Rowing at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's single sculls

Men's single sculls
at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Men's single sculls; at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
	Olympic rowing
Venue	Sea Forest Waterway
Dates	23–30 July 2021
Competitors	32 from 32 nations
Winning time	6:40.45
Medalists
	← 2016 2024 →

Last updated February 04, 2023

Background

This will be the 28th appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Games in 1896 (when bad weather forced the cancellation of all rowing events) but has been held at every Summer Olympics since 1900.

Of the 6 finalists from the 2016 Games, silver medalist Damir Martin of Croatia is the only one to return. Two-time reigning gold medalist Mahé Drysdale was defeated by Jordan Parry in New Zealand's selection process.^[3]

The three World Champions since the 2016 Games are Ondřej Synek of the Czech Republic (a three-time Olympic medalist), Kjetil Borch of Norway, and Oliver Zeidler of Germany. Synek announced on his Facebook page that he will not be going to Tokyo.^[4] Borch and Zeidler competed in Tokyo.

Benin, the Dominican Republic, the Ivory Coast, Nicaragua, and Saudi Arabia made their debut in the event. An athlete from Russia competed under the ROC flag. Italy and the Netherlands each made their 15th appearance, tied for most among nations competing in Tokyo and fourth-most among all nations (Great Britain at 22, the United States at 21, and Switzerland at 16 did not have competitors in this event at the 2020 Games).

Qualification

Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) has been limited to a single boat (one rower) in the event since 1912. There are 32 qualifying places in the men's single sculls:^[2]

9 from the 2019 World Championship
5 from the Asia & Oceania qualification regatta
5 from the Africa qualification regatta
5 from the Americas qualification regatta
3 from the Europe qualification regatta
2 from the final qualification regatta
1 host nation place
2 invitational places

The COVID-19 pandemic delayed many of the events for qualifying for rowing.

Competition format

This rowing event is a single scull event, meaning that each boat is propelled by a single rower. The "scull" portion means that the rower uses two oars, one on each side of the boat; this contrasts with sweep rowing in which each rower has one oar and rows on only one side (not feasible for singles events). The competition consists of multiple rounds. The competition continues to use the five-round format introduced in 2012. Finals are held to determine the placing of each boat; these finals are given letters with those nearer to the beginning of the alphabet meaning a better ranking. Semifinals are named based on which finals they fed, with each semifinal having two possible finals. The course uses the 2000 metres distance that became the Olympic standard in 1912.^[5]

During the first round six heats are held. The first three boats in each heat advance to the quarterfinals, while all others are relegated to the repechages.

The repechage is a round which offers rowers a second chance to qualify for the quarterfinals. Placing in the repechage heats determines which quarterfinal the boat would race in. The top two boats in each repechage heat move on to the quarterfinals, with the remaining boats going to the E/F semifinals.

The four quarterfinals are the second round for rowers still competing for medals. Placing in the quarterfinal heats determines which semifinal the boat would race in. The top three boats in each quarterfinal move on to the A/B semifinals, with the bottom three boats going to the C/D semifinals.

Six semifinals are held, two each of A/B semifinals, C/D semifinals, and E/F semifinals. For each semifinal race, the top three boats move on to the better of the two finals, while the bottom three boats go to the lesser of the two finals possible. For example, a second-place finish in an A/B semifinal would result in advancement to the A final.

The fifth and final round is the finals. Each final determines a set of rankings. The A final determines the medals, along with the rest of the places through 6th. The B final gives rankings from 7th to 12th, the C from 13th to 18th, and so on. Thus, to win a medal rowers have to finish in the top three of their heat (or top two of their repechage heat), top three of their quarterfinal, and top three of their A/B semifinal to reach the A final.

Schedule

The competition is held over eight days. Times given are session start times; multiple rowing events might have races during a session.^[1]

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Date	Time	Round
Friday, 23 July 2021	8:30	Heats
Saturday, 24 July 2021	8:30	Repechage
Sunday, 25 July 2021	9:00	Semifinals E/F
Sunday, 25 July 2021	11:40	Quarterfinals
Thursday, 29 July 2021	11:00	Semifinals A/B
Thursday, 29 July 2021	11:40	Semifinals C/D
Friday, 30 July 2021	7:45	Final F
	8:05	Final E
	8:35	Final D
	8:55	Final C
	9:15	Final B
Friday, 30 July 2021	9:45	Final A

Results

Heats

The first three of each heat qualify for the quarterfinals, while the remainder go to the repechage.^[6]

Heat 1

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	4	Kjetil Borch	Norway	6:54.46	Q
2	1	Bendegúz Pétervári-Molnár	Hungary	7:04.42	Q
3	2	Lucas Verthein	Brazil	7:05.00	Q
4	6	Jan Fleissner	Czech Republic	7:16.56	R
5	5	Abdulrahman Al-Fadhel	Kuwait	8:49.03	R
6	3	Mohammed Al-Khafaji	Iraq	8:57.01	R

Heat 2

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	2	Stefanos Ntouskos	Greece	6:59.49	Q
2	1	Jordan Parry	New Zealand	7:04.45	Q
3	6	Álvaro Torres	Peru	7:07.92	Q
4	5	Quentin Antognelli	Monaco	7:10.52	R
5	3	Ignacio Vásquez	Dominican Republic	7:43.71	R
6	4	Rio Rii	Vanuatu	8:00.98	R

Heat 3

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	3	Sverri Nielsen	Denmark	7:02.88	Q
2	5	Gennaro Di Mauro	Italy	7:06.87	Q
3	4	Vladislav Yakovlev	Kazakhstan	7:10.08	Q
4	2	Peter Purcell-Gilpin	Zimbabwe	7:10.65	R
5	1	Alhussein Ghambour	Libya	7:52.37	R

Heat 4

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	3	Trevor Jones	Canada	7:04.12	Q
2	4	Mindaugas Griškonis	Lithuania	7:05.88	Q
3	2	Onat Kazaklı	Turkey	7:20.11	Q
4	5	Dara Alizadeh	Bermuda	7:34.96	R
5	1	Husein Alireza	Saudi Arabia	7:54.18	R

Heat 5

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	1	Damir Martin	Croatia	7:09.17	Q
2	5	Aleksandr Vyazovkin	ROC	7:14.95	Q
3	4	Cris Nievarez	Philippines	7:22.97	Q
4	3	Félix Potoy	Nicaragua	7:32.54	R
5	2	Privel Hinkati	Benin	7:40.87	R

Heat 6

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	4	Oliver Zeidler	Germany	7:00.40	Q
2	1	Ryuta Arakawa	Japan	7:02.79	Q
3	3	Abdelkhalek El-Banna	Egypt	7:03.44	Q
4	2	Finn Florijn	Netherlands	7:04.56	R
5	5	Franck N'Dri	Ivory Coast	7:49.19	R

Repechage

The first two in each heat qualify for the quarterfinals; the rest go to Semifinals E/F (out of medal contention).

Repechage heat 1

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	4	Quentin Antognelli	Monaco	7:34.14	Q
2	1	Mohammed Al-Khafaji	Iraq	7:41.72	Q
3	3	Félix Potoy	Nicaragua	7:44.52	QEF
4	5	Alhussein Ghambour	Libya	7:57.88	QEF
5	2	Franck N'Dri	Ivory Coast	8:03.25	QEF

Repechage heat 2

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	2	Jan Fleissner	Czech Republic	7:29.90	Q
2	3	Dara Alizadeh	Bermuda	7:35.90	Q
3	4	Ignacio Vásquez	Dominican Republic	7:42.83	QEF
4	1	Privel Hinkati	Benin	7:55.93	QEF

Repechage heat 3

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	3	Peter Purcell-Gilpin	Zimbabwe	7:35.16	Q
2	2	Husein Alireza	Saudi Arabia	8:06.78	Q
3	1	Rio Rii	Vanuatu	8:17.00	QEF
4	5	Abdulrahman Al-Fadhel	Kuwait	9:04.73	QEF
	4	Finn Florijn	Netherlands		DNS

Quarterfinals

The first three of each heat qualify to the semifinals A/B, remaining Crews to Semifinal C/D

Quarterfinal 1

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	4	Kjetil Borch	Norway	7:10.97	QAB
2	3	Stefanos Ntouskos	Greece	7:12.77	QAB
3	2	Gennaro Di Mauro	Italy	7:26.25	QAB
4	1	Quentin Antognelli	Monaco	7:29.99	QCD
5	5	Abdelkhalek El-Banna	Egypt	7:32.86	QCD
6	6	Husein Alireza	Saudi Arabia	8:35.05	QCD

Quarterfinal 2

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	4	Sverri Nielsen	Denmark	7:10.52	QAB
2	3	Trevor Jones	Canada	7:17.65	QAB
3	5	Aleksandr Vyazovkin	ROC	7:20.04	QAB
4	2	Onat Kazaklı	Turkey	7:32.86	QCD
5	1	Dara Alizadeh	Bermuda	7:35.73	QCD
6	6	Peter Purcell-Gilpin	Zimbabwe	7:37.97	QCD

Quarterfinal 3

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	3	Damir Martin	Croatia	7:17.71	QAB
2	2	Bendegúz Pétervári-Molnár	Hungary	7:24.63	QAB
3	4	Ryuta Arakawa	Japan	7:26.04	QAB
4	5	Álvaro Torres	Peru	7:31.85	QCD
5	6	Jan Fleissner	Czech Republic	7:37.01	QCD
6	1	Vladislav Yakovlev	Kazakhstan	7:39.47	QCD

Quarterfinal 4

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	4	Oliver Zeidler	Germany	7:12.75	QAB
2	2	Lucas Verthein	Brazil	7:14.26	QAB
3	5	Mindaugas Griškonis	Lithuania	7:16.71	QAB
4	3	Jordan Parry	New Zealand	7:18.48	QCD
5	6	Cris Nievarez	Philippines	7:50.74	QCD
6	1	Mohammed Al-Khafaji	Iraq	8:03.55	QCD

Semifinals

The first three of each heat qualify to the better final (E, C, A) while the remainder go to the lower final (F, D, B). The exception is that for Semifinal E/F 1 the first two qualify to Final E instead of the first three.

Semifinal A/B 1

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	3	Kjetil Borch	Norway	6:42.92	FA
2	4	Damir Martin	Croatia	6:45.27	FA
3	6	Mindaugas Griškonis	Lithuania	6:45.90	FA
4	1	Gennaro Di Mauro	Italy	6:50.19	FB
5	5	Lucas Verthein	Brazil	7:02.87	FB
6	2	Trevor Jones	Canada	7:06.18	FB

Semifinal A/B 2

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	2	Stefanos Ntouskos	Greece	6:41.61	FA
2	4	Sverri Sandberg Nielsen	Denmark	6:44.00	FA
3	1	Aleksandr Vyazovkin	ROC	6:44.56	FA
4	3	Oliver Zeidler	Germany	6:45.16	FB
5	5	Bendegúz Pétervári-Molnár	Hungary	6:59.08	FB
6	6	Ryuta Arakawa	Japan	6:59.26	FB

Semifinal C/D 1

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	3	Álvaro Torres	Peru	7:02.49	FC
2	4	Quentin Antognelli	Monaco	7:06.03	FC
3	5	Dara Alizadeh	Bermuda	7:11.14	FC
4	6	Mohammed Al-Khafaji	Iraq	7:21.52	FD
5	2	Cris Nievarez	Philippines	7:26.05	FD
6	1	Husein Alireza	Saudi Arabia	7:53.99	FD

Semifinal C/D 2

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	3	Jordan Parry	New Zealand	6:57.70	FC
2	2	Abdelkhalek El-Banna	Egypt	6:58.84	FC
3	5	Jan Fleissner	Czech Republic	6:59.61	FC
4	1	Peter Purcell-Gilpin	Zimbabwe	7:01.72	FD
5	6	Vladislav Yakovlev	Kazakhstan	7:03.53	FD
6	4	Onat Kazaklı	Turkey	7:32.19	FD

Semifinal E/F 1

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	3	Félix Potoy	Nicaragua	7:45.02	FE
2	1	Privel Hinkati	Benin	7:49.46	FE
3	3	Rio Rii	Vanuatu	8:19.99	FF

Semifinal E/F 2

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
1	3	Ignacio Vásquez	Dominican Republic	7:42.80	FE
2	1	Franck N'Dri	Ivory Coast	7:55.12	FE
3	2	Al-Hussein Gambour	Libya	7:55.98	FE
4	4	Abdulrahman Al-Fadhel	Kuwait	8:56.83	FF

Finals

Final F

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
30	2	Rio Rii	Vanuatu	7:49.82
31	1	Abdulrahman Al-Fadhel	Kuwait	8:32.67

Final E

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time
25	4	Ignacio Vásquez	Dominican Republic	7:25.88
26	3	Félix Potoy	Nicaragua	7:28.00
27	2	Privel Hinkati	Benin	7:38.58
28	5	Franck N'Dri	Ivory Coast	7:42.55
29	1	Al-Hussein Gambour	Libya	7:47.64

Final D

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time
19	2	Vladislav Yakovlev	Kazakhstan	7:03.37
20	4	Peter Purcell-Gilpin	Zimbabwe	7:03.85
21	1	Onat Kazaklı	Turkey	7:13.65
22	3	Mohammed Al-Khafaji	Iraq	7:18.65
23	5	Cris Nievarez	Philippines	7:21.28
24	6	Husein Alireza	Saudi Arabia	7:52.67

Final C

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time
13	3	Jordan Parry	New Zealand	6:55.55
14	2	Abdelkhalek El-Banna	Egypt	7:00.72
15	5	Quentin Antognelli	Monaco	7:01.85
16	1	Jan Fleissner	Czech Republic	7:02.93
17	4	Álvaro Torres	Peru	7:03.69
18	6	Dara Alizadeh	Bermuda	7:09.91

Final B

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time
7	4	Oliver Zeidler	Germany	6.44.44
8	3	Gennaro Di Mauro	Italy	6:47.38
9	1	Trevor Jones	Canada	6:48.51
10	5	Bendegúz Pétervári-Molnár	Hungary	6:50.45
11	6	Ryuta Arakawa	Japan	6:50.91
12	2	Lucas Verthein	Brazil	6:52.09

Final A

Rank	Lane	Rower	Nation	Time	Notes
	4	Stefanos Ntouskos	Greece	6:40.45	OB
	3	Kjetil Borch	Norway	6:41.66
	2	Damir Martin	Croatia	6:42.58
4	5	Sverri Sandberg Nielsen	Denmark	6:42.73
5	6	Aleksandr Vyazovkin	ROC	6:49.09
6	1	Mindaugas Griškonis	Lithuania	6:57.60

Related Research Articles

The men's single sculls competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics took place at Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre, Greece. The event was held from 14 to 21 August and was one of six events for male competitors in Rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. There were 29 competitors from 29 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The event was won by Olaf Tufte of Norway. Silver went to Jüri Jaanson of Estonia, with bronze to Ivo Yanakiev of Bulgaria. It was the first medal in the men's single sculls for all three nations. Marcel Hacker's failure to make the final made this the first men's single sculls race since 1956 without a German rower on the podium; between the United Team of Germany, East Germany, West Germany, and Germany, the German medal streak in the event had been 11 Games long.

The men's single sculls competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held between 9 and 16 August, at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. There were 32 competitors from 32 nations. The event was won by Olaf Tufte of Norway, the fifth man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the event. The silver medal went to Ondřej Synek of the Czech Republic, the nation's first medal in the event. Mahé Drysdale of New Zealand earned bronze. Both Synek and Drysdale would go on to win medals in the event again in 2012 and 2016.

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. It was held from 28 July to 3 August. There were 33 competitors from 33 nations. The event was won by Mahé Drysdale of New Zealand, the nation's first victory in the event since 2000. Ondřej Synek of the Czech Republic earned his second consecutive silver in the event; Drysdale and Synek were the 13th and 14th men to win multiple medals in the single sculls; they would go on to be the 5th and 6th to earn three in the event in 2016 when Drysdale repeated as champion and Synek added a bronze. The 2012 bronze went to Alan Campbell, Great Britain's first medal in the event since 1928.

The men's double sculls competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia took place are at Sydney International Regatta Centre.

The men's quadruple sculls competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia took place at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.

The men's lightweight double sculls competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia took place at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.

The women's single sculls competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia took place at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.

The women's double sculls competition during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia took place at Sydney International Regatta Centre.

The women's lightweight double sculls competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia took place at the Sydney International Regatta Centre.

The men's single sculls competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia took place at the Sydney International Regatta Centre. It was held from 17 to 23 September. There were 24 competitors from 24 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The event was won by Rob Waddell of New Zealand, the nation's first victory in the event after bronze medals in 1920 and 1988. Defending champion Xeno Müller of Switzerland placed second, becoming the 11th man to win multiple medals in the event. Marcel Hacker of Germany took bronze; it was the 11th consecutive Games with a German rower on the podium in the event.

The men's lightweight double sculls competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Georgia, USA took place at Lake Lanier.

The men's single sculls competition at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was held from 6 to 13 August at the Lagoon Rodrigo de Freitas. There were 32 competitors from 32 nations. The event was won by Mahé Drysdale of New Zealand, the sixth man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the event. He won an exceptionally close final against Damir Martin of Croatia. Martin's silver was Croatia's first medal in the event. Bronze went to Ondřej Synek of the Czech Republic. Both Drysdale and Synek earned their third medal in the event; Drysdale had taken bronze in 2008 before winning in 2012 and 2016, while Synek had twice been the runner-up in 2008 and 2012 before this third-place finish.

The men's coxless pair event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 24 to 29 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway. 26 rowers from 13 nations competed.

The men's double sculls event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 23 to 28 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway. 26 rowers from 13 nations competed.

The men's quadruple sculls event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 23 to 28 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway. 40 rowers from 10 nations competed.

The women's single sculls event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 23 to 30 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway. 32 rowers from 32 nations competed.

The women's double sculls event at the 2020 Summer Olympics is scheduled took place from 23 to 28 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway. 26 rowers from 13 nations competed.

The women's quadruple sculls event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 23 to 28 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway. 40 rowers from 10 nations competed.

The women's lightweight double sculls competition at the 2019 World Rowing Championships took place at the Linz-Ottensheim regatta venue. A top-seven finish ensured qualification for the Tokyo Olympics.

The men's double sculls competition at the 2019 World Rowing Championships took place at the Linz-Ottensheim regatta venue. A top-eleven finish ensured qualification for the Tokyo Olympics.

References

1 2 "Rowing Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
1 2 "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Rowing" (PDF). World Rowing Federation . Retrieved 6 May 2021.
↑ Anderson, Ian. "New Zealand's dual Olympic rowing gold medallist Mahe Drysdale retires". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
↑ "Ondřej Synek". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 14 June 2021.
↑ "Why Do We Race 2000m? The History Behind the Distance". World Rowing. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
↑ "Rowing - Men's Single Sculls Results". olympics.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Dates-1] 1 2 "Rowing Competition Schedule". Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 3 July 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.

[Qualifying-2] 1 2 "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Rowing" (PDF). World Rowing Federation . Retrieved 6 May 2021.

[3] Anderson, Ian. "New Zealand's dual Olympic rowing gold medallist Mahe Drysdale retires". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 11 June 2021.

[4] "Ondřej Synek". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 14 June 2021.

[WorldRowingHistory-5] "Why Do We Race 2000m? The History Behind the Distance". World Rowing. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2021.

[6] "Rowing - Men's Single Sculls Results". olympics.com. Archived from the original on 18 July 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2021.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Rowing at the 2020 Summer Olympics

Qualification
Single sculls	men	women
Coxless pair	men	women
Double sculls	men	women
Lwt double sculls	men	women
Coxless four	men	women
Quadruple sculls	men	women
Eight	men	women
v t e