Rowing at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's eight
The men's coxed eight competition at the 1968 Summer Olympics took place at Virgilio Uribe Rowing and Canoeing Course, Mexico City, Mexico. It was held from 13 to 19 October and was won by the team from West Germany, with the teams from Australia and the Soviet Union claiming silver and bronze respectively.
| Men's coxed eight at the Games of the XIX Olympiad | |
|---|---|
 The venue in 2015 | |
| Venue | Virgilio Uribe Rowing and Canoeing Course |
| Date | 13–19 October |
| Competitors | 114 from 12 nations |
| Teams | 12 |
| Winning time | 6:07.00 |
| Medalists | |
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| Rowing at the 1968 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single sculls | men |
| Double sculls | men |
| Coxless pair | men |
| Coxed pair | men |
| Coxless four | men |
| Coxed four | men |
| Eight | men |
Background
The United States had won this event at the last eight of nine Olympics, only missing out in 1960. West Germany was one of the favourites, as they had won the last four European Championships and the last two World Championships (in 1962 and 1966). The Soviet Union had a number of silver medal placings at recent events and were also among the favourites.[1]
Races were held in up to six lanes.[2] Twelve teams from 12 nations attended the competition.[1] Five of the teams replaced a total of six rowers during the competition, making for a total of 114 rowers who participated in the races.[3]
Results
Rowers are shown as per the seats occupied in the official results book published by the Organizing Committee of the Games of the XIX Olympiad.[3]
Heats
Two heats were rowed on 13 October.[4] The winning teams qualified for the final, and the remaining teams progressed to the repechage.[5]
Heat 1
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Heat 2
The Official Report of the Organising Committee lists Michael Livingston in seat 7 of the United States boat,[4] but this is incorrect, as he travelled to the 1968 Games as a reserve only.[6] It was his elder brother, Cleve Livingston, who sat in seat 7 for the heat and final.[7]
Repechage
Two heats were rowed in the semi-finals on 15 October.[3] Of the five teams competing per heat, the first two would qualify for the final, while the others would progress to the small final.[8]
Heat 1
In the boat of the United States, Jake Fiechter in seat 6 replaced Cleve Livingston, who had taken seat 7 in the first round. Steve Brooks displaced Arthur Evans as stroke, with the latter moving to seat 7.[4]
Heat 2
Small final
The small final (now termed B final) was raced on 18 October.[9] Great Britain replaced Malcolm Malpass in seat 5 with John Mullard in this race, and Canada replaced John Richardson in seat 5 with Daryl Sturdy.[3] Mexico changed the seats for all rowers apart from the cox, and East Germany changed four of the seats. The Netherlands changed all seats apart from the stroke and the cox.[3]
Final
The final (now termed A final) was raced on 19 October.[9] On the morning of the race, the West German team replaced Roland Böse—who was suffering from angina pectoris and had developed a fever—with Niko Ott in seat 8.[3][10] The team from Czechoslovakia replaced Milan Hurtala (seat 2) with Karel Kolesa (seat 4), and all the remaining rowers apart from the cox took different seats in the final compared to the two previous races.[3] The team from the United States replaced Arthur Evans with Cleve Livingston in seat 7.[3]
After the medal ceremony, Ott gave his gold medal to Böse, but another medal was later minted for Ott.[10] As per convention, the Olympic results database lists Böse as a medallist based on the fact that he competed in the qualifying race.[11]
Notes
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games: Men's Coxed Eights". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
- Official Report of the Organising Committee 1969, p. 541.
- Official Report of the Organising Committee 1969, pp. 550f.
- Official Report of the Organising Committee 1969, p. 550.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games: Men's Coxed Eights Round One". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2016.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Mike Livingston". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Cleve Livingston". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
- Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1968 Ciudad de México Summer Games: Men's Coxed Eights Final Round". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- Official Report of the Organising Committee 1969, p. 551.
- "Olympische Ruderregatta". Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 2016-10-13.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
- "Roland BOESE". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
References
- Alvarez, José Rogelio (1969). The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the Games of the XIX Olympiad Mexico 1968: Volume III part 1 (PDF). Mexico City, Mexico: Organizing Committee of the Games of the XIX Olympiad.
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