Rowing at the 1984 Summer Olympics

Dates 30 July – 5 August 1984
Medal Events 14

Rowing at the 1984 Summer Olympics was held at man-made Lake Casitas in Los Padres National Forest, north of Los Angeles. Many of the events were heavily impacted by the Soviet-led boycott, as Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, and especially East Germany were the dominant powers in many of the rowing disciplines. Especially affected were the women’s events, many of which had rarely, if ever, seen winners at the Olympics or the World Championships from outside of the Eastern Bloc. Nonetheless, 30 nations still took part, up five from the 1980 Games and down only one from 1976, the last time the Olympics were not the subject of a major boycott. Romania benefitted the most from the boycott, winning five of the six women’s events in the Eastern Bloc’s absence and topping the medal table with eight medals overall, six of which were gold. The United States also took eight medals, only two of which, however, were gold, making it the only other nation to win more than one rowing title at the Games.

The 1984 program remained the same as it had been in 1976 and 1980 and held women’s event for the third time. This was the last time that they would compete over 1000 metres as, beginning in 1988, they would join the men in competing over 2000 metres. Puerto Rico made its Olympic debut by sending Juan Félix to the men’s single sculls; although he would compete again in 1988 he remains, as of 2012, the only individual to have represented this nation in Olympic rowing. China, meanwhile, also appeared in rowing for the first time by sending crews to the men’s and women’s coxed fours events, while Korea, by sending a crew to the latter event, took part in rowing for the first time in two decades and only the second time ever. In the coxless pairs, Spain’s Fernando Climent and Luis Lasúrtegui won silver, which was their country’s first, and of 2012 only, medal in Olympic rowing, despite the nation having made its first appearance in rowing in the inaugural 1900 tournament. Sisters Greet and Nicolette Hellemans of the Netherlands, meanwhile, highlighted the impact of the Soviet boycott on rowing: they both won silver and bronze in the double sculls and coxed eights respectively and became the tournament’s only multiple medalists for a nation that had never previously won an Olympic or World Championship medal in either discipline.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
Single Sculls, Men Olympic 31 July – 5 August 1984 16 16
Double Sculls, Men Olympic 30 July – 5 August 1984 23 11
Quadruple Sculls, Men Olympic 31 July – 5 August 1984 40 10
Coxless Pairs, Men Olympic 30 July – 5 August 1984 28 14
Coxed Pairs, Men Olympic 31 July – 5 August 1984 36 12
Coxless Fours, Men Olympic 31 July – 5 August 1984 40 10
Coxed Fours, Men Olympic 30 July – 5 August 1984 40 8
Eights, Men Olympic 31 July – 5 August 1984 63 7
Single Sculls, Women Olympic 30 July – 4 August 1984 16 16
Double Sculls, Women Olympic 30 July – 4 August 1984 16 8
Coxless Pairs, Women Olympic 4 August 1984 12 6
Coxed Fours, Women Olympic 30 July – 4 August 1984 45 9
Coxed Quadruple Sculls, Women Olympic 30 July – 4 August 1984 36 7
Eights, Women Olympic 4 August 1984 54 6
447 (286/161) 30 (29/18)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Single Sculls, Men Pertti KarppinenFIN Peter-Michael KolbeFRG Robert MillsCAN
Double Sculls, Men United StatesUSA BelgiumBEL YugoslaviaYUG
Quadruple Sculls, Men West GermanyFRG AustraliaAUS CanadaCAN
Coxless Pairs, Men RomaniaROU SpainESP NorwayNOR
Coxed Pairs, Men ItalyITA RomaniaROU United StatesUSA
Coxless Fours, Men New ZealandNZL United StatesUSA DenmarkDEN
Coxed Fours, Men Great BritainGBR United StatesUSA New ZealandNZL
Eights, Men CanadaCAN United StatesUSA AustraliaAUS
Single Sculls, Women Valeria RăcilăROU Carlie GeerUSA Ann HaesebrouckBEL
Double Sculls, Women RomaniaROU NetherlandsNED CanadaCAN
Coxless Pairs, Women RomaniaROU CanadaCAN West GermanyFRG
Coxed Fours, Women RomaniaROU CanadaCAN AustraliaAUS
Coxed Quadruple Sculls, Women RomaniaROU United StatesUSA DenmarkDEN
Eights, Women United StatesUSA RomaniaROU NetherlandsNED

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Romania ROU 6 2 0 8
United States USA 2 5 1 8
Canada CAN 1 2 3 6
West Germany FRG 1 1 1 3
New Zealand NZL 1 0 1 2
Finland FIN 1 0 0 1
Great Britain GBR 1 0 0 1
Italy ITA 1 0 0 1
Australia AUS 0 1 2 3
Belgium BEL 0 1 1 2
Netherlands NED 0 1 1 2
Spain ESP 0 1 0 1
Denmark DEN 0 0 2 2
Norway NOR 0 0 1 1
Yugoslavia YUG 0 0 1 1