Coxless Pairs, Men

Great Britain was, as always, a slight favorite in the coxless pairs, and was represented in Berlin by David Burnford and Thomas Cree, winners of the 1935 Silver Goblets & Nickalls’ Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. The Germans, Willi Eichhorn and Hugo Strauß, were also strong and, with the home advantage, were serious contenders. The two nations met in the opening heats and the German duo clearly dominated, finishing nearly 20 seconds ahead of the Britons, who were third behind Argentinians Julio Curatella and Horacio Podestá. The other two heats were won by Ryszard Borzuchowski and Edward Kobyliński of Poland and Károly Győry and Tibor Mamusich of Hungary (the 1935 European champions).

With Great Britain losing to Argentina in their semi-final heat (the semi-finals essentially serving as a repêchage, as round one’s winners did not compete), the stage seemed set for an easy German victory. At the beginning, however, it was Denmark’s duo of Harry Julius Larsen and Richard Olsen, as well as Argentina, that led the way; due to faulty steering, it was not until much later in the race that Germany took the lead. Even then, Eichhorn and Strauß struggled to stay ahead of the Danes, but eventually captured the gold medal by a comfortable 3.1 second margin. Denmark settled for silver, while Argentina lodged a protest for obstruction. Although this was not recognized, the nation nonetheless captured its first Olympic rowing medal with its third-place finish.