Rowing at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's quadruple sculls

The men's quadruple sculls competition at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place on the Han River Regatta Course, South Korea.

Competition format
The competition consisted of three main rounds (heats, semifinals, and finals) as well as a repechage. The 13 boats were divided into three heats for the first round, with 4 or 5 boats in each heat. The top three boats in each heat (9 boats total) advanced directly to the semifinals. The remaining 4 boats were placed in the repechage. The repechage featured a single heat; the top three boats advanced to the semifinals, while the last place boat was eliminated (13th place overall). The 12 semifinalist boats were divided into two heats of 6 boats each. The top three boats in each semifinal (6 boats total) advanced to the "A" final to compete for medals and 4th through 6th place; the bottom three boats in each semifinal were sent to the "B" final for 7th through 12th.

All races were over a 2000 metre course.

Heats
The heats were held on 20 September, a sunny day with 17–18 °C temperatures and 0.9–1.1 m/s west to west-northwest winds. The top three boats in each heat advanced to the semifinals, with all others going to the repechage. No boats were eliminated in this round.

Heat 1
The first heat saw the Hungarian boat take an early lead, by 0.42 seconds over the East Germans at the 500 metre mark. Hungary, however, had the worst second 500 metres of any team and fell back to fourth place. Australia took the lead by halfway; they and East Germany battled for the top spot, but both had little doubt that they would advance. Poland had taken over the third spot when Hungary fell back, and the contest between those two would decide the last advancement place. Hungary was behind by nearly a second at the 1500 metre point, but was able to successfully overtake Poland in the last quarter. The United States trailed the entire way.

Heat 2
The second heat had the Soviets leading at the halfway mark, followed by the West German team. Italy made a strong push in the second half, however, passing both boats to claim the lead. Czechoslovakia trailed the entire time, becoming the only boat from this heat to be sent to the repechage.

Heat 3
The odd team out in the third heat quickly became clear, as Argentina was behind the third place team by 2 seconds at 500 metres and by 3 seconds at 1000 metres. The gap continued to widen and Argentina finished nearly 11 seconds out of the final advancement spot. Within the lead group, Canada led early but Norway established control by the halfway mark. The Netherlands passed Canada as well in the final quarter stretch.

Repechage
The single-heat repechage was held on 21 September, a sunny and warm (23.6 °C) day with 1.3 m/s west-northwest winds. The top three boats in the repechage advanced to the semifinals, with the 4th place boat being eliminated at 13th place overall.

Poland started strong and led at the halfway mark, but had the slowest third and fourth quarters of the field and dropped back into second as Czechoslovakia pushed forward into the lead. The battle for third place was between Argentina and the United States; the Americans held a 2.57 lead at halfway, but the Argentine team made up more than a second of that in between 1000 and 1500 metres and finished with a final quarter more than 2 seconds faster than the Americans, passing them and avoiding elimination.

Semifinals
The semifinals were held on 22 September, a sunny day with roughly 20 °C temperatures. The wind was at 1.3 m/s south for the first heat and picked up to 2.2 m/s for the second. The top three boats in each semifinal advanced to the "A" final, with the bottom three going to the "B" final, out of medal contention.

Semifinal 1
The first semifinal featured a strong start from the West German team, leading at 500 metres. Italy, however, claimed the lead by the halfway mark and retained it the rest of the way. The East German team also passed the West squad in the second half. This put the West German team at risk of missing the "A" final; they had to fight off a challenge from the Dutch team, though did so without much difficulty, finishing about 2 seconds ahead. Hungary kept close early, but fell back in the second half. Argentina was never in serious contention, though did manage to pass Hungary in the last quarter.

Semifinal 2
The second semifinal resulted in numerous changes of order and a tight race for the third and last advancement place. Czechoslovakia had the slowest start, in sixth place at 500 metres. At that point, the Soviets, Poles, and Australians were in the top 3 spots. By halfway, Norway had jumped from fifth to second behind the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia had caught Canada; Canada would trail the remainder of the way. At 1500 metres, the Soviets and Norwegians had solidified their top two spots and the race for third came down to Czechoslovakia (which had taken that spot), Poland (2 seconds behind), and Australia (2.1 seconds behind). Australia finished strong, overtaking the other two boats to reclaim third place and advancement to the "A" final.

Final B
The "B" final was held on 23 September, a sunny day with 17.5 °C temperatures and 0.6 m/s west-southwest wind. The six teams in the race competed for 7th through 12th place. Canada led early and maintained the lead through the 1500 metre mark, but faltered in the last quarter and dropped to third (and nearly to fourth). Poland and the Netherlands jockeyed for second and third throughout much of the race, taking advantage of Canada's weak final 500 metres to move into first (Poland) and second (the Netherlands). Hungary and Czechoslovakia made second-half pushes to get by Argentina, but neither could quite catch Canada.

Final A
The "A" final was held on 25 September. The temperature was 18 °C, the weather was sunny, and wind was 2.9 m/s northeast. East Germany led at 500 metres, followed closely by Italy. The East Germans could not keep the pace, however, and by the halfway mark Italy had taken the lead, with the Soviet Union second and East Germany third. This order held through 1500 metres (with Italy widening its lead to 3 seconds), before the Norwegian squad made a strong push to pass the Soviets and East Germans. Norway was far enough behind Italy to not seriously challenge for the gold, but took silver. The East Germans outpaced the Soviets in the last quarter, taking the bronze medal. Australia trailed West Germany slightly for fifth place throughout most of the race, but passed the West Germans near the end.