Single Sculls, Men

Pertti Karppinen of Finland attended the 1988 Summer Olympics in the hopes of winning a record fourth Olympic title in the men’s single sculls, while his long-time rival, Peter-Michael Kolbe of West Germany, was hoping to snatch the gold medal after two attempts that ended with silver. Both of these men had won one of each type of medal at the last three World Championships, but Kolbe had a better all-time record of World Championship titles with five against Karppinen’s two and had also earned a victory in the Diamond Challenge Sculls at the Henley Royal Regatta in 1987. Also in contention was Thomas Lange of East Germany, who came from a nation with a strong rowing tradition and was the reigning World Champion. The reigning Pan American champion, Jesús Posse of Uruguay, was also present in Seoul, as was the 1988 winner of the Diamond Challenge Sculls, Australia’s Hamish McGlashan. Another interesting entry was Dirk Crois of Belgium, who had won silver in the 1984 Olympic double sculls.

Lange, McGlashan, Verdonk, and Sweden’s Fredrik Hultén were the winners of the heats in the opening round, Posse and Karppinen were distant seconds in McGlashan and Hultén’s heats respectively, while Kolbe finished behind Lange and Andrew Sudduth of the United States, the latter of whom was the runner-up at the 1985 World Championships. Crois, meanwhile, was third in Verdonk’s heat and was eliminated in the repêchage. The greatest shock, however, came in the semi-finals, when the defending Olympic champion not only failed to qualify for the finals, but finished last in his heat, over half a minute behind Kolbe, the winner. Posse and Hultén were also eliminated after finishing fourth in their heats. Kolbe now seemed to have a strong claim to Olympic gold, but Lange had outperformed him in both the opening round and the semi-finals, and did so again in the medal round, stealing gold in Olympic record time and relegating Kolbe, for the third time, to silver. Verdonk came in far behind the Germans for bronze, but still comfortably ahead of McGlashan.