Rowing at the Summer Olympics
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Rowing at the Summer Olympics has been part of the competition since its debut in the 1900 Summer Olympics.
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 ...
was on the program at the
1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...
but was cancelled due to bad weather. Only men were allowed to compete until the women's events were introduced at the 1976 Summer Olympics in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
which gave national federations the incentive to support women's events and catalysed growth in women's rowing. 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, also known as the World Rowing Federation (former abbreviation FISA; french: Fédération internationale des sociétés d'aviron), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who ...
. World Rowing predates the modern Olympics and was the first international sport federation to join the modern
Olympic movement The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
.


Summary


Events

At the 2016 and other recent Olympics, the following 14 events were contested: *Men:
Single scull A single scull (or a scull) is a rowing boat designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to mini ...
s,
Double scull A double scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly ...
s,
Quadruple scull A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated 4x, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each hand. R ...
s,
Coxless pair A coxless pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each having one oar, one on the stroke side (rower's right ...
,
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 t ...
, Eight. *Lightweight Men: Double sculls, Coxless four *Women: Single sculls, Double sculls, Quad sculls, Coxless pair, Eight *Lightweight Women: Double sculls The lightweight events were threatened in 2002 when the Programme Commission of the
IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
recommended that, outside combat sports (
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and
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, but not
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,
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, and
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) and
weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; promo ...
, there should not be weight-category events. The Executive Board ''overturned'' this recommendation and the lightweight rowing has been continued. To satisfy the IOC's aim for gender equality it has been proposed that from the 2020 Olympics onwards the men's lightweight fours will be removed and the women's coxless fours reintroduced. The IOC accepted that proposal in June 2017. In the early games (1900 and 1904) there were several other categories of events (Junior, Novice, Association, and Intermediate). A number of other boat classes have made an appearance at several games (sometimes for a long time) but have been subsequently dropped – as recently as the 1990s. The primary loss has been in boats with coxswains, except for the eights, which have always been coxed. These were: *Men's Coxed Pair (1900–1992) *Men's Coxed Four (1900–1992) *Women's Coxed Four (1976–1988) *Women's Coxed Quad Sculls (1976–1984) *Men's Coxed Four with Inriggers (1912 only) *Six-Man Naval Rowing Boats (1906 only) *17-Man Naval Rowing Boats (1906 only) 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.


Race distances

Today all races are raced over a 2000m course, but this did not become standard before the Stockholm Olympics in 1912 (except for London 1948, where the course was 1850m). Before this, 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 1,000m until 1988, when they were changed to 2,000 metres. 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.


Qualification

There is a limited number of crews permitted to race, so the
International Rowing Federation World Rowing, also known as the World Rowing Federation (former abbreviation FISA; french: Fédération internationale des sociétés d'aviron), is the international governing body for rowing. Its current president is Jean-Christophe Rolland who ...
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 The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the ...
. Other qualifying events are called "Continental Qualification Regattas", of which four are held during the year preceding the games -
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,
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,
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, 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.


Medal table

The numbers below are after the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
in Tokyo.


Rowing medal leaders (by Summer Olympiad)


Multiple medallists

The table shows those who have won at least 3 gold medals.


Men's events


Women's events


Nations

Number of rowers from each nation by year of Olympics, starting with 1896 (when none competed due to bad weather) then 1900 through 2020.


Venues


See also

* Rowing at the Summer Paralympics *
List of rowing venues This list of rowing venues contains the rowing sites, that allow for international rowing regattas (2,000 m), as described by FISA. Most of these sites have hosted an Olympic or world championship regatta. Olympic venues * (1896) Athens, Greece - ...
- includes Olympic venues and non Olympic venues * New Zealand rowers at the Summer Olympics


References


External links


Olympic Rowing Medalists
at HickokSports.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowing At The Summer Olympics
Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
Sports at the Summer Olympics