Rowing at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's coxless pair

Men's coxless pair competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

This rowing event was a sweep event, meaning that each rower has one oar and rows on only one side. Two rowers crewed each boat, with no coxswain. The competition consists of multiple rounds. Finals were held to determine the placing of each boat; these finals were given letters with those nearer to the beginning of the alphabet meaning a better ranking. Semifinals were named based on which finals they fed, with each semifinal having two possible finals.

Semifinal B was a close, dramatic race. 100 meters from the finishing line, there were four boats in contention for the 3 available places in the finals. Germany held a small lead followed by Canada, South Africa and Serbia and Montenegro. Canada suddenly veered off course, interfering with South Africa and allowing Serbia to pass it. South Africa protested, and Canada was excluded from the results. Canada requested that they would be allowed into the finals as the seventh boat, but their request was denied. Canada then chose not to participate in the B Finals.

In the finals, Australia's Drew Ginn and James Tomkins established an early lead over the field which they stretched to 2 seconds at the 1000 metre mark (halfway), with Croatia in second and Serbia in third. Over the last 1000 meters, Australia maintained its margin over the rest of the field, Croatia continued to run second and South Africa rowed through to finish third. For Tomkins, it was his third gold medal and fourth overall, and for Ginn it was his second gold.

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