The men's eight competition was one of six events for male competitors in Rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. It was held from 15 to 22 August.
The field was competitive. Canada was favoured, with wins at the 2002 and 2003 World Championships as well as Grand Challenge Cup victories in those years. But there were numerous strong contenders, including the United States (2003 Pan American champions, 2003 World runners-up), Romania (2001 World champions), Great Britain (defending Olympic champions), and the Netherlands (2004 Grand Challenge Cup winners). Races were held in up to six lanes.
The competition consisted of two main rounds (semifinals and finals) as well as a repechage.
- Semifinals: Two heats of four or five boats each. The top boat in each heat (2 boats total) advanced directly to the "A" final, while all other boats (7 total) went to the repechage.
- Repechage: Two heats of three or four boats each. The top two boats in each heat (4 boats total) rejoined the semifinal winners in the "A" final, with the 3rd and 4th place boats in each heat (3 boats total) eliminated from medal contention and competing in the "B" final.
- Finals: The "A" final consisted of the top six boats, awarding medals and 4th through 6th place. The "B" final featured the next three boats, ranking them 7th through 9th.
Schedule
<small>All times are Greece Standard Time (UTC+2)</small>
{| class="wikitable"
! Date
! Time
! Round
|-
| Sunday, 15 August 2004 || 10:29 || Semifinals
|-
| Wednesday, 18 August 2004 || 11:20 || Repechage
|-
| Saturday, 21 August 2004 || 12:00 || Final B
|- style=background:lemonchiffon
| Sunday, 22 August 2004 || 10:30 || Final A
|}
Results
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Rank || Rowers || Coxswain || Nation || Time || Notes
|- bgcolor=bbf3bb
| 1
| ||align=left| Michael Toon
|align=left|
| 5:23.23 ||
|- bgcolor=bbf9ff
| 2
| ||align=left| Chun Wei Cheung
|align=left|
| 5:25.26 ||
|- bgcolor=bbf9ff
| 3
| ||align=left| Peter Thiede
|align=left|
| 5:27.72 ||
|- bgcolor=bbf9ff
| 4
| ||align=left| Christophe Lattaignant
|align=left|
| 5:29.55 ||
|- bgcolor=bbf9ff
| 5
| ||align=left| Daniel Trojanowski
|align=left|
| 5:30.08 ||
|}
Semifinal 2
The second heat of the men's eight was a particularly intense match as the United States pulled ahead of Canada (undefeated since 2001) in the last 500 metres. The Canadian eight was a favourite for the gold, whereas the American eight had never before been tried internationally. Both boats beat the world's best time for the men's eight, and the United States advanced directly to the finals while Canada went to the repechage.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Rank || Rowers || Coxswain || Nation || Time || Notes
|- bgcolor=bbf3bb
| 1
| ||align=left| Peter Cipollone
|align=left|
| 5:19.85 || ,
|- bgcolor=bbf9ff
| 2
| ||align=left| Brian Price
|align=left|
| 5:20.46 ||
|- bgcolor=bbf9ff
| 3
| ||align=left| Gaetano Iannuzzi
|align=left|
| 5:30.16 ||
|- bgcolor=bbf9ff
| 4
| ||align=left| Christian Cormack
|align=left|
| 5:32.26 ||
|}
Repechage
Repechage heat 1
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Rank || Rowers || Coxswain || Nation || Time || Notes
|- bgcolor=bbf3bb
| 1
| ||align=left| Chun Wei Cheung
|align=left|
| 5:31.92 ||
|- bgcolor=bbf3bb
| 2
| ||align=left| Christophe Lattaignant
|align=left|
| 5:34.20 ||
|- bgcolor=bbf9ff
| 3
| ||align=left| Gaetano Iannuzzi
|align=left|
| 5:34.56 ||
|}
Repechage heat 2
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Rank || Rowers || Coxswain || Nation || Time || Notes
|- bgcolor=bbf3bb
| 1
| ||align=left| Brian Price
|align=left|
| 5:32.51 ||
|- bgcolor=bbf3bb
| 2
| ||align=left| Peter Thiede
|align=left|
| 5:33.07 ||
|- bgcolor=bbf9ff
| 3
| ||align=left| Christian Cormack
|align=left|
| 5:34.37 ||
|- bgcolor=bbf9ff
| 4
| ||align=left| Daniel Trojanowski
|align=left|
| 5:36.75 ||
|}
Finals
Final B
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Rank || Rowers || Coxswain || Nation || Time
|-
| 7
| ||align=left| Gaetano Iannuzzi
|align=left|
|5:49.43
|-
| 8
| ||align=left| Daniel Trojanowski
|align=left|
|5:51.66
|-
| 9
| ||align=left| Christian Cormack
|align=left|
|5:53.31
|}
Final A
The United States established an early lead. By the 1000 meter mark (halfway), they had a three-second advantage (one length) over Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands who were all battling for second place. In the final 1000 meters, the Netherlands made a run at the United States, finishing 1.3 seconds short. Australia maintained its position three seconds behind the United States while Germany and Canada fell off the pace and France trailed in sixth place. The fifth-place finish was a major disappointment for Canada, the two-time defending World Champions.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center"
! Rank || Rowers || Coxswain || Nation || Time
|-
|
| ||align=left| Peter Cipollone
|align=left|
|5:42.48
|-
|
| ||align=left| Chun Wei Cheung
|align=left|
|5:43.75
|-
|
| ||align=left| Michael Toon
|align=left|
|5:45.38
|-
| 4
| ||align=left| Peter Thiede
|align=left|
|5:49.43
|-
| 5
| ||align=left| Brian Price
|align=left|
|5:51.66
|-
| 6
| ||align=left| Christophe Lattaignant
|align=left|
|5:53.31
|}
References
External links
- Official Olympic Report