Double Sculls, Men

Jack Kelly, Sr. and Paul Costello of the United States had won the double sculls event at the last two editions of the Olympic Games and, although Kelly had retired and been replaced by Charley McIlvaine, the Americans were still the favorites. If anyone could threaten them, it would most likely be the most recent winner of the Diamond Sculls, Canadian Joe Wright, Jr., who had teamed up with Jack Guest, a strong rower who would go on to win the Diamond Sculls in 1930. These two nations posted the fastest times in the opening round, but the Canadians suffered a surprise defeat in the second round at the hands of Germany’s Horst Hoeck and Gerhard Voigt, after finishing with the second-slowest time of the heats. They were able to overcome France in the repêchage, however, and bested the Germans in a rematch in the quarterfinals. By this time the United States was the only team who remained undefeated and, in the semifinals, overcame the Austrian duo of Leo Losert and Viktor Flessl, who earned bronze by virtue of a tournament structure that left them with no one else to compete against. The Canadians essentially had a walkover and faced the Americans in the final, but lost by nearly 10 seconds. Costello thus became the first Olympic rower to win three consecutive gold medals in the same event.