# Rowing at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's coxless four

The men's coxless four (M4-) competition at the 1976 Summer Olympics took place at the rowing basin on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was held from 18 to 25 July and was won by the team from East Germany.

## Background

The East German team was the undisputed favourite going into this event. Over the last few years, their rowers had won this class at almost all major regattas. After West Germany won the inaugural world championships in 1962, East Germany won all subsequent events in 1966, 1970, and 1974. Of the last four European Rowing Championships (the event was discontinued after 1973), they won gold in three of four of the events (1967, 1971, and 1973), and bronze in 1969. Other favourites included the Soviet Union and West Germany.

### Previous M4- competitions

| Competition | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| 1966 World Rowing Championships | East Germany | Soviet Union | Netherlands |
| 1967 European Rowing Championships | East Germany | ? | ? |
| 1968 Summer Olympics | East Germany | Hungary | Italy |
| 1969 European Rowing Championships | ? | ? | East Germany |
| 1970 World Rowing Championships | East Germany | West Germany | Denmark |
| 1971 European Rowing Championships | East Germany | Norway | West Germany |
| 1972 Summer Olympics | East Germany | New Zealand | West Germany |
| 1973 European Rowing Championships | East Germany | Norway | West Germany |
| 1974 World Rowing Championships | East Germany | Soviet Union | West Germany |
| 1975 World Rowing Championships | East Germany | Soviet Union | Romania |

## Results
### Heats
#### Heat 1

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Tony Brooks Jim Moroney Gary Piantedosi Hugh Stevenson | United States | 6:15.07 | SF |
| 2 | Matteo Caglieris Pellegrino Croce Enzo Lanzarini Natale Spinello | Italy | 6:16.10 | SF |
| 3 | Rumyan Khristov Todor Mrankov Dimitar Valov Dimitar Yanakiev | Bulgaria | 6:20.71 | SF |
| 4 | Ernest Gal Dumitru Grumezescu Nicolae Simion Ștefan Tudor | Romania | 6:23.12 | R |
| 5 | Jorma Hurme Erkka Mattila Pekka Pietilä Matti Salminen | Finland | 6:38.91 | R |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Bernhard Fölkel Wolfgang Horak Gabriel Konertz Klaus Meyer | West Germany | 6:15.08 | SF |
| 2 | Richard Ayling Neil Keron Bill Mason David Townsend | Great Britain | 6:16.32 | SF |
| 3 | Paul De Weert Frank Dedecker Johan Ghoos Jozef Jordaens | Belgium | 6:20.07 | SF |
| 4 | Martin Feeley Iain Kennedy Andy McDonough Jaye Renehan | Ireland | 6:25.57 | R |
| 5 | Carlos Denari Marcelo Gismondi Jorge Molina Juan Tuma | Argentina | 6:49.33 | R |

#### Heat 3

The five teams in heat 3 of the elimination round eventually took the first five places in the A final.
| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Siegfried Brietzke Andreas Decker Wolfgang Mager Stefan Semmler | East Germany | 6:02.55 | SF |
| 2 | Raul Arnemann Valeriy Dolinin Anushavan Gassan-Dzhalalov Nikolay Kuznetsov | Soviet Union | 6:05.57 | SF |
| 3 | David Lindstrom Des Lock Grant McAuley Bob Murphy | New Zealand | 6:06.40 | SF |
| 4 | Rolf Andreassen Arne Bergodd Ole Nafstad Finn Tveter | Norway | 6:06.70 | R |
| 5 | Brian Dick Ian Gordon Phil Monckton Andrew van Ruyven | Canada | 6:13.09 | R |

### Repechage

The Norwegian and Argentinian teams changed three seats. The teams from Canada, Romania, and Finland changed all four seats.
| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ole Nafstad Arne Bergodd Finn Tveter Rolf Andreassen | Norway | 6:08.66 | SF |
| 2 | Andrew van Ruyven Phil Monckton Ian Gordon Brian Dick | Canada | 6:08.69 | SF |
| 3 | Nicolae Simion Ernest Gal Ștefan Tudor Dumitru Grumezescu | Romania | 6:09.55 | SF |
| 4 | Erkka Mattila Matti Salminen Jorma Hurme Pekka Pietilä | Finland | 6:21.54 | |
| 5 | Martin Feeley Iain Kennedy Jaye Renehan Andy McDonough | Ireland | 6:29.27 | |
| 6 | Jorge Molina Marcelo Gismondi Juan Tuma Carlos Denari | Argentina | 6:30.56 | |

### Semifinals
#### Heat 1

The East German team swapped seats 3 and 4. The teams from Great Britain and Bulgaria swapped all four seats.
| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Siegfried Brietzke Andreas Decker Stefan Semmler Wolfgang Mager | East Germany | 5:53.65 | SA |
| 2 | Andrew van Ruyven Phil Monckton Ian Gordon Brian Dick | Canada | 5:59.21 | SA |
| 3 | David Lindstrom Des Lock Grant McAuley Bob Murphy | New Zealand | 6:00.82 | SA |
| 4 | Tony Brooks Jim Moroney Gary Piantedosi Hugh Stevenson | United States | 6:03.79 | SB |
| 5 | Todor Mrankov Dimitar Yanakiev Rumyan Khristov Dimitar Valov | Bulgaria | 6:06.58 | SB |
| 6 | Neil Keron David Townsend Richard Ayling Bill Mason | Great Britain | 6:08.71 | SB |

#### Heat 2

The teams from the Soviet Union and Belgium changed all four seats. West Germany replaced Klaus Meyer with Klaus Roloff, and only the stroke remained in his seat. Italy changed three seats.
| Rank | Rower | Country | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ole Nafstad Arne Bergodd Finn Tveter Rolf Andreassen | Norway | 6:02.84 | SA |
| 2 | Valeriy Dolinin Anushavan Gassan-Dzhalalov Nikolay Kuznetsov Raul Arnemann | Soviet Union | 6:03.05 | SA |
| 3 | Bernhard Fölkel Klaus Roloff Wolfgang Horak Gabriel Konertz | West Germany | 6:05.39 | SA |
| 4 | Nicolae Simion Ernest Gal Ștefan Tudor Dumitru Grumezescu | Romania | 6:07.71 | SB |
| 5 | Matteo Caglieris Enzo Lanzarini Natale Spinello Pellegrino Croce | Italy | 6:09.76 | SB |
| 6 | Johan Ghoos Paul De Weert Jozef Jordaens Frank Dedecker | Belgium | 6:18.33 | SB |

### Finals
#### B final

The Bulgarian team changed three of the seats.
| Rank | Rower | Country | Time |
| 7 | Dimitar Valov Dimitar Yanakiev Todor Mrankov Rumyan Khristov | Bulgaria | 6:41.36 |
| 8 | Tony Brooks Jim Moroney Gary Piantedosi Hugh Stevenson | United States | 6:43.06 |
| 9 | Nicolae Simion Ernest Gal Ștefan Tudor Dumitru Grumezescu | Romania | 6:43.96 |
| 10 | Johan Ghoos Paul De Weert Jozef Jordaens Frank Dedecker | Belgium | 6:47.51 |
| 11 | Matteo Caglieris Enzo Lanzarini Natale Spinello Pellegrino Croce | Italy | 6:48.11 |
| 12 | Neil Keron David Townsend Richard Ayling Bill Mason | Great Britain | 6:53.02 |

#### A final

For the second time, the Soviet Union changed all four seats. The New Zealand team changed all four seats. The Canadians changed three seats. As expected, East Germany won the gold medal; they had dominated all their races and won their qualifying heat 12 seconds faster than the other heats. The surprise winner of the silver medal was the team from Norway, who left the much more highly rated Soviet Union with bronze.
| Rank | Rower | Country | Time |
| | Siegfried Brietzke Andreas Decker Stefan Semmler Wolfgang Mager | East Germany | 6:37.42 |
| | Ole Nafstad Arne Bergodd Finn Tveter Rolf Andreassen | Norway | 6:41.22 |
| | Raul Arnemann Nikolay Kuznetsov Valeriy Dolinin Anushavan Gassan-Dzhalalov | Soviet Union | 6:42.52 |
| 4 | Bob Murphy Grant McAuley Des Lock David Lindstrom | New Zealand | 6:43.23 |
| 5 | Brian Dick Phil Monckton Andrew van Ruyven Ian Gordon | Canada | 6:46.11 |
| 6 | Bernhard Fölkel Klaus Roloff Wolfgang Horak Gabriel Konertz | West Germany | 6:47.44 |