Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically atta ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

took place at the

Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre The Schinias Olympic Rowing and Canoeing Centre (''Ολυμπιακό Κωπηλατοδρόμιο Σχοινιά'') was built to host the rowing and canoe sprint events at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Greece. It is the most northerly venue of the ...

and featured 550 competitors taking part in 14 events. The medals were split among 22 countries,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

topping the medal table, their women winning 3 golds, with the traditionally strong

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

picking up four medals in total. Romania's

Elisabeta Lipă Elisabeta Lipă (; née Oleniuc on 26 October 1964) is a retired rower and government official from Romania. She is the most decorated rower in the history of the Olympics, winning five gold, two silver and one bronze medals. She holds the rec ...

won her fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal and fifth overall. Lipă, who was part of Romania's

women's eight An eight is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing (crew). It is designed for eight rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars, and is steered by a coxswain, or "cox". Each of the eight rowers has one oar. The rowers, who sit ...

, won her first in Los Angeles in 1984 followed by gold medals in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004, a record span of 20 years between her first and last gold medal. It was also her eighth overall, which is more than any other rower, having won a silver and a bronze in 1988 and an additional silver in 1992. In winning her medal at age 39, Lipă became the oldest rower to win a gold medal and the oldest athlete in an endurance sport to win a gold medal.

Matthew Pinsent Sir Matthew Clive Pinsent, (; born 10 October 1970) is an English rower and broadcaster. During his rowing career, he won 10 world championship gold medals and four consecutive Olympic gold medals. Since retiring, he has worked as a sports br ...

also won his fourth consecutive medal, this time without legendary partner

Steve Redgrave Sir Steven Geoffrey Redgrave (born 23 March 1962) is a British retired rower who won gold medals at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1984 to 2000. He has also won three Commonwealth Games gold medals and nine World Rowing Championships golds ...

. The British men's

coxless four A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oar. There are two rowers on th ...

of Steve Williams,

James Cracknell James Edward Cracknell, (born 5 May 1972) is a British athlete, rowing champion and double Olympic gold medalist. Cracknell was appointed OBE for "services to sport" in the 2005 New Year Honours List. Biography Cracknell began rowing whilst ...

Ed Coode Edward Coode, MBE (born 19 June 1975) is a British rower, twice World Champion and Olympic Gold medalist. Early life Born in Cornwall in 1975, Coode boarded at Papplewick School and Eton College. He studied marine biology at University of New ...

with Pinsent at stroke narrowly saw off the challenge of the World Champion Canadian crew of Cameron Baerg, Thomas Herschmiller,

Jake Wetzel Jacob Wetzel (born December 26, 1976) is a Canadian rower. He has represented both Canada and the United States at the World Championships and the Olympics. He was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. College years As a te ...

and Barney Williams. It was a dramatic stretch run with the lead literally changing hands with each stroke. (In rowing, the boat will surge depending on where the rowers are during the stroke. Pinsent would later say that he thought they had won because they were in the best part of the stroke when they crossed the line). Great Britain won with a time of 6:06.98, just 8/100ths of a second faster than the Canadians. Pinsent later wept at the medal ceremony. Matching Lipă's and Pinsent's feat of four consecutive gold medals was German sculler

Kathrin Boron Kathrin Boron (born 4 November 1969 in Eisenhüttenstadt, East Germany) is a German sculler, and four-time Olympic gold medallist. She's an athlete of the SV Dynamo / SG Dynamo Potsdam. Boron won the women's double sculls at the 1992 Summer Oly ...

in the women's quadruple sculls. She had won the doubles event in Barcelona 1992 and Sydney 2000 and the quadruple sculls in Atlanta 1996. Australian James Tomkins, competing in his fifth games at the age of 39, won his third gold medal, and fourth medal overall, teaming with his longtime partner

Drew Ginn Drew Cameron Ginn OAM (born 20 November 1974) is an Australian five-time world champion rower, a four time Olympian and triple Olympic gold medallist. From 1995 to 1998 he was a member of Australia's prominent world class crew – the coxless f ...

in the men's pair. Tomkins and Ginn had been part of the straight four that won the gold medal at the

1996 Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, and they had won the 1999 World Championship in the pair, but Ginn had missed the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

with a severe back injury, and Tompkins had finished third with a new partner Matthew Long in the pair. Tomkins was also the oldest male rower to win an Olympic gold medal, surpassing Steve Redgrave. Norway's

Olaf Tufte Olaf Karl Tufte (born 27 April 1976 in Tønsberg) is a Norwegian representative rower, firefighter and farmer. He is a seven time Olympian, and as a single sculler he was twice the Olympic champion and twice the world champion. He's been consiste ...

won the men's single scull, and Germany's

Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski Katrin Rutschow-Stomporowski ( Rutschow, born 2 April 1975 in Waren (Müritz)) is a German rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing ...

won with women's single scull beating two-time defending Olympic Champion

Ekaterina Karsten Ekaterina Karsten ( be, Кацярына Карстэн, ''Kaciaryna Karsten''; russian: Екатерина Карстен; born 2 June 1972) is a Belarusian rower, a seven-time Olym ...

. The Romanian women's pair of

Georgeta Damian Georgeta Damian (married name Andruanche, born 14 April 1976 in Botoșani) is a female rower from Romania and winner of five Olympic gold medals. She married the rower Valeriu Andrunache in 2006. Damian rowed in the Romanian Women's eight, th ...

and

Viorica Susanu Viorica Susanu (born 29 October 1975 in Galaţi) is a Romanian rower and winner of four Olympic Gold medals. Susanu rowed in the Romanian women's eight that won the World Rowing Championships in 1997, 1998 and 1999, and the 2000 Summer Olympic ...

took gold before doubling up to help their eight take gold, giving Damian her fourth Olympic Gold medal — having won 2 golds in Sydney in the same disciplines. The

United States 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 primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

won the prestigious men's eight for the twelfth time overall and the first time since

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

. In the second preliminary heat, both the U.S. and Canadian crews broke the previous world best time, with the U.S. winning in 5:19.85, which stood as a world best time until the second World Cup regatta of 2012. The United States would go on to win the final.

Medal summary

Men's events

Women's events

Medal table

References

External links

Official result book – Rowing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowing At The 2004 Summer Olympics 2004 Summer Olympics events

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...