Rowing at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's coxed pair explained

Event:Men's coxed pair
Games:1976 Summer
Venue:Notre Dame Island Olympic Basin
Date:18–25 July
Competitors:40
Nations:13
Longnames:yes
Win Value:7:58.99
Gold:Harald Jährling
Friedrich-Wilhelm Ulrich
Georg Spohr (cox)
Goldnoc:GDR
Silver:Dmitry Bekhterev
Yuriy Shurkalov
Yuriy Lorentsson (cox)
Silvernoc:URS
Bronze:Oldřich Svojanovský
Pavel Svojanovský
Ludvík Vébr (cox)
Bronzenoc:TCH
Prev:1972
Next:1980

The men's coxed pair competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics took place at Notre Dame Island Olympic Basin, Canada.[1] It was held from 18 to 25 July. There were 13 boats (40 competitors, with West Germany making one substitution) from 13 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The event was won by Harald Jährling, Friedrich-Wilhelm Ulrich, and Georg Spohr of East Germany, the nation's second consecutive victory in the event (with an entirely different crew than in 1972). The Soviet Union (Dmitry Bekhterev, Yuriy Shurkalov, and cox Yuriy Lorentsson) earned that nation's first medal in the event since 1960 with their silver. The Czechoslovakian brothers Oldřich Svojanovský and Pavel Svojanovský became the 8th and 9th men to win multiple medals in the event, adding a bronze to 1972 silver with new cox Ludvík Vébr.

Background

This was the 14th appearance of the event. Rowing had been on the programme in 1896 but was cancelled due to bad weather. The men's coxed pair was one of the original four events in 1900, but was not held in 1904, 1908, or 1912. It returned to the programme after World War I and was held every Games from 1924 to 1992, when it (along with the men's coxed four) was replaced with the men's lightweight double sculls and men's lightweight coxless four.[2]

Three of the 18 competitors from the 1972 coxed pair Final A returned: Oldřich Svojanovský and Pavel Svojanovský, the rowers from the silver-medal Czechoslovakia boat, and Yuriy Lorentsson, the coxswain of the fifth-place Soviet Union crew. East Germany had won the 1972 Olympics and 1975 World Championship, but sent a different crew after Harald Jährling, Friedrich-Wilhelm Ulrich, and Georg Spohr defeated the reigning champions in Grünau in May. Similarly, the Soviet Union had won the 1974 World Championship, but sent a different crew. Primo Baran, a member of the 1968 Italian gold medalist team, returned after not being selected for the coxed pair in 1972.[2]

No nations made their debut in the event. France and the United States each made their 12th appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

Competition format

The coxed pair event featured three-person boats, with two rowers and a coxswain. It was a sweep rowing event, with the rowers each having one oar (and thus each rowing on one side). The course used the 2000 metres distance that became the Olympic standard in 1912.[3] The competition consisted of three main rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) as well as a repechage after the quarterfinals.

Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

DateTimeRound
Sunday, 18 July 1976 13:00 Quarterfinals
Tuesday, 20 July 1976 11:00 Repechage
Friday, 23 July 1976 12:00 Semifinals
Sunday, 25 July 1976 12:20 Finals

Results

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 align=left data-sort-value="Khristov, Rumen"align=left data-sort-value="Kishev, Todor"7:24.44
2 align=left data-sort-value="Jährling, Harald"align=left data-sort-value="Spohr, Georg"7:26.03
3 align=left data-sort-value="Bekhterev, Dmitry"align=left data-sort-value="Lorentsson, Yuriy"7:29.19
4 align=left data-sort-value="Stadniuk, Ryszard"align=left data-sort-value="Kubiak, Ryszard"7:43.45
5 align=left data-sort-value="Matthews, John"align=left data-sort-value="Dreyfuss, Ken"7:49.00

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 align=left data-sort-value="Coucardon, Jean-Claude"align=left data-sort-value="Gambert, Antoine"7:35.91
2 align=left data-sort-value="Kuntze, Wandir"align=left data-sort-value="Alonço, Nilton"7:39.20
3 align=left data-sort-value="Butorac, Milan"align=left data-sort-value="Rutešić, Siniša"7:40.70
4 align=left data-sort-value="Bergen, Robert"align=left data-sort-value="Riendeau, Michel"7:45.77

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 align=left data-sort-value="Svojanovský, Oldřich"align=left data-sort-value="Vébr, Ludvík"7:34.03
2 align=left data-sort-value="Baran, Primo"align=left data-sort-value="Venturini, Franco"7:37.15
3 align=left data-sort-value="Christie, Neil"align=left data-sort-value="Webb, David"7:40.22
4 align=left data-sort-value="Hitzbleck, Thomas"align=left data-sort-value="Hocke, Holger"8:04.22

Repechage

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 align=left data-sort-value="Stadniuk, Ryszard"align=left data-sort-value="Kubiak, Ryszard"7:23.17
2 align=left data-sort-value="Matthews, John"align=left data-sort-value="Dreyfuss, Ken"7:25.58
3 align=left data-sort-value="Hitzbleck, Thomas"align=left data-sort-value="Hocke, Holger"7:26.90
4 align=left data-sort-value="Bergen, Robert"align=left data-sort-value="Riendeau, Michel"7:28.81

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 align=left data-sort-value="Khristov, Rumen"align=left data-sort-value="Kishev, Todor"7:01.10
2 align=left data-sort-value="Bekhterev, Dmitry"align=left data-sort-value="Lorentsson, Yuriy"7:03.89
3 align=left data-sort-value="Baran, Primo"align=left data-sort-value="Venturini, Franco"7:05.60
4 align=left data-sort-value="Coucardon, Jean-Claude"align=left data-sort-value="Gambert, Antoine"7:06.70
5 align=left data-sort-value="Butorac, Milan"align=left data-sort-value="Rutešić, Siniša"7:17.02
6 align=left data-sort-value="Hitzbleck, Thomas"align=left data-sort-value="Hocke, Holger"7:23.93

Semifinal 2

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 align=left data-sort-value="Jährling, Harald"align=left data-sort-value="Spohr, Georg"7:05.76
2 align=left data-sort-value="Svojanovský, Oldřich"align=left data-sort-value="Vébr, Ludvík"7:08.00
3 align=left data-sort-value="Stadniuk, Ryszard"align=left data-sort-value="Kubiak, Ryszard"7:09.33
4 align=left data-sort-value="Christie, Neil"align=left data-sort-value="Webb, David"7:11.67
5 align=left data-sort-value="Kuntze, Wandir"align=left data-sort-value="Alonço, Nilton"7:21.81
6 align=left data-sort-value="Matthews, John"align=left data-sort-value="Dreyfuss, Ken"7:24.78

Finals

Final B

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time
7 align=left data-sort-value="Christie, Neil"align=left data-sort-value="Webb, David"8:06.93
8 align=left data-sort-value="Jäger, Klaus"align=left data-sort-value="Hocke, Holger"8:09.02
9 align=left data-sort-value="Coucardon, Jean-Claude"align=left data-sort-value="Gambert, Antoine"8:12.66
10 align=left data-sort-value="Kuntze, Wandir"align=left data-sort-value="Alonço, Nilton"8:14.44
11 align=left data-sort-value="Matthews, John"align=left data-sort-value="Dreyfuss, Ken"8:15.65
12 align=left data-sort-value="Butorac, Milan"align=left data-sort-value="Rutešić, Siniša"8:16.22

Final A

Rank Rowers Coxswain Nation Time
align=left data-sort-value="Jährling, Harald"align=left data-sort-value="Spohr, Georg"7:58.99
align=left data-sort-value="Bekhterev, Dmitry"align=left data-sort-value="Lorentsson, Yuriy"8:01.82
align=left data-sort-value="Svojanovský, Oldřich"align=left data-sort-value="Vébr, Ludvík"8:03.28
4 align=left data-sort-value="Khristov, Rumen"align=left data-sort-value="Kishev, Todor"8:11.27
5 align=left data-sort-value="Baran, Primo"align=left data-sort-value="Venturini, Franco"8:15.97
6 align=left data-sort-value="Stadniuk, Ryszard"align=left data-sort-value="Kubiak, Ryszard"8:23.02

Final classification

RankRowersCoxswainNation
Georg Spohr
Yuriy Lorentsson
Ludvík Vébr
4Todor Kishev
5Franco Venturini
6Ryszard Kubiak
7David Webb
8Winfried Ringwald (final)
Klaus Jäger
Thomas Hitzbleck (quarters, semis)
Holger Hocke
9Antoine Gambert
10Nilton Alonço
11Ken Dreyfuss
12Siniša Rutešić
13Michel Riendeau

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rowing at the 1976 Montreal Summer Games: Men's Coxed Pairs . https://web.archive.org/web/20200418131401/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1976/ROW/mens-coxed-pairs.html . dead . 18 April 2020 . Sports Reference . 24 August 2018.
  2. Web site: Coxed Pairs, Men . Olympedia . 10 May 2021.
  3. Web site: Why Do We Race 2000m? The History Behind the Distance . World Rowing . 1 May 2017 . 19 April 2021.
  4. Official Report, vol. 3, p. 103.