Rowing at the Olympics
Olympic champion rowing |
Rowing has been a sport at the Olympic Games since 1900. The competition is known as the Olympic rowing regatta and is the most demanding and prestigious competition in international rowing.
At the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 , the rowing competitions had to be canceled due to strong winds. From 1900 to 1972 competitions in various boat classes were held for men only, as women's rowing was considered improper and medically questionable for a long time. Women's competitions have also been Olympic since 1976 , followed by three boat classes for lightweights in 1996 .
Since then, the number of competition classes has been 14. From 1996 to 2016, eight of these were for men and six for women, and in 2020 the classes will be the same for both genders. Each nation may only provide one team per boat class, so that in the event of a qualification in all classes 28 men and 20 women (until 2016) or 24 participants per gender (from 2020) can take part. By restricting the number of participants in the boat classes, the gender ratio among all participants in the Rio 2016 regatta is around 60:40 in favor of the men, after having been around 64:36 for a long time. As part of the IOC's “Agenda 2020” , there will be gender parity with regard to the number of participants from the 2020 Olympic Games .
In the course of time the program of boat classes has changed several times. When new boat classes were added, old ones were deleted in order to keep the number of participants within limits. The Olympic rowing regatta is organized under the rules of the World Rowing Federation (FISA), which is also responsible for the qualifying regattas .
Experienced boat classes
The program of the boat classes held has not changed between 1996 and 2016. The following boat classes were held (including the abbreviation and number of starting places for the Rio Games):
- Women: one ( W1x , 32 starting places), double scull ( W2x , 13), double quad ( W4x , 7), two without helmsman ( W2- , 15), eight ( W8 + , 7)
- Men: one ( M1x , 32), double scull ( M2x , 13), double quad ( M4x , 10), two without a helmsman ( M2- , 13), four without a helmsman ( M4- , 13), eight ( M8 + , 7)
- Women ( lightweight ): double sculls ( LW2x , 20)
- Men (lightweight): double sculls ( LM2x , 20), foursome without helmsman ( LM4- , 13)
Only a few years after its introduction, lightweight rowing was threatened with deletion, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) no longer wanted to see weight classes in the program with the exception of martial arts . The deletion of the lightweight boat classes should also be accompanied by a reduction in the number of participants and the number of Olympic boat classes, which are quite high compared to other sports. After the intervention of the World Rowing Association, grandfathering was granted for the disciplines that already existed in the Olympic program, including lightweight rowing.
As part of the so-called “Agenda 2020” of IOC President Thomas Bach , changes to the Olympic program in rowing were also considered from 2013 onwards. At the World Rowing Association, the composition of the Olympic competitions was therefore primarily on the agenda under the aspect of gender ratio and universality. A change in the length of the route was also discussed in order to meet the demands for affordable competition venues. FISA-internally, the efforts of the IOC were countered by including the four-man without women in the program and in return the lightweight four-man without the men being deleted. On June 9, 2017, the program proposed by FISA was approved by the IOC for the 2020 Olympic Games. The total number of quota places in Olympic rowing was reduced from 550 to 526.
Women
Boat classes for women have been held in the Olympic regatta since 1976.
Rowing - Current Competitions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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competition | 00 | 04 | 06 | 08 | 12 | 20th | 24 | 28 | 32 | 36 | 48 | 52 | 56 | 60 | 64 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 80 | 84 | 88 | 92 | 96 | 00 | 04 | 08 | 12 | 16 | 20th | Games |
Women | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
One | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 12 | |||||||||||||||||
Double scull | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 12 | |||||||||||||||||
Double fours | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Eighth | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 12 | |||||||||||||||||
Two without a helmsman | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 12 | |||||||||||||||||
Foursome without a helmsman | • | • | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lightweight double scull | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 7th | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Rowing - Former Competitions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
competition | 00 | 04 | 06 | 08 | 12 | 20th | 24 | 28 | 32 | 36 | 48 | 52 | 56 | 60 | 64 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 80 | 84 | 88 | 92 | 96 | 00 | 04 | 08 | 12 | 16 | 20th | Games |
Women | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Foursome with a helmsman | • | • | • | • | 4th | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Quadruple scull with helmsman | • | • | • | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of competitions | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 6th | 7th |
Men
For men, boat classes have been held in the Olympic regatta since 1900. In 1896 the competitions were canceled.
Rowing - Current Competitions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
competition | 00 | 04 | 06 | 08 | 12 | 20th | 24 | 28 | 32 | 36 | 48 | 52 | 56 | 60 | 64 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 80 | 84 | 88 | 92 | 96 | 00 | 04 | 08 | 12 | 16 | 20th | Games |
Men | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
One | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 28 |
Double scull | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 25th | ||||
Double fours | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 12 | |||||||||||||||||
Eighth | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 28 | |
Two without a helmsman | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 24 | ||||
Foursome without a helmsman | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 24 | ||||
Lightweight double scull | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 7th | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Rowing - Former Competitions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
competition | 00 | 04 | 06 | 08 | 12 | 20th | 24 | 28 | 32 | 36 | 48 | 52 | 56 | 60 | 64 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 80 | 84 | 88 | 92 | 96 | 00 | 04 | 08 | 12 | 16 | 20th | Games |
Men | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Two with a helmsman | • | • • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 18th | ||||||||||
Foursome with a helmsman | • • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | 20th | |||||||||
Six with a helmsman | • | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sixteen with a helmsman | • | - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Foursome with helmsman (dollen gigs) | • | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lightweight four without a helmsman | • | • | • | • | • | • | 6th | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of competitions | 5 | 5 | 6th | 4th | 4th | 5 | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 7th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 8th | 7th |
Competition distance
From the beginning of the modern games, the competition distance of the Olympic regatta should be 2000 meters, a distance that the World Rowing Association, founded in 1893, had established at the end of the 19th century. In the first events, however, curvy stretches between 1750 meters and 2414 meters (1.5 miles) were used, in which sometimes only two to three boats could start in one run. Since 1912 in Stockholm , with only one exception, the route has always been 2000 meters with an almost straight route. Only in 1948 did the distance on the regatta course of the Henley Royal Regatta in Henley-on-Thames differ, only 1850 meters were rowed. In Berlin in 1936 the regatta was held for the first time with six runways on the Berlin-Grünau regatta course , which has been the standard in Melbourne since 1956 .
When women's competitions were introduced in Montreal in 1976 , the competition distance for women was initially only 1,000 meters. Since 1988 in Seoul , women have also been rowing the 2,000-meter course.
qualification
Until the Olympic regatta in Barcelona in 1992 there was no qualification system, so that the member associations of FISA could register one team per boat class. As a result, the number of participants in rowing had risen to 627 over the years, which was a very high value compared to other sports.
The FISA then established a restriction on the starting places for each boat class. The qualification can be achieved by the national member associations of the World Rowing Association since the 1996 Olympic Games in various regattas. The greater part of the starting places, 129 out of 200 for the London Games, will be allocated to the member associations of the teams with the best rankings at the World Rowing Championships in the year before the Olympic regatta. The rowers in the qualified boat classes can still be exchanged via this qualification path up to the Olympic regatta, so the qualification is not personal. A further 43 starting places in single and double doubles can be achieved by the national rowing federations authorized to start there on continental qualification regattas in Africa, Asia and South America. The last 28 generally accessible starting places will be awarded a few months before the games for an international qualification as part of the Rowing World Cup . The qualification of the continental and the international qualification regatta are personal, which means that the team can only be changed in the event of an injury. Two starting places are also reserved for the host nation, four rowers can participate at the invitation of the World Rowing Association.
Participating Nations
Medal table
By far the most successful nation in the all-time medal table of the Olympic regatta is Germany with 62 gold, 28 silver and 29 bronze medals (as of the 2012 regatta in London ). However, this also includes all medals from the predecessor states, so that at times two German teams were able to fight for medals. The rowers of the GDR alone were more successful than any other nation with 33 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze medals to date, although they were only represented in five of the 27 competitions. This successful series is now also associated with the state doping practiced in the GDR at the time, which also affected rowing. Since doping tests were not yet widespread in the 1970s and 1980s , there were no sanctions.
Other successful rowing nations at the Olympic Games are the USA (32 gold, 31 silver and 24 bronze medals), the United Kingdom (28-22-13) and Romania (19-10-8). A total of 38 nations were able to win medals at the Olympic regatta.
Multiple medalists
Rowers usually only start in one boat class at an Olympic regatta; only in a few exceptional cases have top athletes dared double starts in two classes. This limits the possible medal yield. However, in the past several rowers were able to row at the top of the world row for over 20 years, achieving up to six Olympic participations with a corresponding medal yield.
The most successful Olympic rowers with at least 5 gold medals are:
- Elisabeta Lipă (Romania, 6 participations 1984 to 2004, 5 gold – 2 silver – 1 bronze)
- Steven Redgrave (United Kingdom, 5 participations 1984 to 2000, 5 gold – 1 bronze)
- Georgeta Andrunache (Romania, 4 participations 2000 to 2012, 5 gold – 1 bronze)
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Olympic Games — 1896-1908. (No longer available online.) In: www.rowinghistory-aus.info. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013 ; accessed on January 28, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ German Rowing Association : Rowing Almanac 2004 . Meyer & Meyer Verlag, Wiebelsheim 2004, ISBN 3-7853-1694-1 , p. 202-209 .
- ↑ a b Qualification System - Games of the XXX Olympiad; Rowing. (PDF; 201 kB) In: corporate.olympics.com.au. NOK Australia, accessed January 28, 2013 .
- ^ A b c Rowing: Participation during the history of the Olympic Games. (PDF; 254 kB) In: www.olympic.org. International Olympic Committee, accessed January 29, 2013 .
- ↑ Review of the Olympic Program and the Recommendations on the Program of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing 2008. (PDF; 184 kB) In: www.olympic.org. International Olympic Committee , accessed January 28, 2013 .
- ↑ Lightweight Rowers reassured as IOC Executive Board Modifies Controversial Principle. In: www.fisa.org. World Rowing Association, December 18, 2002, archived from the original on February 21, 2005 ; accessed on September 30, 2017 (English).
- ^ Christian Baumann: FISA discusses IOC Agenda 2020. In: www.rudern.de. German Rowing Association, accessed on September 30, 2017 .
- ↑ The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games rowing program announced. In: www.worldrowing.com. World Rowing Association, June 12, 2017, accessed on June 12, 2017 (English).
- ↑ Why do we race 2000m? The history behind the distance. In: www.worldrowing.com. World Rowing Association, May 1, 2017, accessed on September 30, 2017 .
- ^ Rowing at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Games. In: sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 28, 2013 .
- ^ Matt Smith, Shaping the Sport of Rowing . In: Volker Nolte (Ed.): Rowing Faster . 2nd, expanded edition. Human Kinetics, Champaign 2011, ISBN 978-0-7360-9040-7 , pp. 285-296 (English).