| Women's eight at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad | |
|---|---|
| Date | 4 August |
| Competitors | 54 from 6 nations |
| Medalists | |
| Rowing at the 1984 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Single sculls | men | women |
| Double sculls | men | women |
| Quadruple sculls | men | women |
| Coxless pair | men | women |
| Coxed pair | men | |
| Coxless four | men | |
| Coxed four | men | women |
| Eight | men | women |
The women's eight competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Casitas, California, United States of America. [1]
With only 6 boats in the competition, a single race was held.
The Romanian women had dominated the 1984 rowing competitions to this point, winning every race in each of the other events (single sculls, double sculls, quadruple sculls, coxless pair, and coxed four). The eight was the last race held, and "turned out to be surprisingly entertaining and competitive." The Romanians held a small lead over the Americans at the halfway mark, crossing at 1:29.28 to the United States' 1:29.62. But the Americans had a strong second half, breaking the finish line under the 3 minute mark—a feat which had not been accomplished before in Olympic history (the Soviets had come closest, with 3:00.19 in the first heat of the 1976 eight competition). The Romanians were not far behind, earning silver. There was also a closely contested race for the bronze medal between the Dutch and the Canadians; the former held off the latter. Great Britain started strong, running third at the halfway mark, before dropping back to fifth. West Germany came in sixth, over 5 seconds behind the Brits. [1] [2]
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Betsy Beard |  United States | 2:59.80 | |
 | Viorica Ioja |  Romania | 3:00.87 | |
 | Martha Laurijsen |  Netherlands | 3:02.92 | |
| 4 | Lesley Anderson-Herweck |  Canada | 3:03.64 | |
| 5 | Sue Bailey |  Great Britain | 3:04.51 | |
| 6 | Heidrun Barth |  West Germany | 3:09.92 |
Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, each rower holds two oars—one in each hand, while in sweep rowing each rower holds one oar with both hands. There are several boat classes in which athletes may compete, ranging from single sculls, occupied by one person, to shells with eight rowers and a coxswain, called eights. There are a wide variety of course types and formats of racing, but most elite and championship level racing is conducted on calm water courses 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long with several lanes marked using buoys.
The men's eight competition was one of six events for male competitors in Rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. It was held from 15 to 22 August. There were 9 boats from 9 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The event was won by the United States, the nation's first victory in the men's eight since 1964 and 12th overall. The Netherlands took silver. Australia, the reigning silver medalist, finished with bronze this time.
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 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.
The men's single sculls was a rowing event held as part of the Rowing at the 1904 Summer Olympics programme. It was the second time the event was held at the Olympics. The competition was held on Saturday, July 30, 1904. Four American rowers competed. Frank Greer won the event, with James Juvenal second and Constance Titus third. It was the only podium sweep in the history of the event, which restricted the number of boats per nation beginning in 1908.
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.
Women's rowing is the participation of women in the sport of rowing. Women row in all boat classes, from single scull to coxed eights, across the same age ranges and standards as men, from junior amateur through university-level to elite athlete. Typically men and women compete in separate crews although mixed crews and mixed team events also take place. Coaching for women is similar to that for men.
The men's quadruple sculls competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at took place at Lake Casitas, California, United States of America.
The men's coxed four competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place at Misari Regatta, South Korea. It was held from 19 to 24 September. There were 14 boats from 14 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The event was won by East Germany, returning to the top of the podium after the Soviet-led boycott in 1984 prevented the East Germans from defending their 1980 Olympic title. Silver went to Romania, its first medal in the men's coxed four. New Zealand took a second consecutive bronze medal in the event.
The women's single sculls (W1x) rowing competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Casitas in Ventura County, California, United States. It was held from 30 July to 4 August.
The men's coxed pair competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Casitas, California, United States. It was held from 31 July to 5 August. There were 12 boats from 12 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The event was won by the Italian crew, brothers Carmine Abbagnale and Giuseppe Abbagnale and coxswain Giuseppe Di Capua. It was Italy's first victory in the event since 1968 and third overall, tying the United States and East Germany for most among nations to that point. The Abbagnale brothers and Di Capua would go on to repeat as champions in 1988 and take silver in 1992. The Romanian crew of Dimitrie Popescu, Vasile Tomoiagă, and cox Dumitru Răducanu took silver. Americans Kevin Still, Robert Espeseth, and cox Doug Herland took bronze. The three-Games gold-medal streak for East Germany ended with that nation joining the Soviet-led boycott.
The men's eight (M8+) 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. There were 7 boats from 7 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. New Zealand had won the last two world championships, and the other strong team, East Germany, was absent from the event due to the Eastern Bloc boycott. This made New Zealand the strong favourite. But the final was won by Canada, with the United States and Australia the other medallists, and New Zealand coming a disappointing fourth.
The women's coxed four competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at took place at Lake Casitas, California, United States of America.
The women's quadruple sculls competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Casitas, California, United States.
The women's coxless pair competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at took place at Lake Casitas, California, United States of America.
The women's double sculls competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at took place at Lake Casitas, California, United States of America. The event was won by Romanians Marioara Popescu and Elisabeta Lipă ; it was the first of Lipă's 5 Olympic gold medals.
The men's eight competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Wendouree near Ballarat, Australia. It was held from 23 to 27 November. There were 10 boats from 10 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The event was won by the United States, the nation's eighth consecutive and 10th overall gold medal in the men's eight; the Americans had won every time they competed. Canada took silver, its first medal in the men's eight since 1932. Australia repeated as bronze medalists.
The men's coxed pair competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place at Misari Regatta, South Korea. It was held from 20 to 25 September. There were 14 boats from 14 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The event was won by Italian crew Carmine Abbagnale, Giuseppe Abbagnale, and coxswain Giuseppe Di Capua; they were the second crew to repeat as Olympic gold medalists. It was Italy's fourth victory in the event, most all-time among nations over the United States and East Germany at three. The East Germans, after winning their three gold medals consecutively from 1972 to 1980 before missing the 1984 Games due to the Soviet-led boycott, returned with a silver medal performance in Seoul by Mario Streit, Detlef Kirchhoff, and cox René Rensch. Great Britain took its first-ever medal in the event with a bronze by Andy Holmes, Steve Redgrave, and cox Patrick Sweeney.
The men's coxed four competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics took place at took place at Lake of Banyoles, Spain. It was held from 27 July to 1 August. There were 12 boats from 12 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The event was won by Romania, the nation's first victory in the event; the Romanian team had taken silver in 1988. Germany, recently re-united, took silver in 1992; East Germany had won gold in 1988. Two men returned from the 1988 podium to medal again in 1992: Dimitrie Popescu of Romania and Hendrik Reiher of the former East German team. They were the eighth and ninth men to earn multiple medals in the event; due to the removal of the men's coxed four from the programme, they would be the last. Bronze went to Poland, the nation's fourth bronze medal in the coxed four.
