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

The men's coxless four (M4-) competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Casitas in Ventura County, California, United States. It was held from 31 July to 5 August and the outcome was wide open due to the Eastern Bloc boycott and thus the absence of the dominating team from the Soviet Union, and previously East Germany. The event was won by the team from New Zealand.[2]

Men's coxless four at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Venue	Lake Casitas
Date	31 July – 5 August
Competitors	40[1] from 10[1] nations
Teams	10[1]
Winning time	6:03.48
Medalists
Les O'Connell Shane O'Brien Conrad Robertson Keith Trask  New Zealand David Clark Jonathan Smith Phillip Stekl Alan Forney  United States Michael Jessen Lars Nielsen Per Rasmussen Erik Christiansen  Denmark

Background

Beginning in 1966, East Germany was for many years the dominating nation in the men's coxless four event at European, World, and Olympic level. Their last gold came with the 1980 Summer Olympics.[2][3] At the three subsequent World Championships, the Soviet Union had the best success (with one gold and two silvers), followed by Switzerland (one gold and one silver) and West Germany (one gold).[2][4][5][6] With the Eastern Bloc nations absent due to their boycott, the field was wide open.[2]

Previous M4- competitions

Competition	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1966 World Rowing Championships[7]	East Germany	Soviet Union	Netherlands
1967 European Rowing Championships[8]	East Germany	Hungary	United States
1968 Summer Olympics[9]	East Germany	Hungary	Italy
1969 European Rowing Championships[8]	Soviet Union	Hungary	East Germany
1970 World Rowing Championships[7]	East Germany	West Germany	Denmark
1971 European Rowing Championships[10]	East Germany	Norway	West Germany
1972 Summer Olympics[11]	East Germany	New Zealand	West Germany
1973 European Rowing Championships[12]	East Germany	Norway	West Germany
1974 World Rowing Championships[7]	East Germany	Soviet Union	West Germany
1975 World Rowing Championships[7]	East Germany	Soviet Union	Romania
1976 Summer Olympics[13]	East Germany	Norway	Soviet Union
1977 World Rowing Championships[14]	East Germany	New Zealand	Czechoslovakia
1978 World Rowing Championships[15]	Soviet Union	East Germany	Great Britain
1979 World Rowing Championships[16]	East Germany	Czechoslovakia	Great Britain
1980 Summer Olympics[3]	East Germany	Soviet Union	Great Britain
1981 World Rowing Championships[4]	Soviet Union	Switzerland	East Germany
1982 World Rowing Championships[5]	Switzerland	Soviet Union	Romania
1983 World Rowing Championships[6]	West Germany	Soviet Union	Sweden

Results

Heats

The first two races were held on 31 July.[17] Five teams competed per heat, and the winner would progress to the A final. The remaining teams would progress to the repechage.[18]

Heat 1

Rank	Rower	Country	Time	Notes
1	Les O'Connell Shane O'Brien Conrad Robertson Keith Trask	New Zealand	6:08.41	FA
2	Norbert Keßlau Volker Grabow Jörg Puttlitz Guido Grabow	West Germany	6:09.54	R
3	Michael Jessen Lars Nielsen Per Rasmussen Erik Christiansen	Denmark	6:15.58	R
4	Tim Turner Ted Gibson David Johnson Stephen Beatty	Canada	6:24.79	R
5	Gu Jiahong Tang Hongwei Liu Baogang Wang Hongbing	China	6:45.25	R

Heat 2

Rank	Rower	Country	Time	Notes
1	David Clark Jonathan Smith Phillip Stekl Alan Forney	United States	6:11.58	FA
2	Anders Wilgotson Hans Svensson Lars-Åke Lindqvist Anders Larson	Sweden	6:13.40	R
3	Bruno Saile Jürg Weitnauer Hans-Konrad Trümpler Stefan Netzle	Switzerland	6:19.23	R
4	David Doyle James Lowe Duncan Fisher John Bentley	Australia	6:22.14	R
5	Jonathan Clift John Garrett Martin Knight John Bland	Great Britain	6:23.95	R

Repechage

Two repechages were held on 2 August with four teams each.[19] The first two teams would progress to the A final, whilst the remaining two teams would go to the B final.[20]

Heat 1

The Chinese team changed all four seats for the repechage. This was the only seat change during the coxless four competition.[17]

Rank	Rower	Country	Time	Notes
1	Bruno Saile Jürg Weitnauer Hans-Konrad Trümpler Stefan Netzle	Switzerland	6:20.44	FA
2	Norbert Keßlau Volker Grabow Jörg Puttlitz Guido Grabow	West Germany	6:22.54	FA
3	David Doyle James Lowe Duncan Fisher John Bentley	Australia	6:29.04	FB
4	Wang Hongbing Liu Baogang Gu Jiahong Tang Hongwei	China	6:46.18	FB

Heat 2

Rank	Rower	Country	Time	Notes
1	Anders Wilgotson Hans Svensson Lars-Åke Lindqvist Anders Larson	Sweden	6:21.22	FA
2	Michael Jessen Lars Nielsen Per Rasmussen Erik Christiansen	Denmark	6:22.94	FA
3	Tim Turner Ted Gibson David Johnson Stephen Beatty	Canada	6:28.11	FB
4	Jonathan Clift John Garrett Martin Knight John Bland	Great Britain	6:32.84	FB

Finals

Four teams competed in the B final for places 7 to 10, and six teams competed in the A final.[21]

B final

The B final was held on 3 August.[19]

Rank	Rower	Country	Time
7	Tim Turner Ted Gibson David Johnson Stephen Beatty	Canada	6:26.10
8	David Doyle James Lowe Duncan Fisher John Bentley	Australia	6:28.31
9	Jonathan Clift John Garrett Martin Knight John Bland	Great Britain	6:32.13
10	Wang Hongbing Liu Baogang Gu Jiahong Tang Hongwei	China	6:50.03

A final

The A final was held on 5 August.[19]

Rank	Rower	Country	Time
	Les O'Connell Shane O'Brien Conrad Robertson Keith Trask	New Zealand	6:03.48
	David Clark Jonathan Smith Phillip Stekl Alan Forney	United States	6:06.10
	Michael Jessen Lars Nielsen Per Rasmussen Erik Christiansen	Denmark	6:07.72
4	Norbert Keßlau Volker Grabow Jörg Puttlitz Guido Grabow	West Germany	6:09.27
5	Bruno Saile Jürg Weitnauer Hans-Konrad Trümpler Stefan Netzle	Switzerland	6:09.50
6	Anders Wilgotson Hans Svensson Lars-Åke Lindqvist Anders Larson	Sweden	6:11.71

Notes

1. Perelman 1985b, p. 518.
2. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Coxless Fours". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
3. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1980 Moskva Summer Games: Men's Coxless Fours". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
4. "1981 World Rowing Championships: (M4-) Men's Four – Final". WorldRowing.com. FISA. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
5. "1982 World Rowing Championships: (M4-) Men's Four – Final". WorldRowing.com. FISA. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
6. "1983 World Rowing Championships: (M4-) Men's Four – Final". WorldRowing.com. FISA. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
7. "Rudern - Weltmeisterschaften. Vierer ohne Steuermann" [Rowing - World Championships. Coxless four]. Sport-Komplett.de (in German). Archived from the original on 6 October 2014.
8. Hoffmann, Wilfried. "Ruder-Europameisterschaften seit 1913: Deutsche Medaillenerfolge – Gold, Silber und Bronze". Rüsselsheimer Ruderclub 08 e.V. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
9. 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.
10. "(M4-) Men's Four - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
11. 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.
12. "(M4-) Men's Four - Final". International Rowing Federation. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
13. 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 25 October 2016.
14. "1977 World Rowing Championships: (M4-) Men's Four – Final". WorldRowing.com. FISA. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
15. "1978 World Rowing Championships: (M4-) Men's Four – Final". WorldRowing.com. FISA. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
16. "1979 World Rowing Championships: (M4-) Men's Four – Final". WorldRowing.com. FISA. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
17. Perelman 1985b, pp. 527f.
18. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Coxless Fours Round Ones". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
19. Perelman 1985b, p. 528.
20. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Coxless Fours Round One Repêchage". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
21. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's Coxless Fours Final Round". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2016.

References

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

• Volume 1 Part 1
• Volume 1 Part 2
• Volume 1 Part 3

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

• Volume 2 Part 1
• Volume 2 Part 2
• Volume 2 Part 3 (page 469 onwards)