| Men's eight at the Games of the XIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The venue in 2015 | ||||||||||
| Venue | Virgilio Uribe Rowing and Canoeing Course | |||||||||
| Dates | 13–19 October 1968 | |||||||||
| Competitors | 113 from 12 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 6:07.00 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Rowing at the 1968 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single sculls | men |
| Double sculls | men |
| Coxless pair | men |
| Coxed pair | men |
| Coxless four | men |
| Coxed four | men |
| Eight | men |
The men'seight competition at the1968 Summer Olympics took place atVirgilio Uribe Rowing and Canoeing Course,Mexico City, Mexico. It was held from 13 to 19 October and was won by the team fromWest Germany, with the teams from Australia and the Soviet Union claiming silver and bronze respectively. It was West Germany's first appearance as a separate nation, though the United Team of Germany had won gold in 1960 and silver in 1964, with West Germans making up those teams. The silver medal was Australia's best result yet in the event; the nation had previously taken bronze in 1952 and 1956. The Soviet Union reached the podium in the men's eight for the first time since earning silver in 1952. Twelve teams from 12 nations attended the competition.[1] Five of the teams replaced a total of five rowers during the competition, making for a total of 113 rowers who participated in the races.[2][3]
This was the 15th appearance of the event. Rowing had been on the programme in 1896 but was cancelled due to bad weather. The men's eight has been held every time that rowing has been contested, beginning in 1900.[2]
TheUnited States had won this event at eight of the last nine Olympics, only missing out in1960.West Germany was one of the favourites, as they had won the last fourEuropean Championships and the last twoWorld Championships (in1962 and1966). TheSoviet Union had a number of silver medal placings at recent events and were also among the favourites.[1]
Mexico made its debut in the event; East and West Germany competed separately for the first time. Canada and the United States each made their 13th appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.
The "eight" event featured nine-person boats, with eight rowers and a coxswain. It was a sweep rowing event, with the rowers each having one oar (and thus each rowing on one side). This rowing competition consisted of two main rounds (semifinals and finals), as well as a repechage round that allowed teams that did not win their heats to advance to the final. The course used the 2000 metres distance that became the Olympic standard in 1912 (with the exception of 1948).[4] Races were held in up to six lanes.[5]
All times areCentral Standard Time (UTC-6)
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 13 October 1968 | 13:15 | Semifinals |
| Tuesday, 15 October 1968 | 11:30 | Repechage |
| Friday, 18 October 1968 | 13:00 | Final B |
| Saturday, 19 October 1968 | 14:00 | Final A |
Rowers are shown as per the seats occupied in the official results book published by the Organizing Committee of the Games of the XIX Olympiad.[3]
Two heats were rowed on 13 October.[6] The winning teams qualified for the final, and the remaining teams progressed to the repechage.[7]
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gunther Tiersch |  West Germany | 6:04.22 | QA | |
| 2 | Alan Grover |  Australia | 6:06.87 | R | |
| 3 | Jiří Pták |  Czechoslovakia | 6:13.30 | R | |
| 4 | Joel Finley |  Canada | 6:21.22 | R | |
| 5 | Rodolfo Santillán |  Mexico | 6:32.66 | R | |
| 6 | Katsumi Yamamoto |  Japan | 6:34.79 | R |
TheOfficial Report of the Organising Committee listsMichael Livingston in seat 7 of the United States boat,[6] but this is incorrect, as he travelled to the 1968 Games as a reserve only.[8] It was his elder brother,Cleve Livingston, who sat in seat 7 for the heat and final.[9]
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Page |  New Zealand | 6:05.62 | QA | |
| 2 | Karl-Heinz Danielowski | East Germany | 6:09.48 | R | |
| 3 | Yuriy Lorentsson |  Soviet Union | 6:09.65 | R | |
| 4 | Arthur Koning |  Netherlands | 6:12.23 | R | |
| 5 | Paul Hoffman |  United States | 6:15.42 | R | |
| 6 | Timothy Kirk |  Great Britain | 6:22.20 | R |
Two heats were rowed in the semi-finals on 15 October.[3] Of the five teams competing per heat, the first two would qualify for the final, while the others would progress to the small final.[10]
In the boat of the United States,Jake Fiechter in seat 6 replacedCleve Livingston, who had taken seat 7 in the first round.Steve Brooks displacedArthur Evans asstroke, with the latter moving to seat 7.[6]
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jiří Pták | Czechoslovakia | 6:19.34 | QA | |
| 2 | Paul Hoffman | United States | 6:19.81 | QA | |
| 3 | Karl-Heinz Danielowski | East Germany | 6:21.71 | QB | |
| 4 | Joel Finley | Canada | 6:31.14 | QB | |
| 5 | Timothy Kirk | Great Britain | 6:43.55 | QB |
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alan Grover | Australia | 6:10.80 | QA | |
| 2 | Yuriy Lorentsson | Soviet Union | 6:12.12 | QA | |
| 3 | Arthur Koning | Netherlands | 6:12.90 | QB | |
| 4 | Rodolfo Santillán | Mexico | 6:43.13 | QB | |
| 5 | Katsumi Yamamoto | Japan | 6:44.37 | QB |
The small final (now termed B final) was raced on 18 October.[11] Great Britain replacedMalcolm Malpass in seat 5 withJohn Mullard in this race, and Canada replacedJohn Richardson in seat 5 withDaryl Sturdy.[3] Mexico changed the seats for all rowers apart from the cox, and East Germany changed four of the seats. The Netherlands changed all seats apart from the stroke and the cox.[3]
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Karl-Heinz Danielowski | East Germany | 6:11.69 | |
| 8 | Arthur Koning | Netherlands | 6:14.18 | |
| 9 | Joel Finley | Canada | 6:18.65 | |
| 10 | Timothy Kirk | Great Britain | 6:29.23 | |
| 11 | Rodolfo Santillán | Mexico | 6:41.62 | |
| 12 | Katsumi Yamamoto | Japan | 6:52.02 |
The final (now termed A final) was raced on 19 October.[11] On the morning of the race, the West German team replacedRoland Böse—who was suffering fromangina pectoris and had developed a fever—withNiko Ott in seat 8.[3][12] The team from Czechoslovakia replacedMilan Hurtala (seat 2) withKarel Kolesa (seat 4), and all the remaining rowers apart from the cox took different seats in the final compared to the two previous races.[3] The team from the United States replacedArthur Evans withCleve Livingston in seat 7.[3]
After the medal ceremony, Ott gave his gold medal to Böse, but another medal was later minted for Ott.[12] As per convention, the Olympic results database lists Böse as a medallist based on the fact that he competed in the qualifying race.[13]
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Gunther Tiersch | West Germany | 6:07.00 | |
 | Alan Grover | Australia | 6:07.98 | |
 | Yuriy Lorentsson | Soviet Union | 6:09.11 | |
| 4 | Robert Page | New Zealand | 6:10.43 | |
| 5 | Jiří Pták | Czechoslovakia | 6:12.17 | |
| 6 | Paul Hoffman | United States | 6:14.34 |
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