The men's eight competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia took place at Lake Lanier. It was held from 21 to 27 July. There were 10 boats (90 competitors) from 10 nations, with each nation limited to a single boat in the event. The event was won by the Netherlands, the nation's first victory in the men's eight and first medal of any color in the event since 1900. Germany took silver; it was the 9th time in the past 10 Games that a German team (Germany, United Team of Germany, East Germany, or West Germany) was on the podium, with the only exception being 1984 when no German boats competed. Russia earned bronze in its independent debut.