Men's single sculls at the Games of the VII Olympiad | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Venue | Brussels–Scheldt Maritime Canal | |||||||||
Dates | 27–29 August | |||||||||
Competitors | 10 from 10 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 7:35.0 | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Rowing at the 1920 Summer Olympics | |
---|---|
Single sculls | men |
Double sculls | men |
Coxed pair | men |
Coxed four | men |
Eight | men |
The men's single sculls event was part of the rowing programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. The competition, the fifth appearance of the event, was held from 27 to 29 August 1920. Ten rowers, each from a different nation, competed. [1] The event was won by John B. Kelly Sr. of the United States, the nation's second victory in the event (tying Great Britain for most among nations at the time). It was the first of Kelly's three Olympic gold medals; he would also win in the double sculls about an hour later (a double that has never been repeated) as well as in the 1924 double sculls. In the final, Kelly defeated Great Britain's Jack Beresford in "of the greatest sculling races ever contested." [2] Beresford led most of the way, with Kelly passing him late and winning by one second—a very close race in single sculls. The final held particular significance to Kelly, who had only decided to participate in the Olympics after being excluded from the 1920 Diamond Challenge Sculls; Kelly had wanted "to get a crack at the man who wins the diamond sculls"—which had turned out to be Beresford. [3]
Darcy Hadfield took bronze, the first Olympic medal for New Zealand as a separate nation (New Zealand had previously competed with Australia as "Australasia" in 1908 and 1912).
This was the fifth appearance of the event. Rowing had been on the programme in 1896 but was cancelled due to bad weather. The single sculls has been held every time that rowing has been contested, beginning in 1900. [2]
The competition featured a historically great field. John B. Kelly Sr. and Jack Beresford are cited as the best scullers to have ever come from the United States and Great Britain, respectively. [2] Kelly had won six national championships and put together a 126-race winning streak in 1919 and 1920. Beresford had won the 1920 Diamond Challenge Sculls in 1920 and would win the Wingfield Sculls seven consecutive times, as well as winning five Olympic medals at five different Games (and in four different rowing events). Kelly had been excluded from the Diamond Challenge Sculls in 1920, primarily due to a ban on the Vesper Boat Club to which he belonged, though his work as a bricklayer was also cited as a violation of amateurism rules. Other prominent scullers competing in Antwerp included 1920 European champion Max Schmid of Switzerland]] and 1919 Inter-Allied champion Darcy Hadfield of New Zealand. [2]
Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, and Switzerland each made their debut in the event. Great Britain made its fourth appearance, most among nations, having missed only the 1904 Games in St. Louis.
The competition featured three rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final), with more than two boats to a race for the first time since 1904. The quarterfinals consisted of four heats of either two or three boats each, with the top sculler in each heat advancing. The four quarterfinal winners were separated into two semifinals of two boats each; the winner of each advanced to the final. There was no bronze medal race, but only one of the semifinal losers received bronze. The course used the 2000 metres distance that became the Olympic standard in 1912. [4]
Date | Time | Round |
---|---|---|
Friday, 27 August 1920 | 14:00 | Quarterfinals |
Saturday, 28 August 1920 | 15:15 | Semifinals |
Sunday, 29 August 1920 | 15:30 | Final |
Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jack Beresford | Great Britain | 7:45.0 | Q |
2 | Max Schmid | Switzerland | 7:49.0 | |
3 | Gustav Zinke | Czechoslovakia | Unknown |
Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Frits Eijken | Netherlands | 7:50.0 | Q |
2 | Nino Castelli | Italy | 7:59.0 | |
3 | Jacques Haller | Belgium | Unknown |
Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John B. Kelly Sr. | United States | 7:44.2 | Q |
2 | Nils Ljunglöf | Sweden | 7:49.6 |
Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Darcy Hadfield | New Zealand | 8:05.0 | Q |
2 | Theodor Eyrich | Denmark | 8:11.0 |
Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jack Beresford | Great Britain | 7:45.0 | Q |
2 | Frits Eijken | Netherlands | 7:50.4 |
Rank | Rower | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John B. Kelly Sr. | United States | 7:46.2 | Q |
Darcy Hadfield | New Zealand | 7:49.2 |
Rank | Rower | Nation | Time |
---|---|---|---|
John B. Kelly Sr. | United States | 7:35.0 | |
Jack Beresford | Great Britain | 7:36.0 |
Rank | Rower | Nation | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
John B. Kelly Sr. | United States | 7:44.2 | 7:46.2 | 7:35.0 | |
Jack Beresford | Great Britain | 7:45.0 | 7:45.0 | 7:36.0 | |
Darcy Hadfield | New Zealand | 8:05.0 | 7:49.2 | Did not advance | |
4 | Frits Eijken | Netherlands | 7:50.0 | 7:50.4 | |
5 | Max Schmid | Switzerland | 7:49.0 | Did not advance | |
6 | Nils Ljunglöf | Sweden | 7:49.6 | ||
7 | Nino Castelli | Italy | 7:59.0 | ||
8 | Theodor Eyrich | Denmark | 8:11.0 | ||
9 | Gustav Zinke | Czechoslovakia | Unknown | ||
Jacques Haller | Belgium | Unknown |
John Brendan Kelly Sr., known as Jack Kelly, was one of the most accomplished American competitors in the history of the sport of rowing. He was a triple Olympic champion, the first to be so in the sport of rowing. The Philadelphia-based Kelly also was a multimillionaire in the bricklaying and construction industry. He was the father of actress Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, and of John B. Kelly Jr., an accomplished rower in his own right who served as president of the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Jack Beresford, CBE, born Jack Beresford-Wiszniewski, was a British rower who won five medals at five Olympic Games in succession. This record in Olympic rowing was not matched until 2000 when Sir Steve Redgrave won his sixth Olympic medal at his fifth Olympic Games.
The single sculls was one of the competitions in the Rowing at the 1900 Summer Olympics events in Paris. It was held on 25 and 26 August 1900. 12 athletes from 3 nations competed. Four quarterfinals, two semifinals, and a final were held. The event was won by Hermann Barrelet of France; the host nation also took silver with André Gaudin. Saint-George Ashe of Great Britain earned bronze, after interfering with another rower in the quarterfinals and advancing out of the semifinals for unknown reasons after placing third in his heat.
France competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 304 competitors, 296 men and 8 women, took part in 113 events in 23 sports.
The men's single sculls was one of four rowing events on the Rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Nations could enter up to 2 boats. Nine rowers from six nations competed. The host nation, Great Britain, earned the top two spots with Harry Blackstaffe taking gold and Alexander McCulloch silver. It was the first victory in the event for Great Britain, which had taken bronze in 1900. The two bronze medals went to semifinalists Bernhard von Gaza of Germany and Károly Levitzky of Hungary, both nations making their debut in the event.
Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 234 competitors, 218 men and 16 women, took part in 84 events in 21 sports. British athletes won fifteen gold medals and 43 medals overall, finishing third.
Sweden competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 260 competitors, 247 men and 13 women, took part in 100 events in 18 sports.
Russian Empire (Russia) competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. 159 competitors, all men, took part in 62 events in 15 sports.
Italy competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 174 competitors, 173 men and 1 woman, took part in 79 events in 18 sports.
Switzerland competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 77 competitors, all men, took part in 45 events in 13 sports.
Czechoslovakia competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. It was the first time that the nation had competed at the Summer Olympic Games, after the republic was founded in 1918. Previously, Bohemia had competed at the Olympic Games from 1900 to 1912.
The Netherlands competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. 130 competitors, 129 men and 1 woman, took part in 58 events in 15 sports.
New Zealand competed at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. It was the first time that the nation had competed independently at the Olympic Games. At the 1908 and 1912 Summer Olympics, New Zealand had competed with Australia in a combined team called Australasia.
Belgium competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden.
The men's single sculls 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 17 to 19 July at Djurgårdsbrunnsviken. There were 13 competitors from 11 nations. Each nation could have up to two boats. The event was won by Wally Kinnear of Great Britain, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's single sculls. The other three medal-winning nations were new to the podium in the event. Kinnear beat Everard Butler of Canada in the semifinals, while Belgium's Polydore Veirman prevailed over Mart Kuusik of the Russian Empire; Butler and Kuusik received bronze medals. Veirman earned silver after falling to Kinnear in the final.
Darcy Clarence Hadfield was a New Zealand rower who won a bronze medal at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. In doing so, he became the first Olympic medallist who represented New Zealand; previous New Zealand medallists had represented Australasia. Subsequently he became the third New Zealander to hold the professional World Sculling Championship.
Men's single sculls competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held between August 9 and 16, at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
Women's single sculls competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held between August 9 and 16, at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park.
The men's single sculls competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London took place at Dorney Lake which, for the purposes of the Games venue, was officially termed Eton Dorney.