Rowing at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's coxless four
The men's coxless four competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place at took place at Han River Regatta Course, South Korea.
Competition format
The competition consisted of three main rounds as well as a repechage. The 15 boats were divided into three heats for the first round, with 5 boats in each heat. The top three boats in each heat advanced directly to the semifinals. The remaining 6 boats were placed in the repechage. The repechage featured a single heat, with the top three boats advancing to the semifinals and the remaining 3 boats being eliminated. The 12 semifinalist boats were divided into two heats of 6 boats each. The top three boats in each semifinal advanced to the "A" final to compete for medals and 4th through 6th place; the bottom three boats in each semifinal were sent to the "B" final for 7th through 12th.All races were over a 2000 metre course.
Results
Heats
Heat 1
| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6:05.65 | |||
| 2 | 6:07.97 | |||
| 3 | 6:11.15 | |||
| 4 | 6:19.12 | |||
| 5 | 6:39.28 |
Heat 2
| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6:03.67 | |||
| 2 | 6:06.75 | |||
| 3 | 6:13.16 | |||
| 4 | 6:22.42 | |||
| 5 | 6:28.34 |
Heat 3
| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6:06.52 | |||
| 2 | 6:08.76 | |||
| 3 | 6:17.24 | |||
| 4 | 6:29.61 | |||
| 5 | 6:46.62 |
Repechage
| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6:14.52 | |||
| 2 | 6:16.88 | |||
| 3 | 6:17.49 | |||
| 4 | 6:18.25 | |||
| 5 | 6:30.85 | |||
| 6 | 6:50.47 |
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6:00.29 | |||
| 2 | 6:03.25 | |||
| 3 | 6:03.85 | |||
| 4 | 6:06.60 | |||
| 5 | 6:14.96 | |||
| 6 | 6:22.35 |
Semifinal 2
| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 6:04.17 | |||
| 2 | 6:06.75 | |||
| 3 | 6:07.71 | |||
| 4 | 6:10.36 | |||
| 5 | 6:16.28 | |||
| 6 | 6:37.24 |
Finals
Final B
| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time |
| 7 | 6:04.74 | ||
| 8 | 6:08.60 | ||
| 9 | 6:15.32 | ||
| 10 | 6:16.41 | ||
| 11 | 6:16.74 | ||
| 12 | 6:18.25 |
Final A
| Rank | Rowers | Nation | Time |
| 6:03.11 | |||
| 6:05.53 | |||
| 6:06.22 | |||
| 4 | 6:06.74 | ||
| 5 | 6:09.55 | ||
| 6 | 11:03.77 |
Final classification
| Rank | Rowers | Country |
| Roland Schröder Ralf Brudel Olaf Förster Thomas Greiner | ||
| Raoul Rodriguez Thomas Bohrer Richard Kennelly David Krmpotich | ||
| Guido Grabow Volker Grabow Norbert Keßlau Jörg Puttlitz | ||
| 4 | Mark Buckingham Stephen Peel Simon Berrisford Peter Mulkerrins | |
| 5 | Sergio Caropreso Carlo Gaddi Pasquale Marigliano Valter Molea | |
| 6 | Ivan Vysotskiy Sergey Smirnov Yuriy Pimenov Nikolay Pimenov | |
| 7 | Campbell Clayton-Greene Geoff Cotter Bill Coventry Neil Gibson | |
| 8 | Pascal Bahuaud Dominique Lecointe Jean-Jacques Martigne Olivier Pons | |
| 9 | Tjark de Vries Johan Leutscher Ralph Schwarz Sven Schwarz | |
| 10 | Folke Brundin Per-Olof Claesson Anders Larson David Svensson | |
| 11 | Darby Berkhout Gord Henry John Ossowski Bruce Robertson Raymond Collier | |
| 12 | Khristos Khristomanos Georgios Fotou Spyridon Gatos Vasilios Lykomitros | |
| 13 | José Luis Aguirre Bartolomé Alarcón Enrique Briones José María Segurola | |
| 14 | Marcos Arantes Fernando Fantoni Oswaldo Kuster Neto Waldemar Trombetta | |
| 15 | Hong Jae-ho Lee Hyeong-gi Yun Nam-ho Yun Yong-ho |