Rowing at the 1992 Summer Olympics

Dates 27 July – 2 August 1992
Medal Events 14

Rowing at the 1992 Summer Olympics was held at the natural Lago de Bañolas in the lake’s eponymous city. The breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia and the return of South Africa to the Olympic movement, among other factors, contributed to a record 45 nations competing in rowing in Barcelona, up from the previous high of 38 in 1988. These new representatives included Croatia, Slovenia, and Independent Olympic Participants, who represented the rest of the former Yugoslavia. By entering Ali Rıza Bilal and Christian Francis respectively into the men’s single sculls, Turkey and Lebanon made their first, and as of 2012 only, appearances in Olympic rowing, while Hong Kong débuted through the women’s single and men’s double sculls. Zimbabwe, meanwhile, sent Margaret Gibson and Susanne Standish-White to the coxless pairs to represent the nation in this sport for the first time, but the country would not take part again until 2008. The Unified Team was technically a new entrant as well, although it served primarily as a proxy for the Soviet Union, as many of its constituent nations did not compete independently upon dissolution. One important exception for rowing was Estonia, who sent medal contenders to the men’s single and double sculls, giving the nation its first independent appearance since Elmar Korko competed in the single sculls in 1936. Another constituent nation, Latvia, made an unqualified independent début by entering rowers into the men’s single sculls and the women’s coxless pairs, while a third, Lithuania, was represented in the men’s coxed and coxless pairs and the women’s coxless pairs and single sculls.

A newly unified Germany topped the medal table by taking 10 medals, four of them gold, but they were not as dominant as East Germany had been. Canada tied the Germans’ gold medal count and also earned a bronze medal that was perhaps even more valuable, as it was won by Silken Laumann in the single sculls only two months after a terrible injury nearly ended her promising rowing career. Traditionally strong Romania took seven medals, including gold twice, while the United States took three, but failed to win any events. No other nation won more than two medals, although Slovenia’s two third-place finishes were its first rowing medals as an independent nation. The )Unified Team) also took bronze in the women’s quadruple sculls.

The 1992 program was altered slightly from the previous year, as the women’s coxless fours made its only Olympic appearance, replacing the coxed version. It would change more dramatically in 1996 with the elimination of several events to make room for lightweight class competitions. There were numerous multiple medalists in Barcelona. Six members of Canada’s victorious women’s eights crew were Olympic champions in other 1992 events: Kirsten Barnes, Brenda Taylor, Kay Worthington, and Jessica Monroe in the coxless fours and Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle in the double sculls. Romania’s champion men’s coxed fours crew all won medals in other events: Iulică Ruican and Viorel Talapan took silver in the coxed eights, while Dimitrie Popescu, Neculai Țaga, and Dumitru Răducanu capture bronze in the coxed pairs. Among the nation’s women, Elisabeta Lipă was champion in the single sculls and runner-up in the double sculls and Veronica Cochelea was runner-up in the double and quadruple sculls.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
Single Sculls, Men Olympic 27 July – 1 August 1992 22 22
Double Sculls, Men Olympic 27 July – 1 August 1992 39 19
Quadruple Sculls, Men Olympic 28 July – 2 August 1992 60 15
Coxless Pairs, Men Olympic 27 July – 1 August 1992 38 19
Coxed Pairs, Men Olympic 28 July – 2 August 1992 49 16
Coxless Fours, Men Olympic 28 July – 2 August 1992 56 14
Coxed Fours, Men Olympic 27 July – 1 August 1992 60 12
Eights, Men Olympic 28 July – 2 August 1992 126 14
Single Sculls, Women Olympic 28 July – 2 August 1992 15 15
Double Sculls, Women Olympic 27 July – 1 August 1992 26 13
Quadruple Sculls, Women Olympic 28 July – 2 August 1992 36 9
Coxless Pairs, Women Olympic 27 July – 1 August 1992 26 13
Coxless Fours, Women Olympic 27 July – 1 August 1992 36 9
Eights, Women Olympic 28 July – 2 August 1992 72 8
627 (437/190) 45 (43/25)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Single Sculls, Men Thomas LangeGER Václav Chalupa, Jr.TCH Kajetan BroniewskiPOL
Double Sculls, Men AustraliaAUS AustriaAUT NetherlandsNED
Quadruple Sculls, Men GermanyGER NorwayNOR ItalyITA
Coxless Pairs, Men Great BritainGBR GermanyGER SloveniaSLO
Coxed Pairs, Men Great BritainGBR ItalyITA RomaniaROU
Coxless Fours, Men AustraliaAUS United StatesUSA SloveniaSLO
Coxed Fours, Men RomaniaROU GermanyGER PolandPOL
Eights, Men CanadaCAN RomaniaROU GermanyGER
Single Sculls, Women Elisabeta LipăROU Annelies BredaelBEL Silken LaumannCAN
Double Sculls, Women GermanyGER RomaniaROU People's Republic of ChinaCHN
Quadruple Sculls, Women GermanyGER RomaniaROU Unified TeamEUN
Coxless Pairs, Women CanadaCAN GermanyGER United StatesUSA
Coxless Fours, Women CanadaCAN United StatesUSA GermanyGER
Eights, Women CanadaCAN RomaniaROU GermanyGER

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
Germany GER 4 3 3 10
Canada CAN 4 0 1 5
Romania ROU 2 4 1 7
Australia AUS 2 0 0 2
Great Britain GBR 2 0 0 2
United States USA 0 2 1 3
Italy ITA 0 1 1 2
Austria AUT 0 1 0 1
Belgium BEL 0 1 0 1
Czechoslovakia TCH 0 1 0 1
Norway NOR 0 1 0 1
Poland POL 0 0 2 2
Slovenia SLO 0 0 2 2
Netherlands NED 0 0 1 1
People's Republic of China CHN 0 0 1 1
Unified Team EUN 0 0 1 1