| Event: | Men's coxless four |
| Games: | 1996 Summer |
| Date: | 21–27 July |
| Competitors: | 56 |
| Nations: | 14 |
| Gold: | Nicholas Green Drew Ginn James Tomkins Mike McKay |
| Goldnoc: | AUS |
| Silver: | Bertrand Vecten Olivier Moncelet Daniel Fauché Gilles Bosquet |
| Silvernoc: | FRA |
| Bronze: | Gregory Searle Jonathan William Searle Rupert John Obholzer Tim Foster |
| Bronzenoc: | GBR |
| Prev: | 1992 |
| Next: | 2000 |
The men's coxless four competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia took place at Lake Lanier.[1]
This rowing event is a sweep rowing event, meaning that each rower has one oar and rows on only one side. Four rowers crew each boat, and no coxswain is used. The competition consists of multiple rounds. Finals were held to determine the placing of each boat; these finals were given letters with those nearer to the beginning of the alphabet meaning a better ranking. Semifinals were named based on which finals they fed, with each semifinal having two possible finals.
With 14 boats in with heats, the best boats qualify directly for the semi-finals. All other boats progress to the repechage round, which offers a second chance to qualify for the semi-finals. The boats finishing in the 2 last positions from the repechage are eliminated from the competition. The best three boats in each of the two semi-finals qualify for final A, which determines places 1–6 (including the medals). Unsuccessful boats from semi-finals A/B go forward to final B, which determines places 7–12.
The first three boats of each heat advanced to the semifinals, the remainder goes to the repechage.
| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gregory Searle Jonathan William Searle Rupert John Obholzer Tim Foster | 6:14.47 | Q | ||
| 2 | Siniša Skelin Sead Marušić Igor Boraska Tihomir Franković | 6:17.42 | Q | ||
| 3 | Jacek Streich Wojciech Jankowski Piotr Olszewski Piotr Basta | 6:19.15 | Q | ||
| 4 | Sean Hall Jason Scott Tom Murray Jeff Klepacki | 6:20.72 | R | ||
| 5 | Huang Xiaoping Sun Jun Liang Hongming Liu Xianbin | 6:30.16 | R |
| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nicholas Green Drew Ginn James Tomkins Mike McKay | 6:15.05 | Q | ||
| 2 | Denis Žvegelj Jani Klemenčič Milan Janša Sadik Mujkič | 6:15.86 | Q | ||
| 3 | Bertrand Vecten Olivier Moncelet Daniel Fauché Gilles Bosquet | 6:18.70 | Q | ||
| 4 | Alastair Mackintosh Ian Wright Chris White Scott Brownlee | 6:30.03 | R |
The first three boats of the Repechage advanced to the semifinals, the remainder are eliminated.
| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stefan Forster Ike Landvoigt Claas-Peter Fischer Stefan Scholz | 6:29.10 | Q | ||
| 2 | Huang Xiaoping Sun Jun Liang Hongming Liu Xianbin | 6:29.95 | Q | ||
| 3 | Sean Hall Jason Scott Tom Murray Jeff Klepacki | 6:30.95 | Q | ||
| 4 | Alastair Mackintosh Ian Wright Chris White Scott Brownlee | 6:35.58 | R | ||
| 5 | Daniel Scuri Horacio Sicilia Mariano Sosa Mariano Kowalczyk | 6:37.85 | R |
The first three boats of the each semifinal advanced to the Final A, the remainder to Final B.