The men's

coxed four A coxed four, also known as a 4+, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oa ...

competition at the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad ( fi, XV olympiadin kisat; sv, Den XV olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952 ( sv, Helsin ...

took place at Mei Bay,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, Finland. It was held from 20 to 23 August and was won by the team from

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. There were 17 boats (85 competitors) from 17 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The gold medal was Czechoslovakia's first medal in the men's coxed four. Switzerland earned its third consecutive silver medal, and sixth medal in seven Games dating back to 1920 (the only Games in that time where the Swiss team did not win a medal was 1932, when no Swiss boat competed). The reigning champion United States took bronze.

Background

This was the ninth appearance of the event. Rowing had been on the programme in 1896 but was cancelled due to bad weather. The coxed four was one of the four initial events introduced in 1900. It was not held in 1904 or 1908, but was held at every Games from 1912 to 1992 when it (along with the men's coxed pair) was replaced with the men's lightweight double sculls and men's lightweight coxless four. The

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

team was regarded as the slight favourite for the event; they had won gold at the European Rowing Championships in 1949, silver in 1950, and gold again in 1951, with the team having changed between competitions. Of the

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

team that had won the

1950 British Empire Games The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was ...

, three rowers were in the 1952 Olympic event:

Ted Johnson Ted Curtis Johnson (born December 4, 1972) is a former American football player in the National Football League (NFL). He grew up in Carlsbad, California where he graduated from Carlsbad High School in 1991. From there he attended the Universit ...

, John O'Brien, and Colin Johnstone. The

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

team was made up of the

1950 European Rowing Championships The 1950 European Rowing Championships were rowing championships held on the Idroscalo in the Italian city of Milan. The competition was for men only, they competed in all seven Olympic boat classes (M1x, M2x, M2-, M2+, M4-, M4+, M8+). Background ...

winners: Niels Kristensen,

Ove Nielsen Ove Nielsen (15 November 1924 – 2008) was a Danish rower. He competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki with the men's coxed four where they were eliminated in the semi-final repêchage. Nielsen later moved to Lillehammer in Norw ...

, Peter Hansen, Bent Blach Petersen, and Eivin Kristensen. The New Zealand and Italian team met in the

repechage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

and New Zealand was eliminated. The Czechoslovakian team dominated the competition and won every round. In the final, they defeated the Swizz quad, while the team from the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

—the winners of the 1948 Olympic competition—won bronze. Egypt and the Soviet Union each made their debut in the event. France and the United States both made their seventh appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

Competition format

The coxed four event featured five-person boats, with four 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 competition used the 2000 metres distance that became standard at the 1912 Olympics and which has been used ever since except at the 1948 Games. Based on a previous decision, each boat raced a minimum of two races before it could be eliminated. The competition featured five rounds (three main rounds and two repechages). * Quarterfinals: 4 heats, 4 or 5 boats each, top 2 in each heat (8 total) advanced to the semifinals while others (9 boats) went to the first repechage. * First repechage: 3 heats, 3 boats each, top 1 in each heat (3 total) advanced to the second repechage (''not'' the semifinals) while all others (6 boats) were eliminated. * Semifinals: 2 heats, 4 boats each, top 1 in each heat (2 total) advanced to the final while all others (6 boats) went to the second repechage. * Second repechage: 3 heats, 3 boats each, to 1 in each heat (3 total) advanced to the final while all others (6 boats) were eliminated. * Final: 1 heat, 5 boats, determining medals and 4th and 5th places.

Schedule

All times are

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(

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)

Results

Quarterfinals

Four heats were rowed on 20 July. Three of the heats had four teams and one had five teams, with the first two teams to qualify for the semifinals, and the remaining teams progressing to the round one repechage.

Quarterfinal 1

Quarterfinal 2

Quarterfinal 3

Quarterfinal 4

First repechage

Three heats were rowed in the round one repechage on 21 July, with the first team to qualify for the semi-final repechage.

First repechage heat 1

First repechage heat 2

First repechage heat 3

Semifinals

Two heats were rowed in the semifinals on 21 July, with the first team to qualify for the final, and all other teams to progress to the semifinal repechage.

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Second repechage

Three heats were rowed in the semifinals repechage on 22 July, with the winning teams progressing to the final.

Second repechage heat 1

Second repechage heat 2

Second repechage heat 3

Final

Five teams reached the final, which was decided in one race held on 23 July. While conditions had been favourable on the first three days of racing, the day the finals were held saw wind at considerable force. This wind died down later, but the coxed four was the first race of the day and the results were affected by the strong wind.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowing at the 1952 Summer Olympics - Men's coxed four Men's coxed four