Rowing at the Summer Olympics has been part of the competition since its debut in 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 which gave national federations the incentive to support women's events and catalysed growth in women's rowing. Lightweight rowing events 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.
The men's eight was one of four rowing events on the Rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Nations could enter up to two boats. Six boats from five nations competed. The event was won by Leander Club, one of the two British boats. The silver medal went to the Belgian team from Royal Club Nautique de Gand. Bronze medals were awarded to the two semifinal losers; Argonaut Rowing Club of Canada had been defeated by Leander while Britain's second boat, from Cambridge University Boat Club, lost to the Belgians.
Norway competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. 190 competitors, 188 men and 2 women, took part in 58 events in 14 sports.
Denmark competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. 152 competitors, 151 men and 1 woman, took part in 46 events in 13 sports.
The men's coxed four was a rowing event held as part of the Rowing at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the second appearance of the event, which had been held at the 1900 Summer Olympics but had been replaced by coxless four at the 1904 and 1908 Games. The standard coxed four event allowed for outriggers, while another event was held in 1912 for boats with inriggers. The competition was held from 17 to 19 July 1912.
The men's eight was a rowing event held as part of the Rowing at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event. The competition was held from Wednesday to Friday, 17 to 19 July 1912. Ninety-nine rowers from eight nations competed. Nations were still permitted to have two boats each in the event. The event was won by the Leander Club of Great Britain, successfully defending their 1908 Olympic title. Silver also went to Great Britain, with the New College Boat Club the second British boat. Germany earned its first medal in the men's eight with a bronze by the Berliner Ruderverein von 1876. The final was marred in controversy when Leander's team acted outside the customary convention after the coin toss.
The men's coxed four event was part of the rowing programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on 28 and 29 August 1920. It was the third appearance of the event, which had previously been held inaugural rowing competitions in 1900 as well as in 1912. Eight boats, each from a different nation, competed. The medals all went to nations that had not won a medal in the men's coxed four previously: Switzerland and the United States took gold and silver, respectively, in their debuts in the event; Norway took bronze.
John Vilhelm Bjørnstad was a Norwegian rowing coxswain who competed for Christiania Roklub. He competed in coxed fours (inriggers) and in coxed eights at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm.
The men's coxed four competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich took place from 27 August to 2 September at the Olympic Reggatta Course in Oberschleißheim. There were 14 boats from 14 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The event was won by West Germany; it was the nation's first medal as a separate team, but the third time in four Games that a West German crew had won gold. East Germany repeated as silver medallists, though with a new crew. Bronze went to Czechoslovakia, the nation's first medal in the men's coxed four since 1952.
The 87th Boat Race took place on 6 April 1935. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. Umpired by former Oxford rower Robert Bourne, Cambridge won by four and a half lengths in a time of 19 minutes 48 seconds. The record twelfth consecutive victory took the overall record in the event to 46–40 in Cambridge's favour.
The 81st Boat Race took place on 23 March 1929. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. The event featured three Olympic medallists and included the first Danish rower ever to participate in the Boat Race. In a race umpired by former Oxford rower Charles Burnell, Cambridge won by seven lengths in a time of 19 minutes 24 seconds, the fastest winning time since the 1924 race. The victory, their sixth in a row and their tenth in the previous eleven years, levelled the overall record for the first time since 1863, at 40 wins each.
The 67th Boat Race took place on 23 March 1910. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. Oxford were reigning champions, having won the previous year's race. In a race umpired by Frederick I. Pitman, Oxford won by 3+1⁄2 lengths in a time of 20 minutes 14 seconds, taking their overall lead in the competition to 36–30.
The 70th Boat Race took place on 13 March 1913. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. Oxford went into the race as reigning champions, having won the previous year's race. The two crews contained a total of five medallists from the 1912 Summer Olympics. Umpired by former Cambridge rower Frederick I. Pitman, Oxford won this year's race by three-quarters of a length in a time of 20 minutes 53 seconds. The victory took the overall record in the event to 39–30 in their favour.
The 82nd Boat Race took place on 12 April 1930. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. In a race umpired by former Oxford rower Charles Burnell, Cambridge won by two lengths in a time of 19 minutes 9 seconds. Their seventh consecutive victory, it took the overall record to 41–40 in their favour, the first time for 68 years that they held the lead in the event.
The 89th Boat Race took place on 24 March 1937. Held annually, the Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing race between crews from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge along the River Thames. In a race umpired by the former Cambridge rower and coach Harold Rickett, Oxford won by three lengths in a time of 22 minutes 39 seconds. It was their first success since the 1923 race and ended Cambridge's record streak of 13 wins. The victory took the overall record in the event to 47–41 in Cambridge's favour.
The men's coxed four competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Wendouree, Ballarat, Australia. It was held from 23 to 27 November and was won by the team from Italy. There were 10 boats from 10 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. Italy had previously won this event in 1928, tying Switzerland for second-most wins among nations. Sweden (silver) and Finland (bronze) each won their first medal in the men's coxed four. Switzerland had its three-Games silver-medal streak broken, without a Swiss crew competing.
The men's coxed four competition at the 1952 Summer Olympics took place at Mei Bay, Helsinki, Finland. It was held from 20 to 23 August and was won by the team from Czechoslovakia. There were 17 boats from 17 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The gold medal was Czechoslovakia's first medal in the men's coxed four. Switzerland earned its third consecutive silver medal, and sixth medal in seven Games dating back to 1920. The reigning champion United States took bronze.
The men's coxed four 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 unexpectedly won by the team from New Zealand, which secured the country its first Olympic rowing gold medal. Thirteen teams from 13 nations attended the competition. East Germany earned its first medal in its debut in the event, taking silver. Switzerland took bronze, its first medal in the men's coxed four since 1952.
The men's coxed 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 Soviet Union. There were 14 boats from 14 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The victory was the Soviet Union's first medal in the men's coxed four. East Germany took its third consecutive silver medal, with entirely different crews each time. The defending champion West Germany received bronze this time. Hans-Johann Färber, the only rower from the 1972 gold medal team to return, became the fifth man to earn multiple medals in the event.
The men's coxed four competition at the 1960 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Albano, Italy. It was held from 31 August to 3 September. There were 21 boats from 21 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the competition. The event was won by the United Team of Germany in its debut in the event. Silver went to the French crew, the nation's first medal in the event since 1936. The defending champions Italy received bronze this time. In an event which saw constant turnover even from consistently strong nations, three members of the Italian team returned from the 1956 gold-medal crew to earn a second medal this Games: Romano Sgheiz, Ivo Stefanoni, and Franco Trincavelli were only the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th men to earn multiple medals in the coxed four.
