The women's eight event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place from 24 to 30 July 2021 at the Sea Forest Waterway.[1] Seven nations were represented with one boat each; 56 rowers and 7 coxswains competed.[2]
Background
Women first competed in Olympic rowing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics[3] and the eight was competed all Olympics since then, such that this was the twelfth appearance of the event.
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) is limited to a single boat in the event. There were seven qualifying places in the women's eight:[2]
5 from the 2019 World Championship (New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Canada, and Great Britain)[4]
2 from the final qualification regatta (China and Romania)
Schedule
The event was originally scheduled to start on 25 July 2021, but a poor weather forecast for 26 July resulted in a revised regatta programme, with the heats for the eight moving to the previous day. The competition was held over seven days.[1][5]
