Rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's eight
The men's eight competition at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing was held from August 11 to August 17 at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park. Seven of nine national teams returned from the men's eight competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics to compete again, joined by the host nation.
The 2008 Summer Olympics M8+ rowing competition consisted of eight teams, split into two four-team heats. Each team fielded a boat crewed by eight rowers and a coxswain. Each rower used a single oar, with four oars on each side of the boat. The winner of each heat qualified for the "Final A" round. The remaining six teams competed in the [|Repechage] round, with the top four from that round qualifying for the "Final A" round. The last two teams in the repechage competed in the "Final B" round.
The final ranking for rowing at the 2008 Summer Olympics was based on the order of finish in the two finals. The top three of the "Final A" teams earned Olympic medals for placing first, second, and third, while the remaining "Final A" teams placed fourth through sixth, according to their "Final A" finish. The "Final B" competition determined who places seventh and eight in the event's final ranking.
Schedule
All times are China Standard Time| Date | Time | Round |
| Monday, August 11, 2008 | 15:10-15:30 | Heats |
| Tuesday, August 12, 2008 | 17:10-17:20 | Repechage |
| Saturday, August 16, 2008 | 15:20-15:30 | Final B |
| Sunday, August 17, 2008 | 17:30-17:40 | Final A |
Preliminary competitions
Heats
Qualification Rules: 1->[|FA], 2..->RHeat 1
Heat 2
Repechage
Qualification Rules: 1-4->FA, 5..->FB| Rank | Rowers | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Hoopman, Schnobrich, Boyd, Allen, Walsh, Coppola, Inman, Volpenhein, McElhenney | 5:38.95 | FA | |
| 2 | Lubbers, Blink, Klem, Klaassen, Kuiper, Steenman, van Andel, Simon, Wiersum | 5:40.31 | FA | |
| 3 | Dennis, Loch, Chapman, Laurich, Stevenson, Tomkins, Conrad, Stewart, Rabjohns | 5:42.62 | FA | |
| 4 | Kosiorek, Stawowski, P. Brzeziński, Kruszkowski, Hejmej, M. Brzeziński, Gutorski, Burda, Trojanowski | 5:42.92 | FA | |
| 5 | Qu, J. Wang, Liu, He, Zheng, Zhou, Y. Zhang, X. Wang, D. Zhang | 5:42.97 | FB | |
| 6 | Eichner, Schmidt, Flach, Naruhn, Urban, Mennigen, Wilke, Penkner, Thiede | 5:47.05 | FB |
Results
The winners of the heats, Canada and Great Britain, took the gold and silver medals; the winner of the repechage, United States, took the bronze.Canada's Olympic M8+ rowing championship followed their 2007 World M8+ Rowing Championship, making the Canadian crew the first world champion in 35 years to follow up with Olympic gold. Canada finished in 5:23.89, about four seconds off the world record time of 5:19.85 set by the U.S. team during the second heat of the Men's eight at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.