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Coxless Fours, Men

Date23 – 27 November 1956
StatusOlympic
LocationLake Wendouree, Ballarat, Victoria
Participants48 from 12 countries

The Italians once again entered the Olympic coxless fours tournament as favorites, having won two of the last four European Championships, but not as strongly as they had in 1952, even though Giuseppe Moioli was a returning champion from 1948. The Soviet Union had staked its claim to the Stewards’ Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta (then considered the equivalent of a World Championship) by winning in 1954 and 1955 and was represented in Melbourne by Leonid Zakharov, Aleksandr Sheff, Nikolay Karasyov, and Igor Ivanov. Csaba Kovács, Rezső Riheczky, Zoltán Kávay, and Géza Ütő of Hungary were the most recent European silver medalists, while Germany’s Wilhelm Montag, Horst Stobbe, Gunther Kaschlun, and Manfred Fitze had taken bronze.

As always, however, the coxless fours was nothing if not unpredictable. The fastest time in the opening round came from the Canadians, Archie MacKinnon, Lorne Loomer, Walter D’Hondt, and Don Arnold, while Hungary was eliminated in the repêchage. The Canadians dominated by an even greater margin in the semi-finals, with their closest competitor, twelve seconds behind, being the American quartet of John Welchli, Art and John McKinlay, and Jim McIntosh. The Soviet Union and Germany were eliminated in the semi-final repêchage, leaving the two North American nations to face France and Italy in the final. The race for gold was no contest: the Canadians took the lead at the half-way point and won by almost a ten second margin, while the United States, France, and Italy finished second, third, and fourth, with less than three seconds between them. It was Canada’s first Olympic gold medal in rowing and remains, as of 2012, its only title in the men’s coxless fours.

PosCompetitorsNOC
1CanadaCANGold
Archie MacKinnonLorne LoomerWalter D'HondtDon Arnold
2United StatesUSASilver
John WelchliJohn McKinlayArt McKinlayJim McIntosh
3FranceFRABronze
René GuissartYves DelacourGaston MercierGuy Guillabert
4ItalyITA
Giuseppe MoioliAttilio CantoniGiovanni ZucchiAbbondio Marcelli
3 h1 r3/4Soviet UnionURS
Leonid ZakharovAleksandr SheffNikolay KarasyovIgor Ivanov
3 h2 r3/4Unified Team of GermanyGER
Willi MontagHorst StobbeGunther KaschlunManfred Fitze
4 h1 r3/4PolandPOL
Kazimierz BłasińskiSzczepan GrajczykZbigniew ParadowskiMarian Nietupski
4 h2 r3/4AustraliaAUS
John HarrisonPeter EvattGeoff WilliamsonDave Anderson
2 h2 r2/4FinlandFIN
Kauko HänninenReino PoutanenVeli LehteläToimi Pitkänen
2 h3 r2/4HungaryHUN
Csaba KovácsRezső RiheczkyZoltán KávayGéza Ütő
2 h4 r2/4CubaCUB
Luis OliveraOrlando LanzaEnrique HernándezJoaquín Pérez-Febles
DNS h1 r2/4DenmarkDEN
Elo TostenæsMogens SørensenBørge HansenTage Grøndahl

Round One

Date23 November 1956 — 14:30
FormatWinner of each heat advanced to semi-finals

Heat #1

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
1CanadaCAN6:36.6Q
Archie MacKinnonLorne LoomerWalter D'HondtDon Arnold
2Unified Team of GermanyGER6:48.1
Willi MontagHorst StobbeGunther KaschlunManfred Fitze
3AustraliaAUS6:52.7
John HarrisonPeter EvattGeoff WilliamsonDave Anderson
4DenmarkDEN7:08.1
Elo TostenæsMogens SørensenBørge HansenTage Grøndahl

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
1United StatesUSA6:59.2Q
John WelchliArt McKinlayJohn McKinlayJim McIntosh
2FranceFRA7:11.8
Guy GuillabertGaston MercierYves DelacourRené Guissart
3CubaCUB7:17.7
Luis OliveraOrlando LanzaEnrique HernándezJoaquín Pérez-Febles

Heat #3

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
1Soviet UnionURS6:39.7Q
Leonid ZakharovAleksandr SheffNikolay KarasyovIgor Ivanov
2HungaryHUN6:40.6
Csaba KovácsRezső RiheczkyZoltán KávayGéza Ütő

Heat #4

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
1ItalyITA6:41.9Q
Giuseppe MoioliAttilio CantoniGiovanni ZucchiAbbondio Marcelli
2PolandPOL6:46.3
Kazimierz BłasińskiSzczepan GrajczykZbigniew ParadowskiMarian Nietupski
3FinlandFIN6:50.3
Kauko HänninenReino PoutanenVeli LehteläToimi Pitkänen

Round One Repêchage

Date24 November 1956 — 14:30
FormatWinner of each heat advanced to semi-finals

Heat #1

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
1Unified Team of GermanyGER8:27.2Q
Willi MontagHorst StobbeGunther KaschlunManfred Fitze

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
1FranceFRA7:44.0Q
Guy GuillabertGaston MercierYves DelacourRené Guissart
2FinlandFIN7:55.1
Kauko HänninenReino PoutanenVeli LehteläToimi Pitkänen

Heat #3

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
1AustraliaAUS8:10.4Q
John HarrisonPeter EvattGeoff WilliamsonDave Anderson
2HungaryHUN8:17.0
Csaba KovácsRezső RiheczkyZoltán KávayGéza Ütő

Heat #4

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
1PolandPOL8:29.3Q
Kazimierz BłasińskiSzczepan GrajczykZbigniew ParadowskiMarian Nietupski
2CubaCUB8:45.4
Luis OliveraOrlando LanzaEnrique HernándezJoaquín Pérez-Febles

Semi-Finals

Date26 November 1956 — 15:00
FormatTop two finishers in each heat advanced to final

Heat #1

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
1CanadaCAN7:47.7Q
Archie MacKinnonLorne LoomerWalter D'HondtDon Arnold
2FranceFRA8:08.4Q
Guy GuillabertGaston MercierYves DelacourRené Guissart
3Soviet UnionURS8:18.3
Leonid ZakharovAleksandr SheffNikolay KarasyovIgor Ivanov
4PolandPOL8:32.0
Kazimierz BłasińskiSzczepan GrajczykZbigniew ParadowskiMarian Nietupski

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
1United StatesUSA7:59.7Q
John WelchliArt McKinlayJohn McKinlayJim McIntosh
2ItalyITA8:10.2Q
Giuseppe MoioliAttilio CantoniGiovanni ZucchiAbbondio Marcelli
3Unified Team of GermanyGER8:19.8
Willi MontagHorst StobbeGunther KaschlunManfred Fitze
4AustraliaAUS8:22.4
John HarrisonPeter EvattGeoff WilliamsonDave Anderson

Final Round

Date27 November 1956 — 16:30
PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
1CanadaCAN7:08.8
Archie MacKinnonLorne LoomerWalter D'HondtDon Arnold
2United StatesUSA7:18.4
John WelchliArt McKinlayJohn McKinlayJim McIntosh
3FranceFRA7:20.9
Guy GuillabertGaston MercierYves DelacourRené Guissart
4ItalyITA7:22.5
Giuseppe MoioliAttilio CantoniGiovanni ZucchiAbbondio Marcelli