Men's coxed four
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
United States team receives its gold medals
VenueHenley-on-Thames
DatesAugust 5–9
Competitors80 from 16 nations
Winning time6:50.3
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s)  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s)  Switzerland
3rd place, bronze medalist(s)  Denmark

The men's coxed four competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London took place at Henley-on-Thames, London.[1] It was held from 5 to 9 August.[2] There were 16 boats (80 competitors) from 16 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event.[2] The event was won by the United States, the nation's first victory in the men's coxed four. Switzerland earned silver, the nation's fifth medal in the event in six Games (having missed the podium only in 1932, when no Swiss team competed). Denmark took its first medal in the men's coxed four since 1912, with bronze.

Background

This was the eighth 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.[2]

Seven of the 16 nations from the 1936 Games returned, including silver medalist Switzerland and bronze medalist France. The two-time reigning champions were Germany, not invited to the 1948 Games following World War II and thus unable to defend their title. The favourites were France and Italy, the winners and runners-up of the 1947 European championship.[2]

Argentina, Australia, Cuba, Greece, and Portugal each made their debut in the event. France and the United States both made their sixth 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 venue, Henley-on-Thames, imposed certain restrictions and modifications to the format. The course could handle only three boats at a time (and this required expansion of the typical Henley course), so the six-boat final introduced in 1936 was not possible this time.[3] The course distance was also modified; instead of either the 2000 metres distance that was standard for the Olympics or the 1 mile 550 yards (2112 metres) standard at Henley, a course that was somewhat shorter than either was used. Sources disagree on the exact distance: 1929 metres is listed by the Official Report,[3][2] though other sources say 1850 metres.[4]

  • Round 1: Eight heats, with 2 boats each. The winner of each advanced to the quarterfinals; the loser went to the repechage.
  • Repechage: Four heats, with 2 boats each. The winner of each advanced to the quarterfinals; the loser was eliminated.
  • Quarterfinals: Six heats, with 2 boats each. The winner of each advanced to the semifinals; the loser was eliminated.
  • Semifinals: Three heats, with 2 boats each. The winner of each advanced to the final; the loser was eliminated.
  • Final: A single final, with 3 boats.

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Thursday, 5 August 1948Round 1
Friday, 6 August 1948Repechage
Saturday, 7 August 19489:30
16:30		Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Monday, 9 August 194814:30Final

Results

Round 1

Heat 1

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Leonel Rêgo  Portugal 6:51.4 Q
2 Grigorios Emmanouil  Greece 7:07.2 R

Heat 2

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Róbert Zimonyi  Hungary 6:58.8 Q
2 Duško Ðorđević  Yugoslavia 7:08.0 R

Heat 3

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Reginaldo Polloni  Italy 6:49.1 Q
2 Tom Darcy  Australia 7:04.3 R

Heat 4

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Allen Morgan  United States 6:48.8 Q
2 John Healey  Great Britain 7:01.9 R

Heat 5

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Karl Riedel  Austria 7:02.2 Q
2 Tirso del Junco  Cuba 7:08.7 R

Heat 6

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Ib Olsen  Denmark 6:52.5 Q
2 Thoralf Sandaker  Norway 6:58.9 R

Heat 7

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 André Moccand  Switzerland 6:57.3 Q
2 Ricardo Boneo  Argentina 7:07.9 R

Heat 8

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Marcel Boigegrain  France 6:57.7 Q
2 Veli Autio  Finland 7:00.6 R

Repechage

Repechage heat 1

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Veli Autio  Finland 7:01.6 Q
2 Tom Darcy  Australia 7:07.1

Repechage heat 2

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Thoralf Sandaker  Norway 7:04.4 Q
2 Duško Ðorđević  Yugoslavia 7:13.5

Repechage heat 3

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Tirso del Junco  Cuba 7:12.0 Q
2 Grigorios Emmanouil  Greece 7:17.1

Repechage heat 4

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 John Healey  Great Britain 6:58.4 Q
2 Ricardo Boneo  Argentina 7:00.1

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Reginaldo Polloni  Italy 7:30.5 Q
2 Thoralf Sandaker  Norway 7:34.7

Quarterfinal 2

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 André Moccand  Switzerland 7:21.8 Q
2 Karl Riedel  Austria 7:35.9

Quarterfinal 3

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Allen Morgan  United States 7:21.4 Q
2 Veli Autio  Finland 7:36.5

Quarterfinal 4

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Ib Olsen  Denmark 7:21.3 Q
2 Leonel Rêgo  Portugal 7:28.5

Quarterfinal 5

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Marcel Boigegrain  France 7:28.7 Q
2 Tirso del Junco  Cuba 7:37.2

Quarterfinal 6

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Róbert Zimonyi  Hungary 7:31.6 Q
2 John Healey  Great Britain 7:36.6

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Allen Morgan  United States 7:22.1 Q
2 Marcel Boigegrain  France 7:28.9

Semifinal 2

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 Ib Olsen  Denmark 7:31.3 Q
2 Róbert Zimonyi  Hungary 7:46.1

Semifinal 3

RankRowersCoxswainNationTimeNotes
1 André Moccand  Switzerland 7:22.0 Q
2 Reginaldo Polloni  Italy 7:32.8

Final

RankRowersCoxswainNationTime
1st place, gold medalist(s) Allen Morgan  United States 6:50.3
2nd place, silver medalist(s) André Moccand  Switzerland 6:53.3
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ib Olsen  Denmark 6:58.6

References

  1. ↑ "Rowing at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Coxed Fours, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 Official Report, p. 418.
  4. ↑ "Why Do We Race 2000m? The History Behind the Distance". World Rowing. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.