Rowing at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's coxed four

After the runner-up in the second semifinal and the third-place boat in the third semifinal (who should have been eliminated) each had faster times than the winner of the first semifinal, the officials decided to hold another qualifying race. However, as the officials could not contact all of the teams involved, this race was scratched.

The officials later decided to have a six-boat final, with the semifinal winners and the three fastest losers competing, despite the fact that the course had been designed for a maximum of four boats. As this decision was clearly preposterous, the semifinal winners boycotted the final in protest.[2]

Following this fiasco, the officials decided to have a second final with the three semifinal winners plus the winner of the first final (Cercle de l'Aviron Roubaix) competing, which would have seen the first final become a de facto repechage: for this reason, as well as the fact they had already won the event under the rules in effect when the first final was held, the Cercle de l'Aviron Roubaix rowers flatly declined to compete in the second final.

Thus, the second final consisted only of the semifinal winners, resulting in two sets of medals being awarded for the event.[2]

Initially, the top boat in each semifinal plus the runner-up in the third semifinal (which had four boats instead of the three boats competing in each of the other two), were to advance. Following protests which ensued after the runner-up in the second semifinal and the third-place boat in the third semifinal each posted better times than the winner of the first, the qualification rules for the final were altered. Eventually, the six boats were broken into two groups and competed in separate finals. The runners-up in semifinals 2 and 3 as well as the third-place boat in semifinal 3 competed in the first final, while the three semifinal winners competed in the second.