Rowing at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's single sculls


The men's single sculls competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place at Han River Regatta Course, South Korea. The event was held from 19 to 24 September. It was the 20th appearance of the event, which had been held at every Olympic Games since the introduction of rowing in 1900. NOCs were limited to one boat apiece; 22 sent a competitor in the men's single sculls. Thomas Lange of East Germany won the event, denying Pertti Karppinen a record fourth-straight win and starting a two-Games winning streak of his own.

Background

Due to boycotts in 1980 and 1984, this was the first time since 1976 that all of the strongest rowing nations were present. The single sculls field included Finland's Pertti Karppinen, East Germany's Thomas Lange, and West Germany's Peter-Michael Kolbe. Andrew Sudduth of the United States had won a silver medal in 1984 in the eight; Dirk Crois of Belgium similarly changed events from 1984, when he took silver in double sculls. Other Olympic veterans were France's Pascal Body, Brazil's Denis Marinho, and Puerto Rico's Juan Felix.

Schedule

Competition format

The competition consisted of three main rounds as well as a repechage. The 22 boats were divided into four heats for the first round, with 5 or 6 boats in each heat. The winning boat in each heat advanced directly to the semifinals. The remaining 18 boats were placed in the repechage. The repechage featured four heats of 4 or 5 boats each, with the top two boats in each heat advancing to the semifinals and the remaining 10 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.

Heats

The winner in each heat advanced directly to the semi-finals. The remaining rowers must compete in the repechage round for the remaining spots in semi-finals.

Heat 1

RankRowerNationTimeNotes
1Thomas Lange7:03.25
2Andrew Sudduth7:05.61
3Peter-Michael Kolbe7:12.35
4Kajetan Broniewski7:13.77
5Henk-Jan Zwolle7:29.68
6Juan Felix7:55.46

Heat 2

RankRowerNationTimeNotes
1Hamish McGlashan7:25.26
2Jesús Posse7:37.92
3Jüri Jaanson7:41.28
4Masahiro Sakata7:43.67
5Gordon Henry7:51.83
6Edgardo Maerina8:54.90

Heat 3

RankRowerNationTimeNotes
1Eric Verdonk7:18.69
2Pascal Body7:26.12
3Dirk Crois7:34.74
4Giovanni Calabrese7:45.02
5Denis Marinho7:48.33

Heat 4

RankRowerNationTimeNotes
1Fredrik Hultén7:12.98
2Pertti Karppinen7:24.72
3Arnold Jonke7:30.45
4Im Gyeong-seok7:39.94
5Waleed Al-Mohamed Abdulmuhsin8:05.35

Repechage

Two fastest rowers in each repechage advanced to semi-finals.

Repechage 1

RankRowerNationTimeNotes
1Pertti Karppinen7:14.91
2Henk-Jan Zwolle7:16.23
3Dirk Crois7:19.94
4Masahiro Sakata7:26.66

Repechage 2

RankRowerNationTimeNotes
1Jüri Jaanson7:04.04
2Kajetan Broniewski7:04.39
3Pascal Body7:05.80
4Waleed Al-Mohamed Abdulmuhsin8:15.16

Repechage 3

RankRowerNationTimeNotes
1Peter-Michael Kolbe7:12.27
2Jesus Posse7:17.43
3Denis Marinho7:22.84
4Im Gyeong-seok7:46.40
5Edgardo Maerina8:27.02

Repechage 4

RankRowerNationTimeNotes
1Andrew Sudduth7:05.52
2Giovanni Calabrese7:12.93
3Arnold Jonke7:18.29
4Juan Felix7:18.77
5Gordon Henry7:37.48

Semifinals

Three fastest rowers in each semifinal advanced to the final, while the others to the small final.

Semifinal 1

RankRowerNationTimeNotes
1Thomas Lange6:58.65
2Andrew Sudduth6:59.70
3Eric Verdonk7:11.98
4Jesus Posse7:27.43
5Henk-Jan Zwolle7:30.45
6Jüri Jaanson7:32.51

Semifinal 2

RankRowerNationTimeNotes
1Peter-Michael Kolbe7:01.76
2Hamish McGlashan7:03.40
3Kajetan Broniewski7:03.90
4Fredrik Hulten7:04.36
5Giovanni Calabrese7:23.69
6Pertti Karppinen7:32.78

Final B

RankRowerNationTime
7Pertti Karppinen7:34.47
8Jüri Jaanson7:35.09
9Fredrik Hulten7:40.07
10Giovanni Calabrese7:43.31
11Jesus Posse7:44.18
12Henk-Jan Zwolle7:44.92

Final A

RankRowerNationTimeNotes
Thomas Lange6:49.86
Peter-Michael Kolbe6:54.77
Eric Verdonk6:58.66
4Hamish McGlashan7:01.43
5Kajetan Broniewski7:03.67
6Andrew Sudduth7:11.45