Rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's coxless pair


Men's coxless pair competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
This rowing event was a sweep event, meaning that each rower has one oar and rows on only one side. Two rowers crewed each boat, with no coxswain. The competition consists of multiple rounds. Finals were held to determine the placing of each boat; these finals were given letters with those nearer to the beginning of the alphabet meaning a better ranking. Semifinals were named based on which finals they fed, with each semifinal having two possible finals.
Gold Silver Bronze

Heats

  1. : Drew Ginn, James Tomkins, 6:55.04 -> SF
  2. : Nikola Stojić, Mladen Stegić, 6:58.11 -> SF
  3. : Toby Garbett, Rick Dunn, 6:58.95 -> SF
  4. : Walter Naneder, Marcos Morales, 7:02.29 -> R
  5. : Matija Pavšič, Andrej Hrabar, 7:05.36 -> R

    Heat 2 (August 14)

  6. : Donovan Cech, Ramon di Clemente, 6:57.06 -> SF
  7. : Siniša Skelin, Nikša Skelin, 7:01.28 -> SF
  8. : Luke Walton, Artour Samsonov, 7:11.81 -> SF
  9. : Adam Michálek, Petr Imre, 7:26.19 -> R

    Heat 3 (August 14)

  10. : Nathan Twaddle, George Bridgewater, 6:54.75 -> SF
  11. : Dave Calder, Chris Jarvis, 6:56.23 -> SF
  12. : Giuseppe De Vita, Dario Lari, 7:03.12 -> SF
  13. : Tobias Kühne, Jan Herzog, 7:14.16 -> R

    Repechage

  1. : Tobias Kühne, Jan Herzog, 6:28.40 -> SF
  2. : Walter Naneder, Marcos Morales, 6:28.98 -> SF
  3. : Matija Pavšič, Andrej Hrabar, 6:30.89 -> SF
  4. : Adam Michálek, Petr Imre, 6:33.24

    Semifinals

  1. Australia 6:22.60 FA
  2. Croatia 6:23.57 FA
  3. New Zealand 6:24.49 FA
  4. Great Britain 6:25.06 FB
  5. Italy 6:31.26 FB
  6. Argentina 7:19.57 FB

    Semifinal B (August 18)

  7. Germany 6:25.47 FA
  8. Serbia and Montenegro 6:27.50 FA
  9. South Africa 6:28.48 FA
  10. United States 6:32.51 FB
  11. Slovenia 6:46.12 FB
  12. Canada Excluded FB
Semifinal B was a close, dramatic race. 100 meters from the finishing line, there were four boats in contention for the 3 available places in the finals. Germany held a small lead followed by Canada, South Africa and Serbia and Montenegro. Canada suddenly veered off course, interfering with South Africa and allowing Serbia to pass it. South Africa protested, and Canada was excluded from the results. Canada requested that they would be allowed into the finals as the seventh boat, but their request was denied. Canada then chose not to participate in the B Finals.

Finals

Final A (August 21)

  1. Australia 6:30.76
  2. Croatia 6:32.64
  3. South Africa 6:33.40
  4. New Zealand 6:34.24
  5. Serbia and Montenegro 6:39.74
  6. Germany 6:46.50
In the finals, Australia's Drew Ginn and James Tomkins established an early lead over the field which they stretched to 2 seconds at the 1000 metre mark, with Croatia in second and Serbia in third. Over the last 1000 meters, Australia maintained its margin over the rest of the field, Croatia continued to run second and South Africa rowed through to finish third. For Tomkins, it was his third gold medal and fourth overall, and for Ginn it was his second gold.

Final B (August 19)

  1. Great Britain 6:22.04
  2. Italy 6:22.08
  3. Slovenia 6:27.11
  4. Argentina 6:27.88
  5. United States 6:30.49
  6. Canada DNS