| Men's eight at the Games of the XXI Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Romania stamp commemorating rowing at the 1976 Olympics | ||||||||||
| Venue | Olympic basin atNotre Dame Island | |||||||||
| Dates | 18–25 July 1976 | |||||||||
| Competitors | 100 from 11 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 5:58.29 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Rowing at the 1976 Summer Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Single sculls | men | women |
| Double sculls | men | women |
| Coxless pair | men | women |
| Coxed pair | men | |
| Quadruple sculls | men | women |
| Coxless four | men | |
| Coxed four | men | women |
| Eight | men | women |
The men'seight competition at the1976 Summer Olympics took place at the rowing basin onNotre Dame Island inMontreal, Quebec, Canada. It was held from 18 to 25 July and was won by the team fromEast Germany. It was East Germany's first victory in the event, improving on a bronze medal in 1972. The defending champions, New Zealand, switched places with the East Germans, taking bronze in 1976. Between them was Great Britain, taking its first men's eight medal since 1948. There were 11 boats (100 competitors, with Australia making one substitution) from 11 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event.[1]
This was the 17th 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.[1]
Whilst the East German team was considered to be the favourite, the event was wide open and many teams could have won it.[2] The United States had in the past dominated the event and up until and including the1964 Summer Olympics, they had won nine out of ten Olympic golds.[3] Whilst their dominance had since waned, they were still considered possible medal contenders, as they had won the1974 World Rowing Championships. East Germany had won the1973 European Rowing Championships (the event was discontinued after 1973), and the1975 World Rowing Championships, and they had won bronze at the 1972 Olympics. The New Zealand team had won the event at theprevious Summer Olympics, had won bronze at the last two World Rowing Championships, and four of their 1972 Olympic rowers plus their cox returned to Montreal.[2] Other medalists at these major rowing events were Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain.[4][5]
No nations made their debut in the event. The United States made its 15th appearance, most among nations to that point.
| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 Summer Olympics[6] | New Zealand | United States | East Germany |
| 1973 European Rowing Championships[4] | East Germany | Czechoslovakia | Soviet Union |
| 1974 World Rowing Championships[5] | United States | Great Britain | New Zealand |
| 1975 World Rowing Championships[7] | East Germany | Soviet Union | New Zealand |
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; down from three main rounds in 1927 with a smaller field), as well as a repechage round after the semifinals. The course used the 2000 metres distance that became the Olympic standard in 1912 (with the exception of 1948).[8] Races were held in up to six lanes.
All times areEastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday, 18 July 1976 | 15:00 | Semifinals |
| Tuesday, 20 July 1976 | 12:00 | Repechage |
| Sunday, 25 July 1976 | 14:05 | Finals |
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stuart Carter |  Australia | 5:39.07 | QA | |
| 2 | Simon Dickie |  New Zealand | 5:40.00 | R | |
| 3 | David Weinberg |  United States | 5:42.05 | R | |
| 4 | Jesús Rosello |  Cuba | 5:44.30 | R | |
| 5 | Robert Choquette |  Canada | 6:04.83 | R | |
| 6 | Akio Kakishita |  Japan | 6:08.11 | R |
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karl-Heinz Danielowski |  East Germany | 5:32.17 | QA | |
| 2 | Patrick Sweeney |  Great Britain | 5:36.97 | R | |
| 3 | Vladimir Zharov |  Soviet Union | 5:37.79 | R | |
| 4 | Jiří Pták |  Czechoslovakia | 5:43.94 | R | |
| 5 | Helmut Latz |  West Germany | 5:48.30 | R |
New Zealand changed seats for seven of its eight rowers. West Germany and Japan changed seats for all eight rowers. The Soviet team changed seats 1 to 7. The team from Cuba changed seats for seven rowers.[9]
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon Dickie | New Zealand | 5:37.08 | QA | |
| 2 | Helmut Latz | West Germany | 5:37.76 | QA | |
| 3 | Vladimir Zharov | Soviet Union | 5:40.65 | QB | |
| 4 | Jesús Rosello | Cuba | 5:47.33 | QB | |
| 5 | Akio Kakishita | Japan | 6:11.06 | QB |
Great Britain changed five of its seats, including the stroke. Czechoslovakia changed seats 2 to 6. Canada changed seven of the eight seats.[9]
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Sweeney | Great Britain | 5:40.00 | QA | |
| 2 | Jiří Pták | Czechoslovakia | 5:43.81 | QA | |
| 3 | David Weinberg | United States | 5:48.60 | QB | |
| 4 | Robert Choquette | Canada | 5:48.94 | QB |
The two finals were rowed on 25 July.[10] The only team that did not change seats during the competition was the United States.[9]
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Vladimir Zharov | Soviet Union | 6:05.88 | |
| 8 | Robert Choquette | Canada | 6:09.03 | |
| 9 | David Weinberg | United States | 6:11.07 | |
| 10 | Jesús Rosello | Cuba | 6:14.86 | |
| 11 | Akio Kakishita | Japan | 6:33.33 |
East Germany changed five seats for the final.[9] AfterMalcolm Shaw as stroke injured his back in the elimination race,[11] Australia replaced him withPeter Shakespear for the final.[9]
| Rank | Rowers | Coxswain | Nation | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Karl-Heinz Danielowski | East Germany | 5:58.29 | |
 | Patrick Sweeney | Great Britain | 6:00.82 | |
 | Simon Dickie | New Zealand | 6:03.51 | |
| 4 | Helmut Latz | West Germany | 6:06.15 | |
| 5 | Stuart Carter | Australia | 6:09.75 | |
| 6 | Jiří Pták | Czechoslovakia | 6:14.29 |
