# Rowing at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's coxless pair

The men's coxless pair competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia took place at Lake Lanier, Georgia.

## Competition format

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.
With 18 boats in with heats, the best boats qualify directly for the semi-finals. All other boats progress to the repechage round, which offers a second chance to qualify for the semi-finals. The best three boats in each of the repechage qualify for the semi-finals. The final 2 boats from each repechage go forward to final C, which determines places 13–18. The best three boats in each of the two semi-finals qualify for final A, which determines places 1–6 (including the medals). Unsuccessful boats from semi-finals A/B go forward to final B, which determines places 7–12.

## Results
### Heats

The first finisher of each heat advanced to the semifinals, remainder goes to the repechage.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Michel Andrieux Jean-Christophe Rolland | France | 6:35.75 | Q |
| 2 | Marco Penna Walter Bottega | Italy | 6:39.34 | R |
| 3 | David Schaper Toni Dunlop | New Zealand | 6:42.15 | R |
| 4 | Luc Goiris Jaak vanDriessche | Belgium | 6:43.83 | R |
| 5 | Juozas Bagdonas Einius Petkus | Lithuania | 6:45.92 | R |
| 6 | Andreas Nader Hermann Bauer | Austria | 6:46.18 | R |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Steve Redgrave Matthew Pinsent | Great Britain | 6:50.04 | Q |
| 2 | Marko Banovic Ninoslav Saraga | Croatia | 6:54.05 | R |
| 3 | Carlos Palavecino Walter Balunek | Argentina | 6:56.03 | R |
| 4 | Matthias Ungemach Colin von Ettingshausen | Germany | 6:57.78 | R |
| 5 | George van Iwaarden Kai Compagner | Netherlands | 7:00.45 | R |
| 6 | Gregory Bayne John Callie | South Africa | 7:01.05 | R |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | David Weightman Rob Scott | Australia | 6:46.12 | Q |
| 2 | Michael Peterson Adam Holland | United States | 6:53.95 | R |
| 3 | Orlin Ninov Nikolay Kolev | Bulgaria | 6:56.09 | R |
| 4 | Dmitriy Plechistik Dmitriy Mironchik | Belarus | 6:57.57 | R |
| 5 | Atilla Racz Nicolae Spircu | Romania | 6:57.77 | R |
| 6 | Takeshi Kodama Kazuhiko Kurata | Japan | 7:06.56 | R |

### Repechages

First three qualify for semifinals A/B, the rest to Final C.

#### Repechage 1

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Marco Penna Walter Bottega | Italy | 7:10.25 | A/B |
| 2 | Juozas Bagdonas Einius Petkus | Lithuania | 7:10.47 | A/B |
| 3 | Carlos Palavecino Walter Balunek | Argentina | 7:10.57 | A/B |
| 4 | Gregory Bayne John Callie | South Africa | 7:11.14 | C |
| 5 | Dmitriy Plechistik Dmitriy Mironchik | Belarus | 7:12.14 | C |

#### Repechage 2

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Marko Banovic Ninoslav Saraga | Croatia | 7:05.81 | A/B |
| 2 | Luc Goiris Jaak vanDriessche | Belgium | 7:06.76 | A/B |
| 3 | Orlin Ninov Nikolay Kolev | Bulgaria | 7:13.48 | A/B |
| 4 | George van Iwaarden Kai Compagner | Netherlands | 7:24.17 | C |
| 5 | Takeshi Kodama Kazuhiko Kurata | Japan | 7:36.68 | C |

#### Repechage 3

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Michael Peterson Jonathan Holland | United States | 7:02.13 | A/B |
| 2 | Andreas Nader Hermann Bauer | Austria | 7:03.86 | A/B |
| 3 | David Schaper Toni Dunlop | New Zealand | 7:04.40 | A/B |
| 4 | Atilla Racz Nicolae Spircu | Romania | 7:07.96 | C |
| 5 | Matthias Ungemach Colin von Ettingshausen | Germany | 7:11.67 | C |

### Semifinals

First three qualify to Final A, remainder to Final B.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | David Weightman Rob Scott | Australia | 6:46.43 | A |
| 2 | Michel Andrieux Jean-Christophe Rolland | France | 6:49.15 | A |
| 3 | Marko Banovic Ninoslav Saraga | Croatia | 6:55.89 | A |
| 4 | Andreas Nader Hermann Bauer | Austria | 6:57.44 | B |
| 5 | Juozas Bagdonas Einius Petkus | Lithuania | 6:57.75 | B |
| 6 | Orlin Ninov Nikolay Kolev | Bulgaria | 7:00.12 | B |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Steve Redgrave Matthew Pinsent | Great Britain | 6:50.30 | A |
| 2 | David Schaper Toni Dunlop | New Zealand | 6:51.64 | A |
| 3 | Marco Penna Walter Bottega | Italy | 6:52.32 | A |
| 4 | Michael Peterson Jonathan Holland | United States | 6:52.92 | B |
| 5 | Luc Goiris Jaak vanDriessche | Belgium | 6:55.84 | B |
| 6 | Carlos Palavecino Walter Balunek | Argentina | 7:15.59 | B |

### Finals
#### Final C

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time |
| 13 | Atilla Racz Nicolae Spircu | Romania | 7:01.94 |
| 14 | Dmitriy Plechistik Dmitriy Mironchik | Belarus | 7:03.31 |
| 15 | Matthias Ungemach Colin von Ettingshausen | Germany | 7:06.88 |
| 16 | Gregory Bayne John Callie | South Africa | 7:09.91 |
| 17 | George van Iwaarden Kai Compagner | Netherlands | 7:10.43 |
| 18 | Takeshi Kodama Kazuhiko Kurata | Japan | 7:21.31 |

#### Final B

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time |
| 7 | Michael Peterson Jonathan Holland | United States | 6:33.81 |
| 8 | Luc Goiris Jaak vanDriessche | Belgium | 6:34.46 |
| 9 | Orlin Ninov Nikolay Kolev | Bulgaria | 6:35.71 |
| 10 | Juozas Bagdonas Einius Petkus | Lithuania | 6:38.12 |
| 11 | Andreas Nader Hermann Bauer | Austria | 6:38.60 |
| 12 | Carlos Palavecino Walter Balunek | Argentina | 6:49.34 |

#### Final A

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time |
| | Steve Redgrave Matthew Pinsent | Great Britain | 6:20.09 |
| | David Weightman Rob Scott | Australia | 6:21.02 |
| | Michel Andrieux Jean-Christophe Rolland | France | 6:22.15 |
| 4 | Marco Penna Walter Bottega | Italy | 6:28.61 |
| 5 | David Schaper Toni Dunlop | New Zealand | 6:29.24 |
| 6 | Marko Banovic Ninoslav Saraga | Croatia | 6:30.48 |