Olympic countdown: lightweight men's four

The historical record of the lightweight men’s four is rather short. It was first added to the Olympic programme in 1996 and, thus, has now featured at five Olympic Games. At the World Championship level, the lightweight four was first seen in 1974.

Right from the beginning the lightweight four got a reputation for exciting racing and incredibly close finishes. This is in part due to each crew having to comply with the same average weight of 70kg. Denmark was the first to take Olympic gold and it was not long before they established themselves as the country to beat – a position that remains to this day.

Denmark’s success has seen the crew find fame among Danish people with it known as the Guldfireren (golden four). In 1996 Denmark debuted the boat class by winning gold. They took bronze four years later at the Sydney 2000 Olympics after a last minute crew change. In 2004 and 2008 they were back winning gold and in 2012 they were the bronze medallists.

The name Eskild Ebbesen stands out through all of these medals. Ebbesen was in all of the Danish crews, from 1996 to 2012, when he raced in stroke seat to bronze as a 40-year-old. Ebbesen was part of the Danish style embraced a high stroke rate for as much of the race as possible. Next to Ebbesen, Thomas Ebert was part of three Olympic boats. Both of these rowers are ranked in the top 20 all time Olympic Champions (men).

The two remaining Olympic gold medal spots have gone to France (Sydney 2000) and South Africa (London 2012). For South Africa this was their first ever Olympic gold in rowing and as the strokeman, Lawrence Ndlovu became the first black South African to win Olympic gold.

Leading into the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, New Zealand has proved to be the stand out crew with wins at both World Rowing Cups that they have entered. At World Rowing Cup II in Lucerne (SUI), this win was ahead of the 2015 World Champions, Switzerland who also are angling for the top spot in Rio. They won World Rowing Cup I in April and also took gold at the 2016 European Rowing Championships. 

All-time dream crew in the lightweight men’s four

By Martin Cross

Using more than a century of modern rowing, Martin Cross looks at the sport’s legendary performers and plays selector. This is his pick of the best lightweight men’s four ever.

Stroke: Eskild Ebbesen (DEN)
A sporting legend and role model to many, Ebbesen’s influence as the anchor man of Denmark’s amazing lightweight four transcends the worlds of both lightweight and open-weight rowing.  Between 1996 and 2012, Ebbesen not only won three Olympic titles but also added two bronze medals to his collection. He won two of those golds from the stroke seat, with his charismatic, high-rating style.

3 Seat – Bjarne Eltang (DEN)
Eltang, a striking world lightweight singles champion in 1983 and 1984 gets the 3 seat ahead of a strong field. The Dane also proved his ability in a rowing boat earlier in his career. But two races in particular stood out from a stellar career: the 1988 Olympic doubles final, where he and his partner finished sixth and the Diamond Sculls at Henley royal Regatta in 1986, where Eltang famously beat the much heavier favourite, Steve Redgrave, in the final. 

2 Seat – James Thompson (RSA)
‘He’s the best lightweight rower in the world at the moment.’ In 2014, that was the verdict of the South African Olympic Champion oarsman, John Smith. He was speaking about his crewmate, James Thompson. Together the two men had been part of the four that provided South Africa’s first ever Olympic rowing gold. In 2014 the two men broke the World Best Time to win the lightweight men’s double sculls in Amsterdam. Whatever it is, Thompson clearly has the ‘X’ factor. It’s that star quality that wins him a seat in this most competitive of boats.

Bow Francsco Esposito (ITA)
Between 1980 and 1994 the Italian sculling star won nine world championship gold medals – many in the lightweight men’s double sculls. His versatility – particularly his ability to adapt to other partners was amazing. Veteran coach Thor Nilsen said of Esposito; ‘He was only 1.68m tall but he rowed like a man of two metres.’

Statistics and links

Videos

Olympic Games – London 2012 

World Rowing Championships – Aiguebelette 2015 

World Rowing Championships – Amsterdam 2014

World Rowing Championships – Chungju 2013

Olympic Qualification (as of 10 June 2016)

World Best Time
5:43.16  DEN       2014 World Rowing Championships, Amsterdam, 29 Aug 2014

Olympic Best Time
5:47.76  DEN       2008 Olympic Games, Beijing, 17 Aug 2008