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.

Heats

 * SF denotes qualification to Semifinal.
 * R denotes qualification to Repechage.

Heat 1 (August 14)

 * Drew Ginn, James Tomkins, 6:55.04 -> SF
 * Nikola Stojić, Mladen Stegić, 6:58.11 -> SF
 * Toby Garbett, Rick Dunn, 6:58.95 -> SF
 * Walter Naneder, Marcos Morales, 7:02.29 -> R
 * Matija Pavšič, Andrej Hrabar, 7:05.36 -> R

Heat 2 (August 14)

 * Donovan Cech, Ramon di Clemente, 6:57.06 -> SF
 * Siniša Skelin, Nikša Skelin, 7:01.28 -> SF
 * Luke Walton, Artour Samsonov, 7:11.81 -> SF
 * Adam Michálek, Petr Imre, 7:26.19 -> R

Heat 3 (August 14)

 * Nathan Twaddle, George Bridgewater, 6:54.75 -> SF
 * Dave Calder, Chris Jarvis, 6:56.23 -> SF
 * Giuseppe De Vita, Dario Lari, 7:03.12 -> SF
 * Tobias Kühne, Jan Herzog, 7:14.16 -> R

Repechage

 * SF denotes qualification to Semifinal.

Repechage 1 (August 17)

 * Tobias Kühne, Jan Herzog, 6:28.40 -> SF
 * Walter Naneder, Marcos Morales, 6:28.98 -> SF
 * Matija Pavšič, Andrej Hrabar, 6:30.89 -> SF
 * Adam Michálek, Petr Imre, 6:33.24

Semifinals

 * FA denotes qualification to Final A.
 * FB denotes qualification to Final B.

Semifinal A (August 18)

 * 1) [[Image:Flag of Australia.svg|20px|]] Australia (Drew Ginn, James Tomkins) 6:22.60 FA
 * 2) [[Image:Flag of Croatia.svg|20px|]] Croatia (Siniša Skelin, Nikša Skelin) 6:23.57 FA
 * 3) [[Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg|20px|]] New Zealand (Nathan Twaddle, George Bridgewater) 6:24.49 FA
 * 4) [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|20px|]] Great Britain (Toby Garbett, Rick Dunn) 6:25.06 FB
 * 5) [[Image:Flag of Italy.svg|20px|]] Italy (Giuseppe de Vita, Dario Lari) 6:31.26 FB
 * 6) [[Image:Flag of Argentina.svg|20px|]] Argentina (Walter Naneder, Marcos Morales) 7:19.57 FB

Semifinal B (August 18)

 * 1) [[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|20px|]] Germany (Tobias Kühne, Jan Herzog) 6:25.47 FA
 * 2) [[Image:Flag of Serbia and Montenegro.svg|20px|]] Serbia and Montenegro (Nikola Stojić, Mladen Stegić) 6:27.50 FA
 * 3) [[Image:Flag of South Africa.svg|20px|]] South Africa (Donovan Cech, Ramon di Clemente) 6:28.48 FA
 * 4) [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|20px|]] United States (Luke Walton, Artour Samsonov) 6:32.51 FB
 * 5) [[Image:Flag of Slovenia.svg|20px|]] Slovenia (Matija Pavšič, Andrej Hrabar) 6:46.12 FB
 * 6) [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|20px|]] Canada (Dave Calder, Chris Jarvis) Excluded FB

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 final as the seventh boat. The decision not to allow this came after the B Final had raced.

Final A (August 21)

 * 1) [[Image:Flag of Australia.svg|20px|]] Australia (Drew Ginn, James Tomkins) 6:30.76
 * 2) [[Image:Flag of Croatia.svg|20px|]] Croatia (Siniša Skelin, Nikša Skelin) 6:32.64
 * 3) [[Image:Flag of South Africa.svg|20px|]] South Africa (Donovan Cech, Ramon di Clemente) 6:33.40
 * 4) [[Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg|20px|]] New Zealand (Nathan Twaddle, George Bridgewater) 6:34.24
 * 5) [[Image:Flag of Serbia and Montenegro.svg|20px|]] Serbia and Montenegro (Nikola Stojić, Mladen Stegić) 6:39.74
 * 6) [[Image:Flag of Germany.svg|20px|]] Germany (Tobias Kühne, Jan Herzog) 6:46.50

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.

Final B (August 19)

 * 1) [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg|20px|]] Great Britain (Toby Garbett, Rick Dunn) 6:22.04
 * 2) [[Image:Flag of Italy.svg|20px|]] Italy (Giuseppe de Vita, Dario Lari) 6:22.08
 * 3) [[Image:Flag of Slovenia.svg|20px|]] Slovenia (Matija Pavšič, Andrej Hrabar) 6:27.11
 * 4) [[Image:Flag of Argentina.svg|20px|]] Argentina (Walter Naneder, Marcos Morales) 6:27.88
 * 5) [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|20px|]] United States (Luke Walton, Artour Samsonov) 6:30.49
 * 6) [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|20px|]] Canada (Dave Calder, Chris Jarvis) DNS