16 crews entered in two heats. The top two finishers in each heat advanced to the final while the remaining teams competed in the repechages.
Heat 1
1.
Thomas Reineck , Mark Zabel , Detlef Hofmann , and Olaf Winter (GER )
3:07.908
QF
2.
Anatoli Tishchenko , Oleg Gorobiy , Sergey Verlin , and Georgiy Tsybulnikov (RUS )
3:11.128
QF
3.
James Walker , Paul Lynch , Brian Morton , and Ramon Andersson (AUS )
3:11.752
QS
4.
Miguel García , Jovino González , Emilio Merchán , and Gregorio Vicente (ESP )
3:14.224
QS
5.
Mihai Apostol , Renn Crichlow , Peter Giles , and Liam Jewell (CAN )
3:15.208
QS
6.
Andrea Covi , Enrico Lupetti , Ivano Lussignoli , and Luca Negri (ITA )
3:17.144
QS
7.
Karel Leština , Pavel Mráz , Martin Otáhal , and Jiří Polívka (CZE )
3:19.868
QS
8.
Curt Bader , Philippe Boccara , Mark Hamilton , and Cliff Meidl (USA )
3:23.352
QS
Heat 2
1.
Ferenc Csipes , Gábor Horváth , Attila Adrovicz , and András Rajna (HUN )
3:07.517
QF
2.
Grzegorz Kaleta , Piotr Markiewicz , Marek Witowski , and Adam Wysocki (POL )
3:10.625
QF
3.
Petar Karadzhov , Petar Merkov , Nikolay Yordanov , and Georgi Choykov (BUL )
3:13.165
QS
4.
Paw Madsen , Mattias Oscarsson , Henrik Nilsson , and Jonas Fager (SWE )
3:13.809
QS
5.
Ilfat Gatyatullin , Dmitry Torlopov , Andrey Safaryan , and Sergey Skrypnik (KAZ )
3:15.493
QS
6.
V'iacheslav Kulida , Olesksiy Slivinsky , Andriy Borzukov , and Andriy Petrov (UKR )
3:16.297
QS
7.
Morten Ivarsen , Mattis Næss , Tom Selvik , and Thomas Roander (NOR )
3:17.021
QS
8.
Vladimir Kazantsev , Konstantin Yashin , Anatoly Tyurin , and Andrey Shilin (UZB )
3:27.133
QS
The top two finishers in the each semifinal and the fastest third-place finisher advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
1.
Miguel García , Jovino González , Emilio Merchán , and Gregorio Vicente (ESP )
3:00.799
QF
2.
Mihai Apostol , Renn Crichlow , Peter Giles , and Liam Jewell (CAN )
3:01.307
QF
3.
Petar Karadzhov , Petar Merkov , Nikolay Yordanov , and Georgi Choykov (BUL )
3:01.427
QF
4.
V'iacheslav Kulida , Olesksiy Slivinsky , Andriy Borzukov , and Andriy Petrov (UKR )
3:05.643
5.
Karel Leština , Pavel Mráz , Martin Otáhal , and Jiří Polívka (CZE )
3:06.611
6.
Curt Bader , Philippe Boccara , Mark Hamilton , and Cliff Meidl (USA )
3:06.855
Semifinal 2
1.
James Walker , Paul Lynch , Brian Morton , and Ramon Andersson (AUS )
3:01.806
QF
2.
Paw Madsen , Mattias Oscarsson , Henrik Nilsson , and Jonas Fager (SWE )
3:02.202
QF
3.
Andrea Covi , Enrico Lupetti , Ivano Lussignoli , and Luca Negri (ITA )
3:03.218
4.
Morten Ivarsen , Mattis Næss , Tom Selvik , and Thomas Roander (NOR )
3:03.870
5.
Ilfat Gatyatullin , Dmitry Torlopov , Andrey Safaryan , and Sergey Skrypnik (KAZ )
3:06.850
6.
Vladimir Kazantsev , Konstantin Yashin , Anatoly Tyurin , and Andrey Shilin (UZB )
3:11.146
The final was held on August 3.
Thomas Reineck , Mark Zabel , Detlef Hofmann , and Olaf Winter (GER )
2:51.528
Ferenc Csipes , Gábor Horváth , Attila Adrovicz , and András Rajna (HUN )
2:53.184
Anatoli Tishchenko , Oleg Gorobiy , Sergey Verlin , and Georgiy Tsybulnikov (RUS )
2:53.996
4.
Grzegorz Kaleta , Piotr Markiewicz , Marek Witowski , and Adam Wysocki (POL )
2:54.772
5.
Miguel García , Jovino González , Emilio Merchán , and Gregorio Vicente (ESP )
2:55.884
6.
Paw Madsen , Mattias Oscarsson , Henrik Nilsson , and Jonas Fager (SWE )
2:55.908
7.
Mihai Apostol , Renn Crichlow , Peter Giles , and Liam Jewell (CAN )
2:56.664
8.
Petar Karadzhov , Petar Merkov , Nikolay Yordanov , and Georgi Choykov (BUL )
2:56.696
9.
James Walker , Paul Lynch , Brian Morton , and Ramon Andersson (AUS )
2:57.560
Germany stayed close to Hungary for the first 750 meters of the race before pulling away to win decisively.