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| Event type

Single Sculls, Men

Date18 – 25 July 1976
StatusOlympic
LocationBassin olympique, Île Notre Dame, Montréal, Québec
Participants15 from 15 countries

The favorite going into the single sculls event at the 1976 Summer Olympics was Peter-Michael Kolbe, who was the reigning World Champion and the last European champion (the tournament had been discontinued after 1973). One potential threat was Ireland’s Seán Drea, who had won three of the last four Diamond Challenge Sculls at the Henley Royal Regatta (Australian Ted Hale was the victor in 1976) in addition to a silver medal at the most recent World Championships. Another was Argentina’s Ricardo Ibarra, successor to the great Alberto Demiddi and Pan American champion in 1975. The defending Olympic champion nation, the Soviet Union, sent the relatively unheralded Mykola Dovhan.

Kolbe dominated the opening round; only Drea, who was in the same heat, came within five seconds of his time. Ibarra and Dovhan won the other heats, but with times that would not have automatically qualified them in Kolbe’s. In the semi-finals, Ibarra surprised the spectators by winning the heat in record time, with Kolbe coming in only 0.18 seconds ahead of East Germany’s Joachim Dreifke to claim the second qualifying spot. Not to be outdone, Drea came in nearly five seconds ahead of Ibarra to win his own heat, thus promising an exciting final. At first it seemed that the rowers might disappoint: for nearly the entire race, Kolbe led while the others trailed by a significant margin. In the last 100 metres, however, the then relatively-unknown Finn Pertti Karppinen launched a magnificent sprint and stole the gold medal from Kolbe. This result was even more surprising because Karppinen had only survived round one by winning the repêchage and had been the last qualifier in his semi-final heat. Kolbe therefore had to settle for silver while Dreifke, who came in over six seconds later, took bronze.

PosCompetitorNOC
1Pertti KarppinenFINGold
2Peter-Michael KolbeFRGSilver
3Joachim DreifkeGDRBronze
4Seán DreaIRL
5Nikolay DovganURS
6Ricardo IbarraARG
7Jim DietzUSA
8Ted HaleAUS
9Hans SvenssonSWE
10Fabrizio BiondiITA
11Walter LambertusROU
12Claude DehombreuxBEL
4 h1 r2/4Ulli WolfAUT
5 h1 r2/4Reinaldo KutscherURU
6 h1 r2/4Federico SchefflerMEX

Round One

Date18 July 1976
FormatTop three finishers in each heat advanced to semi-finals

Heat #1

Time12:15
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
12Peter-Michael KolbeFRG7:05.951:37.30 (1)3:27.11 (2)5:20.29 (2)1:49.81 (2)1:53.18 (2)1:45.66 (1)Q
21Seán DreaIRL7:07.201:40.22 (4)3:26.73 (1)5:18.19 (1)1:46.51 (1)1:51.46 (1)1:49.01 (3)Q
33Joachim DreifkeGDR7:11.491:38.59 (2)3:28.58 (3)5:21.82 (3)1:49.99 (=3)1:53.24 (3)1:49.67 (4)Q
44Pertti KarppinenFIN7:12.941:39.92 (3)3:29.91 (4)5:24.18 (4)1:49.99 (=3)1:54.27 (4)1:48.76 (2)
55Jim DietzUSA7:24.981:41.22 (5)3:36.56 (5)5:31.89 (5)1:55.34 (5)1:55.33 (5)1:53.09 (5)

Heat #2

Time12:30
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
11Nikolay DovganURS7:28.921:46.03 (1)3:41.51 (1)5:37.10 (1)1:55.48 (1)1:55.59 (3)1:51.82 (1)Q
22Fabrizio BiondiITA7:35.331:50.12 (4)3:47.05 (4)5:42.13 (2)1:56.93 (2)1:55.08 (2)1:53.20 (2)Q
34Hans SvenssonSWE7:40.821:49.30 (3)3:46.71 (3)5:44.07 (4)1:57.41 (3)1:57.36 (4)1:56.75 (4)Q
45Walter LambertusROU7:42.651:46.88 (2)3:45.61 (2)5:49.40 (5)1:58.73 (4)2:03.79 (5)1:53.25 (3)
53Reinaldo KutscherURU7:48.591:50.87 (5)3:49.87 (5)5:43.85 (3)1:59.00 (5)1:53.98 (1)2:04.74 (5)

Heat #3

Time12:45
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
11Ricardo IbarraARG7:17.411:39.45 (1)3:31.86 (1)5:27.20 (1)1:52.41 (5)1:55.34 (5)1:50.21 (2)Q
25Ted HaleAUS7:20.111:45.11 (3)3:35.36 (2)5:29.39 (2)1:50.25 (1)1:54.03 (2)1:50.72 (3)Q
34Claude DehombreuxBEL7:23.331:49.19 (5)3:39.45 (5)5:33.22 (4)1:50.26 (2)1:53.77 (1)1:50.11 (1)Q
42Ulli WolfAUT7:28.451:44.23 (2)3:36.49 (3)5:31.35 (3)1:52.26 (4)1:54.86 (4)1:57.10 (4)
53Federico SchefflerMEX7:32.551:47.82 (4)3:39.20 (4)5:33.94 (5)1:51.38 (3)1:54.74 (3)1:58.61 (5)

Round One Repêchage

Date20 July 1976 — 10:45
FormatTop three finishers advanced to semi-finals
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
15Pertti KarppinenFIN7:06.811:41.25 (3)3:29.18 (1)5:18.79 (1)1:47.93 (1)1:49.61 (2)1:48.02 (3)Q
24Walter LambertusROU7:08.881:43.77 (5)3:31.87 (4)5:21.22 (2)1:48.10 (2)1:49.35 (1)1:47.66 (2)Q
31Jim DietzUSA7:13.461:38.04 (1)3:30.55 (2)5:31.81 (5)1:52.51 (4)2:01.26 (6)1:41.65 (1)Q
43Ulli WolfAUT7:25.381:40.59 (2)3:30.89 (3)5:23.44 (3)1:50.30 (3)1:52.55 (4)2:01.94 (6)
52Reinaldo KutscherURU7:26.341:42.14 (4)3:35.37 (5)5:26.55 (4)1:53.23 (5)1:51.18 (3)1:59.79 (5)
66Federico SchefflerMEX7:37.981:47.01 (6)3:42.19 (6)5:38.57 (6)1:55.18 (6)1:56.38 (5)1:59.41 (4)

Semi-Finals

Date23 July 1976
FormatTop three finishers in each heat advanced to final

Heat #1

Time11:30
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
16Ricardo IbarraARG6:57.411:36.54 (1)3:22.84 (3)5:10.30 (3)1:46.30 (4)1:47.46 (4)1:47.11 (1)Q OB
23Peter-Michael KolbeFRG6:59.181:38.28 (3)3:22.19 (1)5:09.45 (1)1:43.91 (1)1:47.26 (3)1:49.73 (3)Q
32Joachim DreifkeGDR6:59.361:37.65 (2)3:22.46 (2)5:10.02 (2)1:44.81 (2)1:47.56 (5)1:49.34 (2)Q
45Walter LambertusROU7:01.231:40.08 (4)3:24.96 (4)5:10.96 (4)1:44.88 (3)1:46.00 (2)1:50.27 (5)
51Claude DehombreuxBEL7:14.761:44.50 (6)3:34.23 (6)5:13.07 (5)1:49.73 (5)1:38.84 (1)2:01.69 (6)
64Fabrizio BiondiITA7:16.131:42.95 (5)3:33.98 (5)5:26.10 (6)1:51.03 (6)1:52.12 (6)1:50.03 (4)

Heat #2

Time11:45
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
15Seán DreaIRL6:52.461:35.30 (1)3:18.67 (1)5:04.74 (1)1:43.37 (1)1:46.07 (1)1:47.72 (3)Q OB
24Nikolay DovganURS6:58.151:37.09 (2)3:22.11 (2)5:08.44 (2)1:45.02 (2)1:46.33 (2)1:49.71 (4)Q
32Pertti KarppinenFIN6:59.131:39.15 (4)3:24.44 (3)5:12.35 (3)1:45.29 (3)1:47.91 (3)1:46.78 (2)Q
41Hans SvenssonSWE7:00.601:39.48 (5)3:26.76 (5)5:15.18 (4)1:47.28 (4)1:48.42 (4)1:45.42 (1)
56Jim DietzUSA7:09.131:38.74 (3)3:26.17 (4)5:17.28 (5)1:47.43 (5)1:51.11 (5)1:51.85 (5)
63Ted HaleAUS7:16.641:40.31 (6)3:28.20 (6)5:20.41 (6)1:47.89 (6)1:52.21 (6)1:56.23 (6)

Final Round

Date25 July 1976

Final A

Time11:55
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
12Pertti KarppinenFIN7:29.031:53.01 (5)3:46.23 (5)5:40.67 (2)1:53.22 (3)1:54.44 (1)1:48.36 (1)
21Peter-Michael KolbeFRG7:31.671:47.09 (1)3:38.04 (1)5:35.94 (1)1:50.95 (1)1:57.90 (2)1:55.73 (3)
34Joachim DreifkeGDR7:38.031:50.91 (3)3:44.59 (3)5:43.61 (3)1:53.68 (4)1:59.02 (3)1:54.42 (2)
45Seán DreaIRL7:42.531:51.68 (4)3:44.42 (2)5:44.48 (4)1:52.74 (2)2:00.06 (4)1:58.05 (4)
56Nikolay DovganURS7:57.391:50.68 (2)3:45.46 (4)5:52.61 (5)1:54.78 (5)2:07.15 (6)2:04.78 (6)
63Ricardo IbarraARG8:03.051:54.14 (6)3:53.33 (6)6:00.41 (6)1:59.19 (6)2:07.08 (5)2:02.64 (5)

Final B

Time11:45
PosLaneCompetitorNOCTime500 m1,000 m1,500 m500-1,000 m1,000-1,500 m1,500-2,000 m
15Jim DietzUSA7:58.701:49.82 (1)3:51.93 (1)6:00.20 (2)2:02.11 (3)2:08.27 (5)1:58.50 (2)
26Ted HaleAUS7:58.861:52.83 (2)3:57.13 (5)6:02.20 (3)2:04.30 (6)2:05.07 (2)1:56.66 (1)
32Hans SvenssonSWE7:59.361:53.75 (4)3:54.86 (2)5:59.51 (1)2:01.11 (1)2:04.65 (1)1:59.85 (3)
43Fabrizio BiondiITA8:07.171:53.37 (3)3:56.90 (4)6:05.09 (5)2:03.53 (4)2:08.19 (4)2:02.08 (4)
54Walter LambertusROU8:11.131:54.29 (5)3:56.17 (3)6:03.41 (4)2:01.88 (2)2:07.24 (3)2:07.72 (6)
61Claude DehombreuxBEL8:15.351:59.64 (6)4:03.35 (6)6:11.87 (6)2:03.71 (5)2:08.52 (6)2:03.48 (5)