| Size: | 150 |
| Code: | ROW |
| Sport: | rowing |
| Menevents: | 7 |
| Womenevents: | 7 |
Rowing has been part of the Summer Olympics since its debut in the 1900 Games. Rowing was on the program at the 1896 Summer Olympics but was cancelled due to bad weather.[1] 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.[2] Lightweight rowing events (which have weight-limited crews) 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.
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At the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, the following 14 events were contested for both men and women: Single sculls, Double sculls, Quadruple sculls, lightweight double sculls, Coxless pair, Coxless four, Eight.
The lightweight events were first threatened in 2002 when the Programme Commission of the IOC recommended that, outside combat sports (boxing and wrestling, but not fencing, shooting, and archery) and weightlifting, there should not be weight-category events. The 2024 Olympics were the last where lightweight rowing will be included.[3]
Other non-Olympic boatclasses, which still compete in World Championships, are currently: men's & women's lightweight single sculls, lightweight quadruple sculls and lightweight coxless pair.
| Current program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Single sculls | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 29 | ||
| Double sculls | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 26 | |||||
| Quadruple sculls | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coxless pair | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 26 | |||||
| Coxless four | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 25 | |||||
| Eight | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 28 | ||
| Past events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coxed pair | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 18 | |||||||||||||
| Coxed four | •• | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 19 | ||||||||||||
| Coxed four, with inriggers | • | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lightweight double sculls | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lightweight coxless four | • | • | • | • | • | • | 6 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 |
| Current program | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Single sculls | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Double sculls | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Quadruple sculls | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coxless pair | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Coxless four | • | • | • | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eight | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Past events | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coxed four | • | • | • | • | 4 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lightweight double sculls | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 8 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
From 1912 to 2024, all men's races have been over a 2000m course, except for London 1948, where the course was 1850m. In 2024, World Rowing announced that Rowing at the 2028 Olympics will take place over 1500 meters due to limitations of the Long Beach Marine Stadium. This would be shortest ever used for men's Olympic rowing.[4]
Before 1912, it was raced over various distances: the course in Paris in 1900 was 1750m, in St. Louis in 1904 it was 3218m, and in London in 1908 it was 2414m. The 1908 and 1948 events were held over the Henley Royal Regatta course.
Women's races were raced over 1000m until 1988, when they were changed to 2000m.[5]
Early Games featured match races between two or three boats, until the modern six boat side-by-side format was first adopted at the 1936 Olympic Games. With the exception of the 1952 Olympic Games (races between four or five boats), it has been the standard since.
There is a limited number of crews permitted to race, so World Rowing holds qualification events in order to determine who competes at the Olympic Games. At the Olympic Games, each National Olympic Committee can only have one boat per event.
The main qualification comes from the previous year's World Rowing Championships. Other qualifying events are called "Continental Qualification Regattas", of which four are held during the year preceding the games - Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Final (open to everyone else). Each year FISA issues details of how many crews qualify at each regatta.
At the World Championships, the top finishing boats guarantee a place for that country - the rowers in the crew can be changed before the games. At the qualification regattas, it is the crew that wins that qualifies for the Olympics, and if members of that crew race in the Olympics they must race in that event.
The numbers below are after the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.[6]
| Games of | Leader | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| , 1900 Paris | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | ||
| , 1904 St. Louis | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 | ||
| , 1908 London | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 | ||
| , 1912 Stockholm | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | ||
| , 1920 Antwerp | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| , 1924 Paris | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | ||
| , 1928 Amsterdam | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | ||
| , 1932 Los Angeles | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| , 1936 Berlin | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| , 1948 London | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| , 1952 Helsinki | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| , 1956 Melbourne | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 | ||
| , 1960 Rome | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||
| , 1964 Tokyo | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| , 1968 Mexico City | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| , 1972 Munich | 3 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| , 1976 Montreal | 9 | 3 | 2 | 14 | ||
| , 1980 Moscow | 11 | 1 | 2 | 14 | ||
| , 1984 Los Angeles | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 | ||
| , 1988 Seoul | 8 | 1 | 1 | 10 | ||
| , 1992 Barcelona | 4 | 3 | 3 | 10 | ||
| , 1996 Atlanta | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | ||
| , 2000 Sydney | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| , 2004 Athens | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| , 2008 Beijing | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | ||
| , 2012 London | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 | ||
| , 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| , 2020 Tokyo | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | ||
| , 2024 Paris | 4 | 3 | 1 | 8 |
The table shows those who have won at least 3 gold medals.
| width=13% | Athlete (nation) | width=12% | Olympics | width=5% bgcolor="gold" | Gold | width=5% bgcolor="silver" | Silver | width=5% bgcolor="CC9966" | Bronze | width=5% | Total | width=25% | Notes |
| 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 20 years between first and last gold medal | ||||||||
| 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | Gold medals in 1984 (M4+), 1988 (M2- with Andy Holmes), 1992 and 1996 (M2- with Matthew Pinsent) and 2000 (M4-). Only endurance athlete to win Olympic gold at five consecutive games. | ||||||||
| 2000, 2004, 2008 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | Won the pair and the eights in both 2000 and 2004, and the pair again in 2008 | ||||||||
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | Part of Romania's three-straight gold medalist eight | ||||||||
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | Four straight Olympic golds. Bronze in her final Olympics in the Quadruple Sculls | ||||||||
| 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | Won three medals in the women's eight, and two in the pair | ||||||||
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Four straight Olympic golds. Won with Steve Redgrave in the pair in 1992 and 1996. In the coxless four in 2000 and in 2004 | ||||||||
| 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | First rower to win a medal at 5 straight Olympics. WWII prevented the opportunity for a sixth medal | ||||||||
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | Won three gold medals in the women's lightweight double sculls | ||||||||
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | Coxswain of Romania's women's eight | ||||||||
| 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | Member of the Oarsome Foursome | ||||||||
| 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | Won all his medals in the lightweight coxless four | ||||||||
| 1992, 1996 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Along with rowing partner Kathleen Heddle, Canadian with the most gold medals | ||||||||
| 1992, 1996 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Won all her medals with rowing partner Marnie McBean | ||||||||
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Most medalled Australian rower | ||||||||
| 1920, 1924 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | First rower to win 3 gold medals. Father of movie star turned princess Grace Kelly | ||||||||
| 1920, 1924, 1928 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | First man to win 3 gold medals in the same event, the double sculls. Cousin of John B. Kelly Sr. | ||||||||
| 1956, 1960, 1964 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Won all his medals in the single sculls | ||||||||
| 1972, 1976, 1980 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | First German triple gold medalist. Won in the pair and the coxless four | ||||||||
| 1976, 1980, 1984 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Won all his medals in the single sculls | ||||||||
| 1988, 1996, 2000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | His brothers Carmine and Giuseppe each won 2 gold medals. | ||||||||
| 1996, 2000, 2004 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Won all three medals in Romania's women's eight | ||||||||
| 2008, 2012, 2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Won all three medals in USA women's eight | ||||||||
| 2008, 2012, 2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Two wins in coxless four, then in eight | ||||||||
| 2008, 2012, 2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Two wins in coxless four, then in eight | ||||||||
| 2012, 2016, 2020 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Two wins in coxless pair, then in eight | ||||||||
Number of rowers from each nation by year of Olympics, starting with 1896 (when none competed due to bad weather) then 1900 through 2020.
| Nations | 8 | 2 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 19 | 13 | 24 | 27 | 33 | 25 | 33 | 27 | 29 | 35 | 31 | 25 | 30 | 38 | 45 | 45 | 51 | 55 | 60 | 58 | 69 | 80 | 113 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rowers | 108 | 44 | 81 | 186 | 136 | 182 | 245 | 153 | 313 | 310 | 404 | 242 | 410 | 330 | 353 | 440 | 593 | 470 | 447 | 592 | 627 | 608 | 547 | 557 | 555 | 550 | 547 | 526 | 10,556 | ||
See main article: List of Olympic venues in rowing.