Rowing at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Rowing at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place at Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, which also served as the venue for the sprint canoe events. The lagoon was a source of concern prior to the Games, due to the presence of pollution, masses of dead fish, and drug-resistant bacteria, but the venue was impeccable for the tournament itself and no problems were reported. The majority of the spots, awarded to the NOCs rather than individual athletes, were based off of the results of the 2015 World Championships and the event lineup, eight for men and six for women, remained the same as it had been since 1996. Russian rowing was impacted heavily by the doping scandal that caused over 100 of its participants to be banned from the Olympics; 26 entrants were barred from competing, making rowing the most impacted sport behind track and field athletics.

High winds and choppy conditions affected the regatta so severely on the first day that the rowing events were postponed for the next two while conditions calmed. Great Britain topped the medal table for their third consecutive Olympics, although they were less dominant than they had been at their home Games in London, securing three gold and two silver medals in Rio for five total. Four nations shared the second-placed total of three medals, but only Germany and New Zealand did so with two victories. Also notable on the podium were the O’Donovan brothers, Gary and Paul, who took silver in the Lightweight Double Sculls, thus becoming Ireland’s first rowing medalists since the country’s first foray into rowing at the Olympic Games in 1948. Eight nations made their Olympic rowing début in Rio.