Coxed Fours, Men

With different lineups, Germany was the reigning Olympic and World Champion in the coxed fours and thus a heavy favorite in the event at the 1964 Summer Olympics. They had also won two of the last three European Championships, but had to settle for silver at the most recent one after being dethroned by the Soviet Union, who sent its victorious squad to Tokyo. The reigning British Empire and Commonwealth champion New Zealand sent a different crew to the 1964 Games, while Argentina, the Pan American champion, did not even participate. While the Soviets and the Italians put forth a valiant effort, neither could quite outclass the Germans, who took the gold medal by a margin of over two seconds. Italy, the most recent European and Olympic bronze medalists, settled for silver, while an enervated Soviet squad fell well behind and surrendered bronze to the Netherlands. The latter won one of their first rowing medals of any color since 1924 (in addition to silver and bronze in the coxless and coxed pairs respectively).