The favourite in the single sculls in Paris was definitely Jack Beresford, Jr. of Great Britain, the runner-up in the event at the 1920 Summer Olympics and winner of the Diamond Sculls, then equivalent to a World Championship, in 1920 and 1924. In the opening round, however, he was handily defeated by Garrett Gilmore of the United States, who advanced to the final alongside Switzerland’s Josef Schneider and Australia’s Ted Bull. Gilmore was perhaps the best single sculler North America had to offer, having won numerous national and international titles since his debut in 1919, and his position was strengthened when the only other North American in the event, Arthur Belyea of Canada, contracted neuritis in his hip prior to the Games. Schneider, meanwhile, was European champion in the event in 1924 and 1926.
Beresford easily bested Constant Pieterse of the Netherlands and France’s Marc Detton in the repêchage, however, to earn the fourth spot in the final. At the beginning, the race could have gone to either Gilmore or Beresford, but the latter pulled ahead quickly and, by the 1,000 metre mark, was untouchable. Beresford finished nearly five seconds ahead of Gilmore to win the gold, while the American settled for silver and Schneider came in third, after Bull dropped out 300 metres before the finish.