Quick Facts Men's coxed pair at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, Venue ...

Men's coxed pair at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Rowing pictogram
Venue	Lake Casitas
Dates	31 July – 5 August
Competitors	36 from 12 nations
Winning time	7:05.99
Medalists
Carmine Abbagnale Giuseppe Abbagnale Giuseppe Di Capua (cox)  Italy Dimitrie Popescu Vasile Tomoiagă Dumitru Răducanu (cox)  Romania Kevin Still Robert Espeseth Doug Herland (cox)  United States
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The men's coxed pair competition at the 1984 Summer Olympics took place at Lake Casitas, California, United States.^[1] It was held from 31 July to 5 August.^[2] There were 12 boats (36 competitors) from 12 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event.^[2] The event was won by the Italian crew, brothers Carmine Abbagnale and Giuseppe Abbagnale and coxswain Giuseppe Di Capua. It was Italy's first victory in the event since 1968 and third overall, tying the United States and East Germany for most among nations to that point. The Abbagnale brothers and Di Capua would go on to repeat as champions in 1988 (the second crew to repeat) and take silver in 1992 (the only crew to earn three medals together; Conn Findlay was the only other individual to earn three medals, doing so with three different rowing partners and two coxswains). The Romanian crew of Dimitrie Popescu, Vasile Tomoiagă, and cox Dumitru Răducanu took silver (the nation's first medal in the event since 1972). Americans Kevin Still, Robert Espeseth, and cox Doug Herland took bronze (the nation's first medal in the event since 1964). The three-Games gold-medal streak for East Germany ended with that nation joining the Soviet-led boycott.

This was the 16th appearance of the event. Rowing had been on the programme in 1896 but was cancelled due to bad weather. The men's coxed pair was one of the original four events in 1900, but was not held in 1904, 1908, or 1912. It returned to the programme after World War I and was held every Games from 1924 to 1992, when it (along with the men's coxed four) was replaced with the men's lightweight double sculls and men's lightweight coxless four.^[2]

With the Soviet-led boycott keeping out many of the top nations in the event (including three-time reigning gold medalists East Germany as well the Soviets themselves, silver medalists the last two Games), only 1 of the 18 competitors from the 1980 coxed pair Final A returned: Zlatko Celent, a rower from the bronze medalist Yugoslavia crew. Seventh-place finishers Italy brought back two of their three crew members, rower Giuseppe Abbagnale and coxswain Giuseppe Di Capua, swapping out Antonio Dell'Aquila to include Abbagnale's brother Carmine Abbagnale. This crew had taken gold at the 1981 and 1982 World Championships as well as bronze at the 1983 Worlds (behind an East German and a Soviet crew). The Italian trio was heavily favoured given the boycott.^[2]

No nations made their debut in the event. France made its 14th appearance, most among nations to that point.

The coxed pair event featured three-person boats, with two rowers and a coxswain. It was a sweep rowing event, with the rowers each having one oar (and thus each rowing on one side). The course used the 2000 metres distance that became the Olympic standard in 1912.^[3] The competition consisted of two main rounds (semifinals and finals) as well as a repechage after the semifinals. The competition consisted of two main rounds (heats and finals) as well as a repechage. The 12 boats were divided into two heats for the first round, with 6 boats in each heat. The winner of each heat advanced directly to the "A" final (1st through 6th place). The remaining 10 boats were placed in the repechage. The repechage featured two heats, with 5 boats in each heat. The top two boats in each repechage heat went to the "A" final. The remaining 6 boats (3rd, 4th, and 5th placers in the repechage heats) competed in the "B" final for 7th through 12th place.^[4]

All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)