Rowing at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's coxed four

The men's coxed four competition at the 1956 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Wendouree, Ballarat, Australia. It was held from 23 to 27 November and was won by the team from Italy.[1]

Men's coxed four
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
VenueLake Wendouree
Date23–27 November
Competitors50 from 10 nations
Teams10
Winning time7:19.4
Medalists
Alberto Winkler
Romano Sgheiz
Angelo Vanzin
Franco Trincavelli
Ivo Stefanoni (cox)
 Italy
Olle Larsson
Gösta Eriksson
Ivar Aronsson
Evert Gunnarsson
Bertil Göransson
 Sweden
Kauko Hänninen
Reino Poutanen
Veli Lehtelä
Toimi Pitkänen
Matti Niemi
 Finland

Background

There was no clear favourite for the event. No nation had won the European Rowing Championships since the previous Olympic Games more than once. Only the Soviet Union had won a European Rowing Championship medal twice since 1952. Italy had come third at the 1956 European Rowing Championships.[1]

The competition venue had five lanes, but the organising committee had restricted races to four teams. This allowed for changing wind conditions, where the most affected lane could be left unused.[2] Ten teams from ten nations attended the competition.[1] On all days, the coxed four were the first races held of the day.[3]

Results

Heats

Three heats were rowed on 23 November.[4] Two of the heats had three teams and one had four teams, with the first two teams to qualify for the semi-final, and the remaining teams progressing to the round one repechage.[5]

Heat 1

Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 Alberto Winkler
Romano Sgheiz
Angelo Vanzin
Franco Trincavelli
Ivo Stefanoni
 Italy 7:00.0 SF
2 Andrey Arkhipov
Yury Popov
Valentin Zanin
Yaroslav Cherstvy
Anatoly Fetisov
 Soviet Union 7:07.5 SF
3 Peter Lucas
Ray Laurent
Donald Gemmell
Allan Tong
Colin Johnstone
 New Zealand 7:16.2 R

Heat 2

Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 Olle Larsson
Gösta Eriksson
Ivar Aronsson
Evert Gunnarsson
Bertil Göransson
 Sweden 6:57.9 SF
2 Elo Tostenæs
Mogens Sørensen
Børge Hansen
Tage Grøndahl
John Vilhelmsen
 Denmark 7:05.3 SF
3 Kauko Hänninen
Reino Poutanen
Veli Lehtelä
Toimi Pitkänen
Matti Niemi
 Finland 7:16.2 R

Heat 3

Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 James Wynne
Douglas Turner
James McMullen
Ronald Cardwell
Edward Masterson
 United States 7:01.8 SF
2 Gordon Cowey
Kevin McMahon
Reg Libbis
Mick Allen
John Jenkinson
 Australia 7:01.9 SF
3 André Richer
Ruy Kopper
Nelson Guarda
José de Carvalho Filho
Sylvio de Souza
 Brazil 7:13.9 R
4 José Roa
Enrique Torres
José Romero Santos
José Hurdado
Virgilio Ara
 Cuba 7:14.3 R

Repechage

Four boats competed in the one repechage on 24 November in two heats, with the winner qualifying for the semi-final.[6][7]

Heat 1

Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 Peter Lucas
Ray Laurent
Donald Gemmell
Allan Tong
Colin Johnstone
 New Zealand 7:16.6 SF
2 José Roa
Enrique Torres
José Romero Santos
José Hurdado
Virgilio Ara
 Cuba 7:28.2

Heat 2

Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 Kauko Hänninen
Reino Poutanen
Veli Lehtelä
Toimi Pitkänen
Matti Niemi
 Finland 7:09.8 SF
2 André Richer
Ruy Kopper
Nelson Guarda
José de Carvalho Filho
Sylvio de Souza
 Brazil 7:25.7

Semi-finals

Two heats were rowed in the semi-finals on 26 November, with the top two teams qualifying for the final.[6][8]

Heat 1

Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 Alberto Winkler
Romano Sgheiz
Angelo Vanzin
Franco Trincavelli
Ivo Stefanoni
 Italy 7:54.4 F
2 Gordon Cowey
Kevin McMahon
Reg Libbis
Mick Allen
John Jenkinson
 Australia 7:59.8 F
3 Elo Tostenæs
Mogens Sørensen
Børge Hansen
Tage Grøndahl
John Vilhelmsen
 Denmark 8:08.4
4 Peter Lucas
Ray Laurent
Donald Gemmell
Allan Tong
Colin Johnstone
 New Zealand 8:30.7

Heat 2

Rank Rower Country Time Notes
1 Olle Larsson
Gösta Eriksson
Ivar Aronsson
Evert Gunnarsson
Bertil Göransson
 Sweden 8:01.8 F
2 Kauko Hänninen
Reino Poutanen
Veli Lehtelä
Toimi Pitkänen
Matti Niemi
 Finland 8:08.1 F
3 Andrey Arkhipov
Yury Popov
Valentin Zanin
Yaroslav Cherstvy
Anatoly Fetisov
 Soviet Union 8:14.0
4 James Wynne
Douglas Turner
James McMullen
Ronald Cardwell
Edward Masterson
 United States 8:24.3

Final

Four teams reached the final, which was decided in one race held on 27 November.[6][9] The team from Italy, which had won its heat and semi-final, won the final in an unremarkable race leading from start to finish.[10]

Rank Rower Country Time
Alberto Winkler
Romano Sgheiz
Angelo Vanzin
Franco Trincavelli
Ivo Stefanoni
 Italy 7:19.4
Olle Larsson
Gösta Eriksson
Ivar Aronsson
Evert Gunnarsson
Bertil Göransson
 Sweden 7:22.4
Kauko Hänninen
Reino Poutanen
Veli Lehtelä
Toimi Pitkänen
Matti Niemi
 Finland 7:30.9
4 Gordon Cowey
Kevin McMahon
Reg Libbis
Mick Allen
John Jenkinson
 Australia 7:31.1

Notes

  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  2. Official Report of the Organising Committee 1958, p. 535.
  3. Official Report of the Organising Committee 1958, p. 540.
  4. Official Report of the Organising Committee 1958, p. 537.
  5. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours Round One". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  6. Official Report of the Organising Committee 1958, p. 550.
  7. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours Round One Repêchage". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  8. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours Semi-Finals". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  9. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Rowing at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours Final Round". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  10. Official Report of the Organising Committee 1958, p. 539.

References

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