Rowing at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's coxed four

Men's coxed fours
at the Games of the II Olympiad
Rowing pictogram
VenueSeine
Dates25–26 August
Competitors51 from 4 nations
Winning time7:11.0
5:59.0
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Cercle de l'Aviron Roubaix
 France
1st place, gold medalist(s) Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club
 Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Club Nautique de Lyon
 France
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Minerva Amsterdam
 Netherlands
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Favorite Hammonia
 Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ludwigshafener Ruderverein
 Germany
1912 →

The men's coxed four was one of the competitions in the Rowing at the 1900 Summer Olympics events in Paris. The competition was plagued by controversy involving which boats should advance to the final. In one of the most unusual decisions in Olympic history, two separate finals were held for the event, each of which is still considered an Olympic championship by the International Olympic Committee. The crews of all six boats to compete in the two finals are Olympic medallists.

The coxed four event was held from 25 to 26 August 1900. Ten boats, involving fifty-one rowers from four nations, competed.[1] The first final, featuring the three fastest losers from the semifinals, was won by a crew from the Cercle de l'Aviron Roubaix club of France, with another French crew (Club Nautique de Lyon) coming second and German team Favorite Hammonia third. The second final, featuring the semifinal winners, was won by Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club of Germany, with Dutch side Minerva Amsterdam finishing second and German crew Ludwigshafener Ruderverein third.

Background

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This was the first appearance of the event. Rowing had been on the programme in 1896 but was cancelled due to bad weather. The coxed four was one of the four initial events introduced in 1900. It was not held in 1904 or 1908, but was held at every Games from 1912 to 1992 when it (along with the men's coxed pair) was replaced with the men's lightweight double sculls and men's lightweight coxless four.[2]

Competition format

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The coxed four event featured five-person boats, with four rowers and a coxswain. It was a sweep rowing event, with the rowers each having one oar (and thus each rowing on one side). The tournament featured two rounds: semifinals and a final. There were three semifinals, each with three or four boats.

The original format provided for the three semifinal winners, plus the second-place boat in the third semifinal (with four competitors), advancing to the final. In other words, the last two boats in each semifinal would be eliminated.[2]

The distance for each race was 1750 metres, rather than the 2000 metres which was becoming standard even at the time (and has been used in the Olympics since 1912, except in 1948).[3]

Controversy

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After the runner-up in the second semifinal and the third-place boat in the third semifinal, who should have been eliminated, had faster times than the winner of the first semifinal, the officials decided to hold another qualifying race. However, as the officials could not contact all of the teams involved, this race was scratched.

The officials later decided to have a six-boat final with the semifinal winners and the three fastest losers competing: as the course had been designed for a maximum of four boats, this was a preposterous decision, and the semifinal winners boycotted the final in protest.[2]

Following this fiasco, the officials decided to have a second final with the three semifinal winners plus the winner of the first final (Cercle de l'Aviron Roubaix) competing. However, this decision would have seen the first final become a de facto repechage: for this reason, as well as the fact they had already won the event under the rules in effect when the first final was held, the Cercle de l'Aviron Roubaix rowers flatly declined to compete in the second final.

Thus, the second final consisted only of the semifinal winners, resulting in two sets of medals being awarded for the event.[2]

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Saturday, 25 August 1900 16:15 Semifinals
Sunday, 26 August 1900 14:00 Finals

Results

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Semifinals

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Initially, the top boat in each semifinal plus the runner-up in the third semifinal (which had four boats instead of the three boats competing in each of the other two), were to advance. Following protests which ensued after the runner-up in the second semifinal and the third-place boat in the third semifinal each posted better times than the winner of the first, the qualification rules for the final were altered. Eventually, the six boats were broken into two groups and competed in separate finals. The runners-up in semifinals 2 and 3 as well as the third-place boat in semifinal 3 competed in the first final, while the three semifinal winners competed in the second.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Boat Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 Ludwigshafener Ruderverein Franz Kröwerath  Germany 6:14.0 Q2
2 Royal Barcelona Maritime Club Antonio Vela  Spain 6:38.4
3 Club Nautique de France Unknown  France 6:40.0

Semifinal 2

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Rank Boat Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 Minerva Amsterdam Hermanus Brockmann  Netherlands 6:02.0 Q2
2 Club Nautique de Lyon Unknown  France 6:06.2 Q1
Société Nautique de la Marne Unknown  France DNF

Semifinal 3

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Rank Boat Rowers Coxswain Nation Time Notes
1 Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club Carl Goßler  Germany 5:56.2 Q2
2 Cercle de l'Aviron Roubaix Charlot  France 5:59.0 Q1
3 Favorite Hammonia Gustav Moths[4]  Germany 6:03.0 Q1
4 Club Nautique de Dieppe Unknown  France 6:20.0

Finals

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Final 1

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Rank Boat Rowers Coxswain Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Cercle de l'Aviron Roubaix Charlot  France 7:11.0
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Club Nautique de Lyon Unknown  France 7:18.0
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Favorite Hammonia Max Ammermann[4]  Germany 7:18.2

Final 2

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Rank Boat Rowers Coxswain Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club Carl Goßler  Germany 5:59.0
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Minerva Amsterdam Hermanus Brockmann  Netherlands 6:03.0
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ludwigshafener Ruderverein Franz Kröwerath  Germany 6:05.0

Results summary

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Rank Boat Rowers Coxswain Nation Semifinals Finals
1st place, gold medalist(s) Der Hamburger und Germania Ruder Club Gustav Goßler
Oscar Goßler
Walther Katzenstein
Waldemar Tietgens
Carl Goßler  Germany 5:56.2 5:59.0
Final 2
Cercle de l'Aviron Roubaix Henri Bouckaert
Jean Cau
Émile Delchambre
Henri Hazebrouck
Charlot  France 5:59.0 7:11.0
Final 1
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Minerva Amsterdam Coenraad Hiebendaal
Geert Lotsij
Paul Lotsij
Johannes Terwogt
Hermanus Brockmann  Netherlands 6:02.0 6:03.0
Final 2
Club Nautique de Lyon Georges Lumpp
Charles Perrin
Daniel Soubeyran
Émile Wegelin
Unknown  France 6:06.2 7:18.0
Final 1
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Ludwigshafener Ruderverein Ernst Felle
Otto Fickeisen
Carl Lehle
Hermann Wilker
Franz Kröwerath  Germany 6:14.0 6:05.0
Final 2
Favorite Hammonia Wilhelm Carstens
Julius Körner
Adolf Möller
Hugo Rüster
Gustav Moths (semis)
Max Ammermann (final)
 Germany 6:03.0 7:18.2
Final 1
7 Club Nautique de Dieppe Angot
Henri Delabarre
Robert Gelée
Maison
Unknown  France 6:20.0 Did not advance
8 Royal Barcelona Maritime Club Juan Camps
José Fórmica
Ricardo Margarit
Orestes Quintana
Antonio Vela  Spain 6:38.4
9 Club Nautique de France René Beslaud
Léon Deslinières
Peyronnie
Saurel
Unknown  France 6:40.0
Société Nautique de la Marne Paul Cocuet
Jules Demaré
Clément Dorlia
René Waleff
Unknown  France DNF

References

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  1. ^ "Rowing at the 1900 Paris Summer Games: Men's Coxed Fours". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d "Coxed Fours (2), Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Why Do We Race 2000m? The History Behind the Distance". World Rowing. 1 May 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b The German team changed the coxswain after the semifinal. Gustav Moths participated only in the semifinal and Max Ammermann participated in the final. However, the IOC medal database credits the bronze medal only to Gustav Moths.
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