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| Event type

Eights, Men

Date31 August – 3 September 1960
StatusOlympic
LocationLago Albano, Castel Gandolfo
Participants127 from 14 countries

Since it had first been contested in 1900, the United States had never lost an Olympic coxed eights final (Great Britain won in 1908 and 1912 when the Americans did not submit a crew) and, with no strong favorites from Europe, seemed poised once again to capture the title. In Rome the nation was represented by rowers from the United States Navy. Italy was a possible contender, having won the 1957 and 1958 European Championships, but it was Germany that most observers had their eye on, as they sent their 1959 European Championship-winning lineup to the 1960 Olympics. This crew was known as the “Ratzeburg” crew, even though their members came from both the Ratzeburg and Ditmarsia Kiel clubs, and their prowess was attributed partially to their new oar design. Finally there were the Canadians, who had won the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and been runners-up at the 1959 Pan American Games. Still, even with this slightly more open field, few could have predicted the final result.

The first shock came in the opening round, when the Canadians defeated their southern neighbors by nearly five seconds while, in another heat, the Germans also outperformed the Americans’ time by over four seconds and France was only 0.02 seconds off of the United States’ time. This forced the defending champions into a repêchage where, perhaps conserving their strength, they won their heat in a notably slow time and faced a legitimate challenge from Great Britain. Yet even if spectators might have predicted that the United States would finally be dethroned, they almost certainly could not have guessed that the country who had reigned supreme in the coxed eights for several decades would finish off the podium. The Germans, however, were clearly dominant and finished four seconds ahead of the Canadians, who took silver. Bronze went to Czechslovakia, the 1959 European runners-up, while the United States finished in fifth, nearly 11 seconds behind the gold-medal winning German crew, losing an Olympic final in the coxed eights for the first time in 60 years.

PosCompetitorsNOC
1Unified Team of GermanyGERGold
Manfred RulffsWalter SchröderFrank SchepkeKraft SchepkeMoritz von GroddeckKarl-Heinz HoppKlaus BittnerHans LenkWilli Padge
2CanadaCANSilver
Don ArnoldWalter D'HondtNelson KuhnJohn LeckyDavid AndersonArchie MacKinnonBill McKerlichGlen MervynSohen Biln
3CzechoslovakiaTCHBronze
Bohumil JanoušekJan JindraJiří LundákStanislav LuskVáclav PafkovičLuděk PojeznýJan ŠvédaJosef VěntusMiroslav Koníček
4FranceFRA
Christian PuibaraudJean-Pierre BelletÉmile ClercJean LedouxGaston MercierBernard MeynadierJoseph MoroniMichel ViaudAlain Bouffard
5United StatesUSA
Joe BaldwinPeter BosMark MooreLyman PerrySkip SweetserGayle ThompsonRobert WilsonHoward WinfreeWilliam Long
6ItalyITA
Paolo AmoriniVasco CantarelloGian Carlo CasaliniLuigi PratoVincenzo PrinaNazzareno SimonatoLuigi SpozioArmido TorriGiuseppe Pira
2 h1 r2/3JapanJPN
Kenro ChibaTetsuzo HiroseHironori ItsukiHiroshi SaitoTadashi SaitoTetsuo SatoShigemi TamuraYosuke TazakiHiroyuki Misawa
2 h2 r2/3Soviet UnionURS
Mikhail BalenkovViktor BarinovViktor BogachevVoldemar DundurNikolay GomolkoBoris GorokhovLeonid IvanovVladimir MalikYury Lorentsson
2 h3 r2/3Great BritainGBR
Richard BateJohn ChesterMichael DavisIan ElliottRichard FishlockAlexander LindsayGraham CooperDonald ShawPeter Reynolds
3 h1 r2/3SwitzerlandSUI
Rico BianchiÉmile EssHugo GöggelHans GraberWerner KöllikerWalter OsterwalderGottfried SchärHansruedi SchellerWerner Ehrensperger
3 h2 r2/3United Arab RepublicUAR
Gazi FaragAbdel Sattar IbrahimMohamed Abdel SamiAbdel Fattah Abou-ShanabTaha HassoubaSaleh IbrahimIbrahim AbdulhalimAbdel Mohsen Isma'ilAbbas Khamis
3 h3 r2/3SwedenSWE
Rune AnderssonBengt-Åke BengtssonÅke BerndtssonLars-Eric GustafssonUlf GustavssonKjell HanssonPer HedenbergRalph HurtigOwe LostadSture Baatz
4 h1 r2/3AustraliaAUS
Alexander CunninghamBerry DurstonMilton FrancisMaxwell GambleGeoff HaleJohn LedderRoger NinhamJohn RosserTerry Scook
4 h2 r2/3SpainESP
Ignacio AlcortaJosé AlmandozJosé AristeguiSantiago BeitíaJosé IbarburuManuel IbarburuJosé LeiceagaTrimido VaquerizaFaustino Amiano
DNSPolandPOL
Ewald DakazewiczJerzy IwanowAntoni PiotrowskiRyszard RasztorMarian WrzeszczykowskiKazimierz BłasińskiSzczepan GrajczykMarian LeszczyńskiKazimierz Naskręcki

Round One

Date31 August 1960 — 16:00
FormatWinner of each heat advanced to the final

Heat #1

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
1CzechoslovakiaTCH6:13.081:31.68 (3)3:01.53 (1)4:37.68 (1)1:29.85 (1)1:36.15 (2)1:35.40 (2)Q
Bohumil JanoušekJan JindraJiří LundákStanislav LuskVáclav PafkovičLuděk PojeznýJan ŠvédaJosef VěntusMiroslav Koníček
2AustraliaAUS6:16.941:29.86 (1)3:06.27 (3)4:41.71 (2)1:36.41 (4)1:35.44 (1)1:35.23 (1)
Milton FrancisGeoff HaleJohn LedderAlexander CunninghamMaxwell GambleBerry DurstonRoger NinhamJohn RosserTerry Scook
3United Arab RepublicUAR6:22.061:30.74 (2)3:03.62 (2)4:45.17 (3)1:32.88 (2)1:41.55 (4)1:36.89 (3)
Gazi FaragAbdel Sattar IbrahimMohamed Abdel SamiAbdel Fattah Abou-ShanabTaha HassoubaSaleh IbrahimIbrahim AbdulhalimAbdel Mohsen Isma'ilAbbas Khamis
4SwedenSWE6:29.491:34.00 (4)3:09.91 (4)4:48.66 (4)1:35.91 (3)1:38.75 (3)1:40.83 (4)
Rune AnderssonBengt-Åke BengtssonÅke BerndtssonLars-Eric GustafssonUlf GustavssonKjell HanssonPer HedenbergRalph HurtigSture Baatz
DNSPolandPOL– (–)– (–)– (–)– (–)– (–)– (–)
Ewald DakazewiczJerzy IwanowAntoni PiotrowskiRyszard RasztorMarian WrzeszczykowskiKazimierz BłasińskiSzczepan GrajczykMarian LeszczyńskiKazimierz Naskręcki

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
1Unified Team of GermanyGER6:03.341:29.86 (2)2:59.10 (1)4:32.00 (1)1:29.24 (1)1:32.90 (1)1:31.34 (1)Q
Manfred RulffsWalter SchröderFrank SchepkeKraft SchepkeMoritz von GroddeckKarl-Heinz HoppKlaus BittnerHans LenkWilli Padge
2FranceFRA6:07.711:30.45 (3)3:00.91 (3)4:35.57 (3)1:30.46 (2)1:34.66 (2)1:32.14 (2)
Christian PuibaraudJean-Pierre BelletÉmile ClercJean LedouxGaston MercierBernard MeynadierJoseph MoroniMichel ViaudAlain Bouffard
3Great BritainGBR6:10.331:29.04 (1)3:00.02 (2)4:35.17 (2)1:30.98 (4)1:35.15 (3)1:35.16 (5)
Richard BateJohn ChesterMichael DavisIan ElliottRichard FishlockAlexander LindsayGraham CooperDonald ShawPeter Reynolds
4JapanJPN6:11.861:31.22 (4)3:02.01 (4)4:37.44 (4)1:30.79 (3)1:35.43 (4)1:34.42 (3)
Kenro ChibaTetsuzo HiroseHironori ItsukiHiroshi SaitoTadashi SaitoTetsuo SatoShigemi TamuraYosuke TazakiHiroyuki Misawa
5SwitzerlandSUI6:17.001:32.25 (5)3:06.55 (5)4:42.02 (5)1:34.30 (5)1:35.47 (5)1:34.98 (4)
Rico BianchiÉmile EssHugo GöggelHans GraberWerner KöllikerWalter OsterwalderGottfried SchärHansruedi SchellerWerner Ehrensperger

Heat #3

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
1CanadaCAN6:03.181:29.38 (1)3:00.79 (1)4:32.28 (1)1:31.41 (3)1:31.49 (1)1:30.90 (2)Q
Don ArnoldWalter D'HondtNelson KuhnJohn LeckyDavid Anderson 1Archie MacKinnonBill McKerlichGlen MervynSohen Biln
2United StatesUSA6:07.691:34.76 (4)3:04.00 (4)4:37.54 (3)1:29.24 (1)1:33.54 (3)1:30.15 (1)
Mark MooreSkip SweetserGayle ThompsonJoe BaldwinPeter BosHoward WinfreeRobert WilsonLyman PerryWilliam Long
3ItalyITA6:09.051:30.16 (2)3:02.60 (3)4:38.06 (4)1:32.44 (4)1:35.46 (4)1:30.99 (3)
Paolo AmoriniVasco CantarelloGian Carlo CasaliniLuigi PratoVincenzo PrinaNazzareno SimonatoLuigi SpozioArmido TorriGiuseppe Pira
4Soviet UnionURS6:09.651:30.85 (3)3:01.67 (2)4:33.98 (2)1:30.82 (2)1:32.31 (2)1:35.67 (4)
Mikhail BalenkovViktor BarinovViktor BogachevVoldemar DundurNikolay GomolkoBoris GorokhovLeonid IvanovVladimir MalikYury Lorentsson
5SpainESP6:31.431:35.63 (5)3:13.64 (5)4:55.04 (5)1:38.01 (5)1:41.40 (5)1:36.39 (5)
Ignacio AlcortaJosé AlmandozJosé AristeguiSantiago BeitíaJosé IbarburuManuel IbarburuJosé LeiceagaTrimido VaquerizaFaustino Amiano

Round One Repêchage

Date2 September 1960
FormatWinner of each heat advanced to the final

Heat #1

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
1ItalyITA6:23.831:30.69 (1)3:08.31 (1)4:48.76 (2)1:37.62 (2)1:40.45 (4)1:35.07 (1)Q
Paolo AmoriniVasco CantarelloGian Carlo CasaliniLuigi PratoVincenzo PrinaNazzareno SimonatoLuigi SpozioArmido TorriGiuseppe Pira
2JapanJPN6:24.411:33.17 (4)3:09.04 (2)4:48.08 (1)1:35.87 (1)1:39.04 (1)1:36.33 (2)
Kenro ChibaTetsuzo HiroseHironori ItsukiHiroshi SaitoTadashi SaitoTetsuo SatoShigemi TamuraYosuke TazakiHiroyuki Misawa
3SwitzerlandSUI6:30.261:31.60 (2)3:11.52 (4)4:51.64 (4)1:39.92 (4)1:40.12 (3)1:38.62 (3)
Rico BianchiÉmile EssHugo GöggelHans GraberWerner KöllikerWalter OsterwalderGottfried SchärHansruedi SchellerWerner Ehrensperger
4AustraliaAUS6:31.151:32.31 (3)3:10.99 (3)4:51.04 (3)1:38.68 (3)1:40.05 (2)1:40.11 (4)
Milton FrancisGeoff HaleJohn LedderAlexander CunninghamMaxwell GambleBerry DurstonRoger NinhamJohn RosserTerry Scook

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
1FranceFRA6:21.341:32.41 (1)3:07.91 (1)4:43.70 (1)1:35.50 (2)1:35.79 (1)1:37.64 (2)Q
Christian PuibaraudJean-Pierre BelletÉmile ClercJean LedouxGaston MercierBernard MeynadierJoseph MoroniMichel ViaudAlain Bouffard
2Soviet UnionURS6:21.881:33.50 (2)3:08.94 (2)4:45.18 (2)1:35.44 (1)1:36.24 (2)1:36.70 (1)
Mikhail BalenkovViktor BarinovViktor BogachevVoldemar DundurNikolay GomolkoBoris GorokhovLeonid IvanovVladimir MalikYury Lorentsson
3United Arab RepublicUAR6:41.261:34.33 (3)3:13.55 (3)4:57.13 (3)1:39.22 (3)1:43.58 (3)1:44.13 (3)
Gazi FaragAbdel Sattar IbrahimMohamed Abdel SamiAbdel Fattah Abou-ShanabTaha HassoubaSaleh IbrahimIbrahim AbdulhalimAbdel Mohsen Isma'ilAbbas Khamis
4SpainESP6:52.461:38.30 (4)3:20.38 (4)5:05.61 (4)1:42.08 (4)1:45.23 (4)1:46.85 (4)
Ignacio AlcortaJosé AlmandozJosé AristeguiSantiago BeitíaJosé IbarburuManuel IbarburuJosé LeiceagaTrimido VaquerizaFaustino Amiano

Heat #3

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
1United StatesUSA6:31.771:34.65 (2)3:14.27 (2)4:54.75 (2)1:39.62 (1)1:40.48 (2)1:37.02 (1)Q
Mark MooreSkip SweetserGayle ThompsonJoe BaldwinPeter BosHoward WinfreeRobert WilsonLyman PerryWilliam Long
2Great BritainGBR6:33.221:33.36 (1)3:13.58 (1)4:53.41 (1)1:40.22 (2)1:39.83 (1)1:39.81 (2)
Richard BateJohn ChesterMichael DavisIan ElliottRichard FishlockAlexander LindsayGraham CooperDonald ShawPeter Reynolds
3SwedenSWE6:49.561:36.62 (3)3:22.68 (3)5:07.55 (3)1:46.06 (3)1:44.87 (3)1:42.01 (3)
Rune AnderssonBengt-Åke BengtssonÅke BerndtssonLars-Eric GustafssonUlf GustavssonKjell HanssonPer HedenbergRalph HurtigOwe Lostad

Final Round

Date3 September 1960 — 18:00
PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
1Unified Team of GermanyGER5:57.181:26.00 (1)2:55.88 (1)4:27.48 (1)1:29.88 (1)1:31.60 (1)1:29.70 (1)OB
Manfred RulffsWalter SchröderFrank SchepkeKraft SchepkeMoritz von GroddeckKarl-Heinz HoppKlaus BittnerHans LenkWilli Padge
2CanadaCAN6:01.521:26.75 (2)2:57.23 (2)4:30.20 (2)1:30.48 (2)1:32.97 (2)1:31.32 (3)
Don ArnoldWalter D'HondtNelson KuhnJohn LeckyDavid Anderson 2Archie MacKinnonBill McKerlichGlen MervynSohen Biln
3CzechoslovakiaTCH6:04.841:27.44 (3)2:59.85 (3)4:33.94 (3)1:32.41 (5)1:34.09 (3)1:30.90 (2)
Bohumil JanoušekJan JindraJiří LundákStanislav LuskVáclav PafkovičLuděk PojeznýJan ŠvédaJosef VěntusMiroslav Koníček
4FranceFRA6:06.571:28.91 (5)3:00.42 (4)4:35.07 (4)1:31.51 (3)1:34.65 (4)1:31.50 (4)
Christian PuibaraudJean-Pierre BelletÉmile ClercJean LedouxGaston MercierBernard MeynadierJoseph MoroniMichel ViaudAlain Bouffard
5United StatesUSA6:08.061:28.13 (4)3:01.01 (5)4:36.37 (5)1:32.88 (6)1:35.36 (5)1:31.69 (5)
Mark MooreSkip SweetserGayle ThompsonJoe BaldwinPeter BosHoward WinfreeRobert WilsonLyman PerryWilliam Long
6ItalyITA6:12.731:30.02 (6)3:01.75 (6)4:39.72 (6)1:31.73 (4)1:37.97 (6)1:33.01 (6)
Paolo AmoriniVasco CantarelloGian Carlo CasaliniLuigi PratoVincenzo PrinaNazzareno SimonatoLuigi SpozioArmido TorriGiuseppe Pira