Rowing at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's eight
The men's coxed eight competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Casitas in Ventura County, California, United States. It was held from 31 July to 5 August. New Zealand had won the last two world championships, and the other strong team, East Germany, was absent from the event due to the Eastern Bloc boycott. This made New Zealand the strong favourite. But the final was won by Canada, with the USA and Australia the other medallists, and New Zealand coming a disappointing fourth.
Background
East Germany had for many years been the dominating country for this boat class. From the 1976 Summer Olympics to the 1980 Summer Olympics, the country won every gold at Olympic and World Rowing Championships level. At the 1981 World Rowing Championships, East Germany came in fourth place, with the Soviet Union winning gold. In 1982 and 1983, the event was won by New Zealand, with East Germany coming second on both occasions. With the Eastern Bloc boycott affecting the 1984 Summer Olympics, New Zealand was thus regarded as the strong favourite. Another medal contender was the United States; they had won the 1983 Pan American Games.Previous M8+ competitions
Results
Heats
The two heats in round one were rowed on 31 July. The winner of each heat advanced to the final, while the remaining teams went to the repechage.Heat 1
Heat 2
Repechage
One heat was rowed in the repechage on 2 August. All five teams advanced to the final.Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
1 | Craig Muller Clyde Hefer Samuel Patten Tim Willoughby Ian Edmunds James Battersby Ion Popa Stephen Evans Gavin Thredgold | 5:51.68 | FA | |
2 | Blair Horn Dean Crawford J. Michael Evans Paul Steele Grant Main Mark Evans Kevin Neufeld Pat Turner Brian McMahon | 5:56.44 | FA | |
3 | Duncan McDougall Chris Mahoney Salih Hassan Clive Roberts Adam Clift John Pritchard Malcolm McGowan Allan Whitwell Colin Moynihan | 6:00.45 | FA | |
4 | Mario Castro Carlos Neyra Zibor Llanos Giorgio Vallebuona Alejandro Rojas Víctor Contreras Rodolfo Pereira Marcelo Rojas Rodrigo Abasolo | 6:10.98 | FA | |
5 | Alain Duprat Dominique Lecointe Thierry Louvet Patrick Vibert-Vichet Jacques Taborski Jean-Jacques Martigne Olivier Pons Bernard Chevalier Jean-Pierre Huguet-Balent | 6:18.71 | FA |
Final
All seven teams that entered the competition rowed in a single final on 5 August.Rank | Rower | Country | Time |
Blair Horn Dean Crawford J. Michael Evans Paul Steele Grant Main Mark Evans Kevin Neufeld Pat Turner Brian McMahon | 5:41.32 | ||
Chip Lubsen Andrew Sudduth John Terwilliger Chris Penny Tom Darling Fred Borchelt Charles Clapp Bruce Ibbetson Bob Jaugstetter | 5:41.74 | ||
Craig Muller Clyde Hefer Samuel Patten Tim Willoughby Ian Edmunds James Battersby Ion Popa Stephen Evans Gavin Thredgold | 5:43.40 | ||
4 | Nigel Atherfold Dave Rodger Roger White-Parsons George Keys Greg Johnston Chris White Andrew Stevenson Mike Stanley Andy Hay | 5:44.14 | |
5 | Duncan McDougall Chris Mahoney Salih Hassan Clive Roberts Adam Clift John Pritchard Malcolm McGowan Allan Whitwell Colin Moynihan | 5:47.01 | |
6 | Alain Duprat Dominique Lecointe Thierry Louvet Patrick Vibert-Vichet Jacques Taborski Jean-Jacques Martigne Olivier Pons Bernard Chevalier Jean-Pierre Huguet-Balent | 5:49.52 | |
7 | Mario Castro Carlos Neyra Zibor Llanos Giorgio Vallebuona Alejandro Rojas Víctor Contreras Rodolfo Pereira Marcelo Rojas Rodrigo Abasolo | 6:07.03 |