Rowing at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's eight

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Men's eight
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
Pista olimpica de remo y canotaje, Xochimilco.JPG
The venue in 2015
Venue Virgilio Uribe Rowing and Canoeing Course
Dates13–19 October
Competitors113 from 12 nations
Winning time6:07.00
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svgFlag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany
Silver medal icon.svgFlag of Australia.svg  Australia
Bronze medal icon.svgFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
  1964
1972  

The men's 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. It was West Germany's first appearance as a separate nation, though the United Team of Germany had won gold in 1960 and silver in 1964, with West Germans making up those teams. The silver medal was Australia's best result yet in the event; the nation had previously taken bronze in 1952 and 1956. The Soviet Union reached the podium in the men's eight for the first time since earning silver in 1952. Twelve teams from 12 nations attended the competition. [1] Five of the teams replaced a total of five rowers during the competition, making for a total of 113 rowers who participated in the races. [2] [3]

Background

This was the 15th appearance of the event. Rowing had been on the programme in 1896 but was cancelled due to bad weather. The men's eight has been held every time that rowing has been contested, beginning in 1900. [2]

The United States had won this event at eight of the last 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]

Mexico made its debut in the event; East and West Germany competed separately for the first time. Canada and the United States each made their 13th appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

Competition format

The "eight" event featured nine-person boats, with eight rowers and a coxswain. It was a sweep rowing event, with the rowers each having one oar (and thus each rowing on one side). This rowing competition consisted of two main rounds (semifinals and finals), as well as a repechage round that allowed teams that did not win their heats to advance to the final. The course used the 2000 metres distance that became the Olympic standard in 1912 (with the exception of 1948). [4] Races were held in up to six lanes. [5]

Schedule

All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)

DateTimeRound
Sunday, 13 October 196813:15Semifinals
Tuesday, 15 October 196811:30Repechage
Friday, 18 October 196813:00Final B
Saturday, 19 October 196814:00Final A

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]

Semifinals

Two heats were rowed on 13 October. [6] The winning teams qualified for the final, and the remaining teams progressed to the repechage. [7]

Semifinal 1

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Gunther Tiersch Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 6:04.22QA
2 Alan Grover Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 6:06.87R
3 Jiří Pták Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 6:13.30R
4 Joel Finley Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 6:21.22R
5 Rodolfo Santillán Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 6:32.66R
6 Katsumi Yamamoto Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 6:34.79R

Semifinal 2

The Official Report of the Organising Committee lists Michael Livingston in seat 7 of the United States boat, [6] but this is incorrect, as he travelled to the 1968 Games as a reserve only. [8] It was his elder brother, Cleve Livingston, who sat in seat 7 for the heat and final. [9]

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Robert Page Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 6:05.62QA
2 Karl-Heinz Danielowski Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 6:09.48R
3 Yuriy Lorentsson Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 6:09.65R
4 Arthur Koning Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 6:12.23R
5 Paul Hoffman Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6:15.42R
6 Timothy Kirk Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 6:22.20R

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. [10]

Repechage 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. [6]

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Jiří Pták Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 6:19.34QA
2 Paul Hoffman Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6:19.81QA
3 Karl-Heinz Danielowski Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 6:21.71QB
4 Joel Finley Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 6:31.14QB
5 Timothy Kirk Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 6:43.55QB

Repechage heat 2

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Alan Grover Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 6:10.80QA
2 Yuriy Lorentsson Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 6:12.12QA
3 Arthur Koning Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 6:12.90QB
4 Rodolfo Santillán Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 6:43.13QB
5 Katsumi Yamamoto Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 6:44.37QB

Finals

Final B

The small final (now termed B final) was raced on 18 October. [11] 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]

RankRowersCoxswainNationTime
7 Karl-Heinz Danielowski Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  East Germany 6:11.69
8 Arthur Koning Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 6:14.18
9 Joel Finley Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 6:18.65
10 Timothy Kirk Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 6:29.23
11 Rodolfo Santillán Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico 6:41.62
12 Katsumi Yamamoto Flag of Japan (1870-1999).svg  Japan 6:52.02

Final A

The final (now termed A final) was raced on 19 October. [11] 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] [12] 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. [12] As per convention, the Olympic results database lists Böse as a medallist based on the fact that he competed in the qualifying race. [13]

RankRowersCoxswainNationTime
Gold medal icon.svg Gunther Tiersch Flag of the German Olympic Team (1960-1968).svg  West Germany 6:07.00
Silver medal icon.svg Alan Grover Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 6:07.98
Bronze medal icon.svg Yuriy Lorentsson Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 6:09.11
4 Robert Page Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 6:10.43
5 Jiří Pták Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 6:12.17
6 Paul Hoffman Flag of the United States.svg  United States 6:14.34

Notes

  1. 1 2 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.
  2. 1 2 "Eight, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 June 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Official Report of the Organising Committee 1969, pp. 550f.
  4. "Why Do We Race 2000m? The History Behind the Distance". World Rowing. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  5. Official Report of the Organising Committee 1969, p. 541.
  6. 1 2 3 Official Report of the Organising Committee 1969, p. 550.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 1 2 Official Report of the Organising Committee 1969, p. 551.
  12. 1 2 "Olympische Ruderregatta". Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 13 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  13. "Roland BOESE". International Olympic Committee . Retrieved 14 October 2016.

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