Quadruple Sculls, Women

Only one member of Ukraine’s 2012 Olympic champion Women’s Quadruple Sculls team, Anastasiya Kozhenkova, returned to the Games in Rio to defend her crown. The intervening years had not been kind to her country, whose only major podium finish was bronze at the 2016 European Championships. The Germans, on the other hand, had two returnees from their 2012 Olympic runners-up, had won the 2013 and 2014 World Championships and the 2013, 2015, and 2016 European Championships, and had been runners-up at the 2015 Worlds and 2014 Europeans. The reigning World Champion and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist was the United States, who was also seen as a contender.

The opening heats were won comfortably by Ukraine and Germany, while the other five squads were consigned to the repêchage. This round was won by the Dutch squad that had been the 2015 World bronze medalists and European runners-up, while the Americans edged out the Australians by only 0.06 seconds for the final qualifying spot. Their luck ran out, however, as neither they nor Ukraine were in contention for the podium in the final. Gold went to Germany, while the Netherlands shot past 2016 European runner-up Poland, which had seemed dominant for most of the race, for silver by 0.53 seconds.