Rowing at the Summer Olympics

Rowing at the Summer Olympics
IOC Discipline CodeROW
Governing bodyWorld Rowing Federation
Events14 (men: 7; women: 7)
Games

Rowing has been part of the Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1900 Games. 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 which gave national federations the incentive to support women's events and catalysed growth in women's rowing. 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 World Rowing Federation. World Rowing predates the modern Olympics and was the first international sport federation to join the modern Olympic movement.

Summary

Games Year Events Best Nation
1
2 1900 5  France
3 1904 5  United States
4 1908 4  Great Britain
5 1912 4  Great Britain
6
7 1920 5  United States
8 1924 7  United States
9 1928 7  United States
10 1932 7  United States
11 1936 7  Germany
12
13
14 1948 7  Great Britain
15 1952 7  United States
16 1956 7  United States
Games Year Events Best Nation
17 1960 7  United Team of Germany
18 1964 7  United States
19 1968 7  East Germany
20 1972 7  East Germany
21 1976 14  East Germany
22 1980 14  East Germany
23 1984 14  Romania
24 1988 14  East Germany
25 1992 14  Germany
26 1996 14  Australia
27 2000 14  Romania
28 2004 14  Romania
29 2008 14  Great Britain
30 2012 14  Great Britain
31 2016 14  Great Britain
32 2020 14  New Zealand

Events

At the 2016 and other recent Olympics, the following 14 events were contested:

The lightweight events were threatened in 2002 when the Programme Commission of the IOC recommended that, outside combat sports (boxing and 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.

To satisfy the IOC's aim for gender equality it has been proposed that from the 2020 Olympics onwards the men's lightweight fours will be removed and the women's coxless fours reintroduced. The IOC accepted that proposal in June 2017.

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 – as recently as the 1990s. The primary loss has been in boats with coxswains, 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)
  • Men's Coxed Four with Inriggers (1912 only)
  • Six-Man Naval Rowing Boats (1906 only)
  • 17-Man Naval Rowing Boats (1906 only)

Other non-Olympic boatclasses, which still compete in World Championships, are currently: men's & women's lightweight single sculls, lightweight quadruple sculls and lightweight coxless pair.

Race distances

Today all races are raced over a 2000m course, but this became standard until the Stockholm Olympics in 1912 (except for London 1948, where the course was 1850m).

Before this, it was raced over various distances: the course in Paris in 1900 was 1750m, in St. Louis in 1904 it was 3218m, and in London in 1908 it was 2414m. The 1908 and 1948 events were held over the Henley Royal Regatta course.

Women's races were raced over 1000m until 1988, when they were changed to 2000m.

Early Games featured match races between two or three boats, until the modern six boat side-by-side format was first adopted at the 1936 Olympic Games. With the exception of the 1952 Olympic Games (races between four or five boats), it has been the standard since.

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 if members of that crew race in the Olympics they must race in that event.

Medal table

The numbers below are after the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States (USA)33322489
2 East Germany (GDR)337848
3 Great Britain (GBR)31251470
4 Germany (GER)23161453
5 Romania (ROM)2012941
6 New Zealand (NZL)1451029
7 Australia (AUS)13151644
8 Soviet Union (URS)12201042
9 Italy (ITA)11141641
10 Canada (CAN)10171643
11 France (FRA)8151336
12 Netherlands (NED)7141435
13 Switzerland (SUI)78924
14 Denmark (DEN)751325
15 Poland (POL)441119
16 West Germany (FRG)44614
17 United Team of Germany (EUA)4419
18 Norway (NOR)37818
19 Bulgaria (BUL)34714
20 Finland (FIN)3137
21 China (CHN)24612
22 Croatia (CRO)2327
23 Czechoslovakia (TCH)22711
24 Belarus (BLR)2147
25 Czech Republic (CZE)1315
26 Slovenia (SLO)1135
 Yugoslavia (YUG)1135
28 Argentina (ARG)1124
 Greece (GRE)1124
30 Ireland (IRL)1113
 South Africa (RSA)1113
 Ukraine (UKR)1113
33 Russia (RUS)1023
34 Mixed team (ZZX)1001
35 Belgium (BEL)0628
36 Austria (AUT)0336
37 Estonia (EST)0213
38 ROC0202
 Sweden (SWE)0202
40 Uruguay (URU)0134
41 Hungary (HUN)0123
 Lithuania (LTU)0123
43 Spain (ESP)0101
44 Russian Empire (RU1)0011
 Unified Team (EUN)0011
Totals (45 entries)268268272808

Rowing medal leaders (by Summer Olympiad)

Games of Leader Gold Silver Bronze Total
 France, 1900 Paris  France (FRA) 2 3 1 6
 United States, 1904 St. Louis  United States (USA) 5 4 4 13
 United Kingdom, 1908 London  Great Britain (GBR) 4 3 1 8
 Sweden, 1912 Stockholm  Great Britain (GBR) 2 2 0 4
 Belgium, 1920 Antwerp  United States (USA) 3 1 0 4
 France, 1924 Paris  United States (USA) 2 1 2 5
 Netherlands, 1928 Amsterdam  United States (USA) 2 2 1 5
 United States, 1932 Los Angeles  United States (USA) 3 1 0 4
 Germany, 1936 Berlin  Germany (GER) 5 1 1 7
 United Kingdom, 1948 London  Great Britain (GBR) 2 1 0 3
 Finland, 1952 Helsinki  United States (USA) 2 0 1 3
 Australia, 1956 Melbourne  United States (USA) 3 2 1 6
 Italy, 1960 Rome  United Team of Germany (EUA) 3 1 0 4
 Japan, 1964 Tokyo  United States (USA) 2 1 1 4
 Mexico, 1968 Mexico City  East Germany (GDR) 2 1 0 3
 West Germany, 1972 Munich  East Germany (GDR) 3 1 3 7
 Canada, 1976 Montreal  East Germany (GDR) 9 3 2 14
 Soviet Union, 1980 Moscow  East Germany (GDR) 11 1 2 14
 United States, 1984 Los Angeles  Romania (ROU) 6 2 0 8
 South Korea, 1988 Seoul  East Germany (GDR) 8 1 1 10
 Spain, 1992 Barcelona  Germany (GER) 4 3 3 10
 United States, 1996 Atlanta  Australia (AUS) 2 1 3 6
 Australia, 2000 Sydney  Romania (ROU) 3 0 0 3
 Greece, 2004 Athens  Romania (ROU) 3 0 0 3
 China, 2008 Beijing  Great Britain (GBR) 2 2 2 6
 United Kingdom, 2012 London  Great Britain (GBR) 4 2 3 9
 Brazil, 2016 Rio de Janeiro  Great Britain (GBR) 3 2 0 5
 Japan, 2020 Tokyo  New Zealand (NZL) 3 2 0 5

Multiple medallists

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

Athlete (nation) Olympics  Gold  Silver Bronze Total Notes
Elisabeta Lipă
 Romania
1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 5 2 1 8 20 years between first and last gold medal
Steve Redgrave
 Great Britain
1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 5 0 1 6 Gold medals in 1984 (M4+), 1988 (M2- with Andy Holmes), 1992 and 1996 (M2- with Matthew Pinsent) and 2000 (M4-). Only endurance athlete to win Olympic gold at five consecutive games.
Georgeta Damian
 Romania
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
1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 4 1 1 6 Part of Romania's three-straight gold medalist eight
Kathrin Boron
 Germany
1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 4 0 1 5 Four straight Olympic golds. Bronze in her final Olympics in the Quadruple Sculls
Viorica Susanu
 Romania
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
1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 4 0 0 4 Four straight Olympic golds. Won with Steve Redgrave in the pair in 1992 and 1996. In the coxless four in 2000 and in 2004
Jack Beresford
 Great Britain
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
Constanța Burcică
 Romania
1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 3 1 1 5 Won three gold medals in the women's lightweight double sculls
Elena Georgescu
 Romania
1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 3 1 1 5 Coxswain of Romania's women's eight
Drew Ginn
 Australia
1996, 2004, 2008, 2012 3 1 0 4 Member of the Oarsome Foursome
Eskild Ebbesen
 Denmark
1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 3 0 2 5 Won all his medals in the lightweight coxless four
Marnie McBean
 Canada
1992, 1996 3 0 1 4 Along with rowing partner Kathleen Heddle, Canadian with the most gold medals
Kathleen Heddle
 Canada
1992, 1996 3 0 1 4 Won all her medals with rowing partner Marnie McBean
James Tomkins
 Australia
1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 3 0 1 4 Most medalled Australian rower
John B. Kelly Sr.
 United States
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
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
1956, 1960, 1964 3 0 0 3 Won all his medals in the single sculls
Siegfried Brietzke
 East Germany
1972, 1976, 1980 3 0 0 3 First German triple gold medalist. Won in the pair and the coxless four
Pertti Karppinen
 Finland
1976, 1980, 1984 3 0 0 3 Won all his medals in the single sculls
Agostino Abbagnale
 Italy
1988, 1996, 2000 3 0 0 3 His brothers Carmine and Giuseppe each won 2 gold medals.
Liliana Gafencu
 Romania
1996, 2000, 2004 3 0 0 3 Won all three medals in Romania's women's eight
Elle Logan
 United States
2008, 2012, 2016 3 0 0 3 Won all three medals in USA women's eight
Pete Reed
 Great Britain
2008, 2012, 2016 3 0 0 3 Two wins in coxless four, then in eight
Andrew Triggs Hodge
 Great Britain
2008, 2012, 2016 3 0 0 3 Two wins in coxless four, then in eight
Hamish Bond
 New Zealand
2012, 2016, 2020 3 0 0 3 Two wins in coxless pair, then in eight

Men's events

Event 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 12 16 20 Years
Current program
Single sculls (details) 29
Double sculls (details) 26
Quadruple sculls (details) 13
Coxless pair (details) 26
Coxless four (details) 25
Eight (details) 28
Lightweight double sculls (details) 7
Past events
Coxed pair (details) 18
Coxed four (details) •• 19
Coxed four, with inriggers 1
Lightweight coxless four (details) 6
Total 0 5 5 4 4 5 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 7

Women's events

Event 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 12 16 20 Years
Current program
Single sculls (details) 13
Double sculls (details) 13
Quadruple sculls (details) 13
Coxless pair (details) 13
Coxless four (details) 3
Eight (details) 13
Lightweight double sculls (details) 8
Past events
Coxed four (details) 4
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7

Nations

Number of rowers from each nation by year of Olympics, starting with 1896 (when none competed due to bad weather) then 1900 through 2020.

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 12 16 20 Years
 Algeria (ALG)   1 2 1 3 1 2 2 7
 Angola (ANG)   2 1
 Argentina (ARG)   9 9 3 26 9 9 12 9 18 10 7 6 6 22 8 6 2 10 2 2 20
 Australasia (ANZ)   10 1
 Australia (AUS)   10 1 1 12 8 14 26 25 26 11 16 13 16 25 16 28 45 45 45 48 47 29 40 22
 Austria (AUT)   6 2 9 7 4 4 10 7 3 16 3 7 6 5 12 13 8 5 3 3 20
 Azerbaijan (AZE)   2 2 2
 Bahamas (BAH)   1 1
 Belarus (BLR)   17 10 11 13 5 10 5 7
 Belgium (BEL)   11 10 6 20 15 21 7 4 12 7 5 2 1 5 7 6 8 9 5 4 3 3 1 1 2 25
 Benin (BEN)   1 1
 Bermuda (BER)   1 1 1 3
 Bohemia (BOH)   2 1
 Brazil (BRA)   5 2 18 21 2 3 5 5 2 2 7 10 10 10 8 6 1 4 6 4 4 1 22
 Bulgaria (BUL)   5 8 33 52 34 15 5 4 6 3 2 11
 Cameroon (CMR)   1 1 2
 Canada (CAN)   9 13 10 5 14 11 16 10 11 15 13 15 16 14 16 46 54 40 27 32 30 32 35 30 26 29 26
 Chile (CHI)   1 3 1 9 2 6 2 2 1 4 2 11
 China (CHN)   9 11 22 13 10 17 31 18 17 28 10
 Colombia (COL)   1 1
 Ivory Coast (CIV)   1 1
 Croatia (CRO)   7 8 13 6 4 5 3 3 8
 Cuba (CUB)   5 9 9 11 7 14 17 3 2 9 7 9 6 7 1 15
 Czech Republic (CZE)   5 1 16 14 12 10 7 7
 Czechoslovakia (TCH)   15 1 17 4 8 11 22 20 15 21 34 26 17 31 14
 Denmark (DEN)   15 1 10 16 25 25 7 16 14 10 12 7 7 10 3 13 13 10 12 10 10 13 9 23
 Dominican Republic (DOM)   1 1
 East Germany (GDR)   26 26 54 55 44 5
 Ecuador (ECU)   1 1
 Egypt (EGY)   1 8 16 1 7 2 6 5 2 1 10
 El Salvador (ESA)   1 2 2
 Estonia (EST)   1 7 1 3 7 7 6 4 4 9
 Finland (FIN)   6 5 26 5 12 7 2 3 7 1 3 5 3 2 2 15
 France (FRA)   47 17 14 23 26 5 19 22 17 13 16 22 17 18 17 16 23 12 25 21 23 21 21 14 18 12 26
 Germany (GER)   21 3 26 23 16 26 21 53 48 31 48 48 48 35 24 15
 Great Britain (GBR)   1 30 24 10 21 23 15 18 26 23 12 26 8 11 17 31 43 42 30 46 37 36 37 44 47 43 41 27
 Greece (GRE)   8 3 1 6 3 1 7 2 5 4 4 5 10 10 4 15
 Guatemala (GUA)   2 1 2 3
 Hong Kong (HKG)   3 1 3 3 4 3 4 1 8
 Honduras (HON)   1 1
 Hungary (HUN)   11 11 7 6 23 9 15 4 9 6 15 8 20 8 8 3 4 6 2 4 3 1 22
 India (IND)   2 1 3 3 1 2 6
 Independent Olympic Athletes (IOA)   2 1
 Indonesia (INA)   1 2 2 3
 Iran (IRI)   2 2 1 1 4
 Iraq (IRQ)   2 1 1 3
 Ireland (IRL)   9 1 10 11 3 1 6 4 6 9 1 5 13 13
 Italy (ITA)   1 1 6 17 26 20 22 26 26 21 26 18 14 21 15 5 22 27 21 32 28 31 20 20 27 23 26
 Japan (JPN)   6 14 16 5 9 14 26 10 3 9 6 12 13 11 8 4 4 5 4 19
 Kazakhstan (KAZ)   1 3 2 2 1 5
 Kenya (KEN)   1 1 2
 Kuwait (KUW)   1 1 2
 Latvia (LAT)   3 4 1 3
 Lebanon (LIB)   1 1
 Libya (LBA)   1 1 2
 Lithuania (LTU)   8 3 2 2 1 4 10 9 8
 Mexico (MEX)   1 2 3 25 9 1 1 3 2 5 2 5 3 3 2 2 1 17
 Monaco (MON)   5 1 1 1 4
 Morocco (MAR)   1 1
 Myanmar (MYA)   1 1 2
 Namibia (NAM)   1 1
 Netherlands (NED)   13 4 12 17 21 2 11 6 12 13 17 22 21 24 10 17 16 20 34 33 26 30 32 36 35 25
 New Zealand (NZL)   1 11 5 8 1 15 14 19 18 22 12 12 11 6 11 16 26 36 32 19
 Nicaragua (NCA)   2 1
 Niger (NIG)   1 1
 Nigeria (NGR)   1 1 2
 North Korea (PRK)   6 1
 Norway (NOR)   9 24 13 1 14 9 2 5 16 14 12 9 6 11 6 3 1 5 5 7 20
 Pakistan (PAK)   3 1
 Paraguay (PAR)   2 1 2 1 4
 Peru (PER)   2 3 3 1 1 1 1 7
 Philippines (PHI)   1 1 1 3
 Poland (POL)   6 14 8 11 10 8 5 11 3 16 22 38 13 15 12 17 23 20 26 26 20 22
 Portugal (POR)   14 9 5 3 2 4 2 2 2 9
 Puerto Rico (PUR)   1 1 1 3
 Qatar (QAT)   1 1
 Romania (ROU)   9 8 7 14 9 21 33 28 26 32 30 28 17 11 15 18 36 17
 Russia (RUS)   10 1
 Russia (RUS)   24 23 19 10 5 4 6
 Saar (SAA)   7 1
 Saudi Arabia (KSA)   1 1
 Serbia (SRB)   3 6 4 3 4
 Serbia and Montenegro (SCG)   6 6 2
 Singapore (SIN)   1 1 2
 Slovakia (SVK)   2 1 2 3
 Slovenia (SLO)   6 7 8 9 10 2 6
 South Africa (RSA)   1 1 5 5 5 9 8 8 2 5 6 12 6 13
 South Korea (KOR)   9 5 28 2 4 3 2 5 4 2 1 11
 Soviet Union (URS)   26 25 25 26 27 26 55 54 53 9
 Spain (ESP)   5 10 1 6 18 3 13 10 13 22 11 4 9 1 4 6 16
 Sudan (SUD)   1 1
 Sweden (SWE)   28 6 5 3 16 9 12 1 3 7 8 8 7 9 3 1 2 2 1 1 20
 Switzerland (SUI)   13 11 13 16 19 13 18 8 17 17 4 10 9 7 9 11 11 6 1 8 11 9 22
 Chinese Taipei (TPE)   2 1 1 1 1 5
 Thailand (THA)   1 1 1 2 2 5
 Togo (TOG)   1 1 2
 Trinidad and Tobago (TTO)   1 1 2
 Tunisia (TUN)   2 1 2 3 2 5
 Turkey (TUR)   1 2 1 3
 Uganda (UGA)   1 1
 Ukraine (UKR)   20 12 10 10 21 8 2 7
 United Team of Germany (EUA)   12 26 26 3
 Unified Team (EUN)   47 1
 United Arab Republic (UAR)   9 1
 United States (USA)   9 35 15 20 26 26 26 26 26 26 26 27 27 26 54 54 53 52 46 48 45 45 44 41 37 25
 Uruguay (URU)   1 8 3 3 2 5 2 5 3 1 1 1 3 3 2 1 2 17
 Uzbekistan (UZB)   4 1 1 2 4
 Vanuatu (VAN)   1 1 2
 Venezuela (VEN)   1 1 2 3
 Vietnam (VIE)   2 2 2 2 4
 West Germany (FRG)   26 26 44 36 38 5
 Zimbabwe (ZIM)   2 1 2 2 1 5
 Yugoslavia (YUG)   14 21 13 1 12 11 15 7 14 5 10 11
Nations 8 2 8 14 14 14 19 13 24 27 33 25 33 27 29 35 31 25 30 38 45 45 51 55 60 58 69 80 113
Rowers 108 44 81 186 136 182 245 153 313 310 404 242 410 330 353 440 593 470 447 592 627 608 547 557 555 550 547 526 10,556
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 12 16 20

Venues

See also


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