Rowing at the Summer Olympics
Rowing at the Summer Olympics has been part of the competition since its debut in the 1900 Summer Olympics. Rowing was on the program at the 1896 Summer Olympics but was cancelled due to bad weather. Only men were allowed to compete until the women's events were introduced at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal which gave national federations the incentive to support women's events and catalysed growth in women's rowing. Lightweight rowing events were introduced to the games in 1996.
Qualifying for the rowing events is under the jurisdiction of the International Rowing Federation. FISA predates the modern Olympics and was the first international sport federation to join the modern Olympic movement.
Events
At the 2016 and other recent Olympics the following 14 events were offered:- Men: Single sculls, Double sculls, Quadruple sculls, Coxless pair, Coxless four, Eight.
- Lightweight Men: Double sculls, Coxless four
- Women: Single sculls, Double sculls, Quad sculls, Coxless pair, Eight
- Lightweight Women: Double sculls
To satisfy the IOC's aim for gender equality it has been proposed that from the 2020 Olympics onwards the men's lightweight fours will be removed and the women's coxless fours reintroduced. The IOC accepted that proposal in June 2017.
In the early games there were several other categories of events. A number of other boat classes have made an appearance at several games but have been subsequently dropped – as recently as the 1990s. The primary loss has been in boats with coxswains, except for the eights, which have always been coxed. These were:
- Men's Coxed Pair
- Men's Coxed Four
- Women's Coxed Four
- Women's Coxed Quad Sculls
- Men's Coxed Four with Inriggers
- Six-Man Naval Rowing Boats
- 17-Man Naval Rowing Boats
Race distances
Today all races are raced over a 2000 m course, but this did not become standard before the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. Before this it was raced over various distances. In Paris in 1900, in St. Louis in 1904, in London in 1908, and again in London in 1948. The 1908 and 1948 were held over the Henley Royal Regatta course.Women's races were raced over 1,000 meters until 1988 when they were changed to 2,000 meters.
Early games featured match races between two or three boats.
The modern six boat side-by-side format was first adopted at the 1936 Olympic Games, and has been the standard since the 1956 Olympic Games.
Qualification
There is a limited number of crews permitted to race, so the International Rowing Federation holds qualification events in order to determine who competes at the Olympic Games. At the Olympic Games, each National Olympic Committee can only have one boat per event.The main qualification comes from the previous year's World Rowing Championships. Other qualifying events are called "Continental Qualification Regattas", of which four are held during the year preceding the games - Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Final. Each year FISA issues details of how many crews qualify at each regatta.
At the World Championships, the top finishing boats guarantee a place for that country - the rowers in the crew can be changed before the games. At the qualification regattas, it is the crew that wins that qualifies for the Olympics, and if members of that crew race in the Olympics they must race in that event.
Medal table
The numbers below are after the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.Rowing medal leaders (by Summer Olympiad)
Multiple medalists
The table shows those who have won at least 3 gold medals.| Athlete | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Notes |
| 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 20 years between first and last gold medal | |
| 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | Gold medals in 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996 and 2000. Only endurance athlete to win Olympic gold at five consecutive games. | |
| 2000, 2004, 2008 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | Won the pair and the eights in both 2000 and 2004, and the pair again in 2008 | |
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | Part of Romania's three-straight gold medalist eight | |
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | Four straight Olympic golds. Bronze in her final Olympics in the Quadruple Sculls | |
| 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | Won three medals in the women's eight, and two in the pair | |
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Four straight Olympic golds. Won with Steve Redgrave in the pair in 1992 and 1996. In the coxless four in 2000 and in 2004 | |
| 1920, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1936 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | First rower to win a medal at 5 straight Olympics. WWII prevented the opportunity for a sixth medal | |
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | Won three gold medals in the women's lightweight double sculls | |
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | Coxswain of Romania's women's eight | |
| 1996, 2004, 2008, 2012 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | Member of the Oarsome Foursome | |
| 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | Won all his medals in the lightweight coxless four | |
| 1992, 1996 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Along with rowing partner Kathleen Heddle, Canadian with the most gold medals | |
| 1992, 1996 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Won all her medals with rowing partner Marnie McBean | |
| 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | Most medaled Australian rower | |
| 1920, 1924 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | First rower to win 3 gold medals. Father of movie star turned princess Grace Kelly | |
| 1920, 1924, 1928 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | First man to win 3 gold medals in the same event, the double sculls. Cousin of John B. Kelly Sr. | |
| 1956, 1960, 1964 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Won all his medals in the single sculls | |
| 1972, 1976, 1980 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | First German triple gold medalist. Won in the pair and the coxless four | |
| 1976, 1980, 1984 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Won all his medals in the single sculls | |
| 1988, 1996, 2000 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | His brothers Carmine and Giuseppe each won 2 gold medals. | |
| 1996, 2000, 2004 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Won all three medals in Romania's women's eight | |
| 2008, 2012, 2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Won all three medals in USA women's eight | |
| 2008, 2012, 2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Two wins in coxless four, then in eight | |
| 2008, 2012, 2016 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Two wins in coxless four, then in eight |