Quadruple sculls, men, 2,000 m

What to remember

On 28 July 2021, in the Olympic final in Tokyo, the Dutch quadruple scull of Dirk Uittenbogaard, Abe Wiersma, Tone Wieten and Koen Metsemakers covered 2,000 m in 5 min 32.03 s, taking gold and a new world best time in the same race.

In a quad, each rower handles two oars, one in each hand, so the forces are applied symmetrically on both sides of the boat. These long, narrow shells were originally made of wood; composite materials, usually carbon-fibre reinforced plastic, have since become almost universal for their strength and weight. Rowing keeps world best times over 2,000 m rather than world records, since weather makes times vary too much.

Uittenbogaard had won the men's quad scull world title at the 2019 World Rowing Championships. He had also taken bronze in the eight at the 2015 World Championships and at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.