Rowing at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's coxless four
The men's coxless four competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics took place at the rowing basin on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was held from 18 to 25 July and was won by the team from East Germany.
Background
The East German team was the undisputed favourite going into this event. Over the last few years, their rowers had won this class at almost all major regattas. After West Germany won the inaugural world championships in 1962, East Germany won all subsequent events in 1966, 1970, and 1974. Of the last four European Rowing Championships, they won gold in three of four of the events, and bronze in 1969. Other favourites included the Soviet Union and West Germany.Previous M4- competitions
Results
Heats
Heat 1
Heat 2
Heat 3
The five teams in heat 3 of the elimination round eventually took the first five places in the A final.| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Siegfried Brietzke Andreas Decker Wolfgang Mager Stefan Semmler | 6:02.55 | SF | |
| 2 | Raul Arnemann Valeriy Dolinin Anushavan Gassan-Dzhalalov Nikolay Kuznetsov | 6:05.57 | SF | |
| 3 | David Lindstrom Des Lock Grant McAuley Bob Murphy | 6:06.40 | SF | |
| 4 | Rolf Andreassen Arne Bergodd Ole Nafstad Finn Tveter | 6:06.70 | R | |
| 5 | Brian Dick Ian Gordon Phil Monckton Andrew van Ruyven | 6:13.09 | R |
Repechage
The Norwegian and Argentinian teams changed three seats. The teams from Canada, Romania, and Finland changed all four seats.| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ole Nafstad Arne Bergodd Finn Tveter Rolf Andreassen | 6:08.66 | SF | |
| 2 | Andrew van Ruyven Phil Monckton Ian Gordon Brian Dick | 6:08.69 | SF | |
| 3 | Nicolae Simion Ernest Gal Ștefan Tudor Dumitru Grumezescu | 6:09.55 | SF | |
| 4 | Erkka Mattila Matti Salminen Jorma Hurme Pekka Pietilä | 6:21.54 | ||
| 5 | Martin Feeley Iain Kennedy Jaye Renehan Andy McDonough | 6:29.27 | ||
| 6 | Jorge Molina Marcelo Gismondi Juan Tuma Carlos Denari | 6:30.56 |
Semifinals
Heat 1
The East German team swapped seats 3 and 4. The teams from Great Britain and Bulgaria swapped all four seats.| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Siegfried Brietzke Andreas Decker Stefan Semmler Wolfgang Mager | 5:53.65 | SA | |
| 2 | Andrew van Ruyven Phil Monckton Ian Gordon Brian Dick | 5:59.21 | SA | |
| 3 | David Lindstrom Des Lock Grant McAuley Bob Murphy | 6:00.82 | SA | |
| 4 | Tony Brooks Jim Moroney Gary Piantedosi Hugh Stevenson | 6:03.79 | SB | |
| 5 | Todor Mrankov Dimitar Yanakiev Rumyan Khristov Dimitar Valov | 6:06.58 | SB | |
| 6 | Neil Keron David Townsend Richard Ayling Bill Mason | 6:08.71 | SB |
Heat 2
The teams from the Soviet Union and Belgium changed all four seats. West Germany replaced Klaus Meyer with Klaus Roloff, and only the stroke remained in his seat. Italy changed three seats.| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ole Nafstad Arne Bergodd Finn Tveter Rolf Andreassen | 6:02.84 | SA | |
| 2 | Valeriy Dolinin Anushavan Gassan-Dzhalalov Nikolay Kuznetsov Raul Arnemann | 6:03.05 | SA | |
| 3 | Bernhard Fölkel Klaus Roloff Wolfgang Horak Gabriel Konertz | 6:05.39 | SA | |
| 4 | Nicolae Simion Ernest Gal Ștefan Tudor Dumitru Grumezescu | 6:07.71 | SB | |
| 5 | Matteo Caglieris Enzo Lanzarini Natale Spinello Pellegrino Croce | 6:09.76 | SB | |
| 6 | Johan Ghoos Paul De Weert Jozef Jordaens Frank Dedecker | 6:18.33 | SB |
Finals
B final
The Bulgarian team changed three of the seats.| Rank | Rower | Country | Time |
| 7 | Dimitar Valov Dimitar Yanakiev Todor Mrankov Rumyan Khristov | 6:41.36 | |
| 8 | Tony Brooks Jim Moroney Gary Piantedosi Hugh Stevenson | 6:43.06 | |
| 9 | Nicolae Simion Ernest Gal Ștefan Tudor Dumitru Grumezescu | 6:43.96 | |
| 10 | Johan Ghoos Paul De Weert Jozef Jordaens Frank Dedecker | 6:47.51 | |
| 11 | Matteo Caglieris Enzo Lanzarini Natale Spinello Pellegrino Croce | 6:48.11 | |
| 12 | Neil Keron David Townsend Richard Ayling Bill Mason | 6:53.02 |
A final
For the second time, the Soviet Union changed all four seats. The New Zealand team changed all four seats. The Canadians changed three seats. As expected, East Germany won the gold medal; they had dominated all their races and won their qualifying heat 12 seconds faster than the other heats. The surprise winner of the silver medal was the team from Norway, who left the much more highly rated Soviet Union with bronze.| Rank | Rower | Country | Time |
| Siegfried Brietzke Andreas Decker Stefan Semmler Wolfgang Mager | 6:37.42 | ||
| Ole Nafstad Arne Bergodd Finn Tveter Rolf Andreassen | 6:41.22 | ||
| Raul Arnemann Nikolay Kuznetsov Valeriy Dolinin Anushavan Gassan-Dzhalalov | 6:42.52 | ||
| 4 | Bob Murphy Grant McAuley Des Lock David Lindstrom | 6:43.23 | |
| 5 | Brian Dick Phil Monckton Andrew van Ruyven Ian Gordon | 6:46.11 | |
| 6 | Bernhard Fölkel Klaus Roloff Wolfgang Horak Gabriel Konertz | 6:47.44 |