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Coxed Fours, Men1

Date20 – 23 July 1952
StatusOlympic
LocationMeilahti, Helsinki
Participants85 from 17 countries

The field for the coxed fours at the 1952 Summer Olympics was fairly open, with Italy perhaps being the slight favorite, as it had won the European Championships in 1949 and 1951 and come in second in 1950 with various lineups. Three members of New Zealand’s entry, Ted Johnson, John O’Brien, and Colin Johnstone were members of the crew that had won the event at the 1950 British Empire Games, while Denmark’s squad boasted the 1950 European Champions: Niels Kristensen, Ove Nielsen, Peter Hansen, Bent Blach Petersen, and Eivin Kristensen. None of these nations advanced automatically after the opening round, however, and New Zealand was eliminated by Italy in the repêchage. Czechoslovakia was the dominant nation in every round and placed first by a comfortable margin of over three seconds ahead of Switzerland to win the gold medal in the final. Switzerland thus repeated its silver performance from 1948, while the United States, the defending champions, settled for bronze.

PosCompetitorsNOC
1CzechoslovakiaTCHGold
Karel Mejta, Sr.Jiří HavlisJan JindraStanislav LuskMiroslav Koranda
2SwitzerlandSUISilver
Rico BianchiKarl WeidmannHeini SchellerÉmile EssWalter Leiser
3United StatesUSABronze
Carl LovstedAl UlbricksonRichard WahlstromMatt LeandersonAl Rossi
4Great BritainGBR
John MacMillanGraham FiskLawrence GuestPeter de GilesPaul Massey
5FinlandFIN
Kurt GrönholmPaul StråhlmanBirger KarlssonKarl-Erik JohanssonAntero Tukiainen
2 h1 r4/5Soviet UnionURS
Kirill PutyrskyYevgeny TretnikovGeorgy GushchenkoBoris FyodorovBoris Brechko
2 h2 r4/5ItalyITA
Albino TrevisanAmedeo ScarpiAbbondio SmerghettoTarquinio AngiolinDomenico Cambieri
2 h3 r4/5NorwayNOR
Bjørn ChristoffersenArnfinn LarsenWilhelm HaydenThor NilsenLeif Andersen
3 h1 r4/5FranceFRA
André GoursolleRobert TexierGuy NosbaumClaude MartinDidier Moreau
3 h2 r4/5ArgentinaARG
Juan EckerRoberto SuárezAlfredo CzernerJorge SchneiderJorge Arripe
3 h3 r4/5DenmarkDEN
Niels KristensenOve NielsenPeter HansenBent Blach PetersenEivin Kristensen
2 h1 r2/5New ZealandNZL
Ted JohnsonJohn O'BrienKerry AshbyBill TinnockColin Johnstone
2 h2 r2/5Unified Team of GermanyGER
Günther TwiesselmannKlaus SchulzeHeinz BeyerGerd VogeleyHans-Joachim Wiemken
2 h3 r2/5NetherlandsNED
Ton FontaniHan HeijenbrockJan Willem PenninkJaap BeijeHans Caro
3 h1 r2/5JapanJPN
Kosuke MatsuoRyuji GotoKazuo KandaToshiya TakeuchiTamatsu Kogure
3 h2 r2/5SpainESP
Salvador CostaMiguel PalauFrancisco GironellaPedro MassanaLuis Omedes
3 h3 r2/5EgyptEGY
Wagih El-AttarMohamed El-SahrawiMamdooh El-AttarHamza AmeraAlbert Mankabadi

Round One

Date20 July 1952 — 9:00
FormatWinner and runner-up in each heat advanced to semi-finals. All others advanced to repêchage.

Heat #1

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
13FranceFRA7:18.4Q
André GoursolleRobert TexierGuy NosbaumClaude MartinDidier Moreau
22Soviet UnionURS7:19.9Q
Kirill PutyrskyYevgeny TretnikovGeorgy GushchenkoBoris FyodorovBoris Brechko
34ItalyITA7:20.5
Albino TrevisanAmedeo ScarpiAbbondio SmerghettoTarquinio AngiolinDomenico Cambieri
45SpainESP7:25.5
Salvador CostaMiguel PalauFrancisco GironellaPedro MassanaLuis Omedes
51FinlandFIN
Kurt GrönholmPaul StråhlmanBirger KarlssonKarl-Erik JohanssonAntero Tukiainen

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
12United StatesUSA7:17.9Q
Carl LovstedAl UlbricksonRichard WahlstromMatt LeandersonAl Rossi
21Great BritainGBR7:18.3Q
Peter de GilesPaul MasseyJohn MacMillanGraham FiskLawrence Guest
33DenmarkDEN7:33.9
Niels KristensenOve NielsenPeter HansenBent Blach PetersenEivin Kristensen
44EgyptEGY7:52.8
Wagih El-AttarMohamed El-SahrawiMamdooh El-AttarHamza AmeraAlbert Mankabadi

Heat #3

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
13CzechoslovakiaTCH7:16.6Q
Karel Mejta, Sr.Jiří HavlisJan JindraStanislav LuskMiroslav Koranda
24NorwayNOR7:21.6Q
Bjørn ChristoffersenArnfinn LarsenWilhelm HaydenThor NilsenLeif Andersen
31NetherlandsNED7:24.9
Ton FontaniHan HeijenbrockJan Willem PenninkJaap BeijeHans Caro
42JapanJPN7:29.8
Kosuke MatsuoRyuji GotoKazuo KandaToshiya TakeuchiTamatsu Kogure

Heat #4

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
12SwitzerlandSUI7:20.7Q
Rico BianchiKarl WeidmannHeini SchellerÉmile EssWalter Leiser
21ArgentinaARG7:24.4Q
Juan EckerRoberto SuárezAlfredo CzernerJorge SchneiderJorge Arripe
34Unified Team of GermanyGER7:24.8
Günther TwiesselmannKlaus SchulzeHeinz BeyerGerd VogeleyHans-Joachim Wiemken
43New ZealandNZL7:25.2
Ted JohnsonJohn O'BrienKerry AshbyBill TinnockColin Johnstone

Round One Repêchage

Date21 July 1952 — 9:00
FormatWinner of each heat advanced to semi-final repêchage.

Heat #1

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
12ItalyITA7:06.0Q
Albino TrevisanAmedeo ScarpiAbbondio SmerghettoTarquinio AngiolinDomenico Cambieri
21New ZealandNZL7:07.3
Ted JohnsonJohn O'BrienKerry AshbyBill TinnockColin Johnstone
33JapanJPN7:13.9
Kosuke MatsuoRyuji GotoKazuo KandaToshiya TakeuchiTamatsu Kogure

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
11DenmarkDEN7:03.4Q
Niels KristensenOve NielsenPeter HansenBent Blach PetersenEivin Kristensen
22Unified Team of GermanyGER7:04.6
Günther TwiesselmannKlaus SchulzeHeinz BeyerGerd VogeleyHans-Joachim Wiemken
33SpainESP7:06.9
Salvador CostaMiguel PalauFrancisco GironellaPedro MassanaLuis Omedes

Heat #3

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
13FinlandFIN7:00.7Q
Kurt GrönholmPaul StråhlmanBirger KarlssonKarl-Erik JohanssonAntero Tukiainen
21NetherlandsNED7:04.2
Ton FontaniHan HeijenbrockJan Willem PenninkJaap BeijeHans Caro
32EgyptEGY7:21.0
Wagih El-AttarMohamed El-SahrawiMamdooh El-AttarHamza AmeraAlbert Mankabadi

Semi-Finals

Date21 July 1952 — 16:00
FormatWinner of each heat advanced to final. All others advanced to semi-final repêchage.

Heat #1

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
14United StatesUSA7:07.6Q
Carl LovstedAl UlbricksonRichard WahlstromMatt LeandersonAl Rossi
22FranceFRA7:11.2
André GoursolleRobert TexierGuy NosbaumClaude MartinDidier Moreau
33NorwayNOR7:12.6
Bjørn ChristoffersenArnfinn LarsenWilhelm HaydenThor NilsenLeif Andersen
41ArgentinaARG7:14.6
Juan EckerRoberto SuárezAlfredo CzernerJorge SchneiderJorge Arripe

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
13CzechoslovakiaTCH6:58.5Q
Karel Mejta, Sr.Jiří HavlisJan JindraStanislav LuskMiroslav Koranda
21SwitzerlandSUI6:59.2
Rico BianchiKarl WeidmannHeini SchellerÉmile EssWalter Leiser
34Great BritainGBR7:04.1
Peter de GilesPaul MasseyJohn MacMillanGraham FiskLawrence Guest
42Soviet UnionURS7:11.6
Kirill PutyrskyYevgeny TretnikovGeorgy GushchenkoBoris FyodorovBoris Brechko

Semi-Finals Repêchage

Date22 July 1952 — 9:00
FormatWinner of each heat advanced to final

Heat #1

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
11FinlandFIN7:03.5Q
Kurt GrönholmPaul StråhlmanBirger KarlssonKarl-Erik JohanssonAntero Tukiainen
23Soviet UnionURS7:05.1
Kirill PutyrskyYevgeny TretnikovGeorgy GushchenkoBoris FyodorovBoris Brechko
32FranceFRA7:09.4
André GoursolleRobert TexierGuy NosbaumClaude MartinDidier Moreau

Heat #2

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
13SwitzerlandSUI7:02.3Q
Rico BianchiKarl WeidmannHeini SchellerÉmile EssWalter Leiser
21ItalyITA7:06.0
Albino TrevisanAmedeo ScarpiAbbondio SmerghettoTarquinio AngiolinDomenico Cambieri
32ArgentinaARG7:14.8
Juan EckerRoberto SuárezAlfredo CzernerJorge SchneiderJorge Arripe

Heat #3

PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
13Great BritainGBR7:02.3Q
Peter de GilesPaul MasseyJohn MacMillanGraham FiskLawrence Guest
22NorwayNOR7:06.6
Bjørn ChristoffersenArnfinn LarsenWilhelm HaydenThor NilsenLeif Andersen
31DenmarkDEN7:08.6
Niels KristensenOve NielsenPeter HansenBent Blach PetersenEivin Kristensen

Final Round

Date23 July 1952 — 16:00
PosLaneCompetitorsNOCTime
11CzechoslovakiaTCH7:33.4
Karel Mejta, Sr.Jiří HavlisJan JindraStanislav LuskMiroslav Koranda
22SwitzerlandSUI7:36.5
Rico BianchiKarl WeidmannHeini SchellerÉmile EssWalter Leiser
33United StatesUSA7:37.0
Carl LovstedAl UlbricksonRichard WahlstromMatt LeandersonAl Rossi
44Great BritainGBR7:41.2
Peter de GilesPaul MasseyJohn MacMillanGraham FiskLawrence Guest
55FinlandFIN7:43.8
Kurt GrönholmPaul StråhlmanBirger KarlssonKarl-Erik JohanssonAntero Tukiainen