
1970 World Rowing Championships[5]   East Germany   West Germany   Denmark
1971 European Rowing Championships[3]   East Germany   Norway   West Germany
1972 Summer Olympics[7]   East Germany   New Zealand   West Germany
1973 European Rowing Championships[2]   East Germany   Norway   West Germany
1974 World Rowing Championships[5]   East Germany   Soviet Union   West Germany
1975 World Rowing Championships[5]   East Germany   Soviet Union   Romania

Results

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Heats

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Heat 1

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Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 Tony Brooks
Jim Moroney
Gary Piantedosi
Hugh Stevenson
  United States 6:15.07 SF
2 Matteo Caglieris
Pellegrino Croce
Enzo Lanzarini
Natale Spinello
  Italy 6:16.10 SF
3 Rumyan Khristov
Todor Mrankov
Dimitar Valov
Dimitar Yanakiev
  Bulgaria 6:20.71 SF
4 Ernest Gal
Dumitru Grumezescu
Nicolae Simion
Ștefan Tudor
  Romania 6:23.12 R
5 Jorma Hurme
Erkka Mattila
Pekka Pietilä
Matti Salminen
  Finland 6:38.91 R

Heat 2

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Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 Bernhard Fölkel
Wolfgang Horak
Gabriel Konertz
Klaus Meyer
  West Germany 6:15.08 SF
2 Richard Ayling
Neil Keron
Bill Mason
David Townsend
  Great Britain 6:16.32 SF
3 Paul De Weert
Frank Dedecker
Johan Ghoos
Jozef Jordaens
  Belgium 6:20.07 SF
4 Martin Feeley
Iain Kennedy
Andy McDonough
Jaye Renehan
  Ireland 6:25.57 R
5 Carlos Denari
Marcelo Gismondi
Jorge Molina
Juan Tuma
  Argentina 6:49.33 R

Heat 3

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The five teams in heat 3 of the elimination round eventually took the first five places in the A final.[8]

Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 Siegfried Brietzke
Andreas Decker
Wolfgang Mager
Stefan Semmler
  East Germany 6:02.55 SF
2 Raul Arnemann
Valeriy Dolinin
Anushavan Gassan-Dzhalalov
Nikolay Kuznetsov
  Soviet Union 6:05.57 SF
3 David Lindstrom
Des Lock
Grant McAuley
Bob Murphy
  New Zealand 6:06.40 SF
4 Rolf Andreassen
Arne Bergodd
Ole Nafstad
Finn Tveter
  Norway 6:06.70 R
5 Brian Dick
Ian Gordon
Phil Monckton
Andrew van Ruyven
  Canada 6:13.09 R

Repechage

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The Norwegian and Argentinian teams changed three seats. The teams from Canada, Romania, and Finland changed all four seats.[9]

Rank Rower Country Time[9] Notes
1 Ole Nafstad
Arne Bergodd
Finn Tveter
Rolf Andreassen
  Norway 6:08.66 SF
2 Andrew van Ruyven
Phil Monckton
Ian Gordon
Brian Dick
  Canada 6:08.69 SF
3 Nicolae Simion
Ernest Gal
Ștefan Tudor
Dumitru Grumezescu
  Romania 6:09.55 SF
4 Erkka Mattila
Matti Salminen
Jorma Hurme
Pekka Pietilä
  Finland 6:21.54
5 Martin Feeley
Iain Kennedy
Jaye Renehan
Andy McDonough
  Ireland 6:29.27
6 Jorge Molina
Marcelo Gismondi
Juan Tuma
Carlos Denari
  Argentina 6:30.56

Semifinals

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Heat 1

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The East German team swapped seats 3 and 4. The teams from Great Britain and Bulgaria swapped all four seats.[8]

Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 Siegfried Brietzke
Andreas Decker
Stefan Semmler
Wolfgang Mager
  East Germany 5:53.65 SA
2 Andrew van Ruyven
Phil Monckton
Ian Gordon
Brian Dick
  Canada 5:59.21 SA
3 David Lindstrom
Des Lock
Grant McAuley
Bob Murphy
  New Zealand 6:00.82 SA
4 Tony Brooks
Jim Moroney
Gary Piantedosi
Hugh Stevenson
  United States 6:03.79 SB
5 Todor Mrankov
Dimitar Yanakiev
Rumyan Khristov
Dimitar Valov
  Bulgaria 6:06.58 SB
6 Neil Keron
David Townsend
Richard Ayling
Bill Mason
  Great Britain 6:08.71 SB

Heat 2

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The teams from the Soviet Union and Belgium changed all four seats. West Germany replaced Klaus Meyer with Klaus Roloff, and only the stroke remained in his seat. Italy changed three seats.[8]

Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 Ole Nafstad
Arne Bergodd
Finn Tveter
Rolf Andreassen
  Norway 6:02.84 SA
2 Valeriy Dolinin
Anushavan Gassan-Dzhalalov
Nikolay Kuznetsov
Raul Arnemann
  Soviet Union 6:03.05 SA
3 Bernhard Fölkel
Klaus Roloff
Wolfgang Horak
Gabriel Konertz
  West Germany 6:05.39 SA
4 Nicolae Simion
Ernest Gal
Ștefan Tudor
Dumitru Grumezescu
  Romania 6:07.71 SB
5 Matteo Caglieris
Enzo Lanzarini
Natale Spinello
Pellegrino Croce
  Italy 6:09.76 SB
6 Johan Ghoos
Paul De Weert
Jozef Jordaens
Frank Dedecker
  Belgium 6:18.33 SB

Finals

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B final

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The Bulgarian team changed three of the seats.[8]

Rank Rower Country Time
7 Dimitar Valov
Dimitar Yanakiev
Todor Mrankov
Rumyan Khristov
  Bulgaria 6:41.36
8 Tony Brooks
Jim Moroney
Gary Piantedosi
Hugh Stevenson
  United States 6:43.06
9 Nicolae Simion
Ernest Gal
Ștefan Tudor
Dumitru Grumezescu
  Romania 6:43.96
10 Johan Ghoos
Paul De Weert
Jozef Jordaens
Frank Dedecker
  Belgium 6:47.51
11 Matteo Caglieris
Enzo Lanzarini
Natale Spinello
Pellegrino Croce
  Italy 6:48.11
12 Neil Keron
David Townsend
Richard Ayling
Bill Mason
  Great Britain 6:53.02

A final

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For the second time, the Soviet Union changed all four seats. The New Zealand team changed all four seats. The Canadians changed three seats.[8] As expected, East Germany won the gold medal; they had dominated all their races and won their qualifying heat 12 seconds faster than the other heats. The surprise winner of the silver medal was the team from Norway, who left the much more highly rated Soviet Union with bronze.[1]

Rank Rower Country Time
  Siegfried Brietzke
Andreas Decker
Stefan Semmler
Wolfgang Mager
  East Germany 6:37.42
  Ole Nafstad
Arne Bergodd
Finn Tveter
Rolf Andreassen
  Norway 6:41.22
  Raul Arnemann
Nikolay Kuznetsov
Valeriy Dolinin
Anushavan Gassan-Dzhalalov
  Soviet Union 6:42.52
4 Bob Murphy
Grant McAuley
Des Lock
David Lindstrom
  New Zealand 6:43.23
5 Brian Dick
Phil Monckton
Andrew van Ruyven
Ian Gordon
  Canada 6:46.11
6 Bernhard Fölkel
Klaus Roloff
Wolfgang Horak
Gabriel Konertz
  West Germany 6:47.44

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1976 Montréal Summer Games: Men's Coxless Fours". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b "(M4-) Men's Four - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  3. ^ a b "(M4-) Men's Four - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Hoffmann, Wilfried. "Ruder-Europameisterschaften seit 1913: Deutsche Medaillenerfolge – Gold, Silber und Bronze". Rüsselsheimer Ruderclub 08 e.V. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  5. ^ a b c d "Rudern - Weltmeisterschaften. Vierer ohne Steuermann" [Rowing - World Championships. Coxless four]. Sport-Komplett.de (in German). Archived from the original on 6 October 2014.
  6. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games: Men's Coxless Fours". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  7. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1972 München Summer Games: Men's Coxless Fours". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d e Official Report of the Organising Committee 1978, Vol 3, pp. 107–109.
  9. ^ a b Official Report of the Organising Committee 1978, Vol 3, p. 107.

References

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  • Proulx, Daniel; Mollitt, J. James (1969). Chantigny, Louis (ed.). The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the Games of the XXI Olympiad (PDF). Ottawa, Canada: Organizing Committee of the Games of the XXI Olympiad.