Cycling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

Cycling at the Olympics

Men's sprint
at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Jens Fiedler (2010)
VenueStone Mountain Park Velodrome
Dates24–28 July
Competitors24 from 16 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jens Fiedler
 Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Marty Nothstein
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Curt Harnett
 Canada
← 1992
2000 →
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The men's sprint at the 1996 Summer Olympics (Cycling) was an event that consisted of cyclists making three laps around the track. Only the time for the last 200 metres of the 750 metres covered was counted as official time. The races were held on July 24 through July 28, 1996 at the Stone Mountain Velodrome.[1] There were 24 competitors from 16 nations, with nations once again being allowed to have up to two cyclists each (the limit had fluctuated between one and two for most of the history of the event). The event was won by Jens Fiedler of Germany, the second man to successfully defend an Olympic sprint title (and third to win two gold medals overall). Curt Harnett of Canada also repeated as bronze medalist; he and Fiedler were the fifth and sixth men to win multiple medals of any color in the event. Marty Nothstein of the United States took silver, the nation's first medal in the event since 1984.

Background

This was the 21st appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. Five of the quarterfinalists from 1992 returned: gold medalist Jens Fiedler of Germany, silver medalist Gary Neiwand of Australia, bronze medalist Curt Harnett of Canada, fourth-place finisher Roberto Chiappa of Italy, and eighth-place finisher José Manuel Moreno of Spain. There was no clear favorite. Neither Fiedler nor Harnett had had much success between Games. Neiwand had won the World Championship in 1993; two other recent world champions—American Marty Nothstein (1994) and Australian Darryn Hill (1995) were also competing in Atlanta.[2]

The Czech Republic and Slovakia each made their debut in the men's sprint (after the breakup of Czechoslovakia, which had competed 10 times in the sprint). France made its 21st appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format

This sprint competition involved a series of head-to-head matches along with the new qualifying round of time trials. There were six main match rounds, with three one-round repechages.[2][3]

  • Qualifying round: Each of the 24 competitors completed a 200-metre flying time trial (reaching full speed before timing started for the last 200 metres). The top 24 advanced to the match rounds, seeded based on their time in the qualifying round. With only 24 riders starting, nobody was eliminated.
  • Round 1: The 24 cyclists were seeded into 12 heats of 2 cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced to round 2 (12 cyclists) while the other cyclists went to the first repechage (12 cyclists).
  • First repechage: The 12 cyclists were divided into 6 heats, each with 2 cyclists. The winner of each heat advanced to round 2 (6 cyclists) while the losers were eliminated (6 cyclists).
  • Round 2: The 18 cyclists were divided into 9 heats, each with 2 cyclists. The winners of each heat advanced to the 1/8 finals (9 cyclists). The loser in each heat went to the second repechage (9 cyclists).
  • Second repechage: The 9 cyclists were divided into 3 heats of 3 cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced to the 1/8 finals (3 cyclists), while the remaining cyclists were eliminated (6 cyclists).
  • 1/8 finals: The 12 remaining cyclists competed in a 1/8 finals round. There were 6 heats in this round, with 2 cyclists in each. The winner in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals (6 cyclists), while the loser in each heat went to the third repechage (6 cyclists).
  • Third repechage: This round featured 2 heats, with 3 cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced to the quarterfinals (2 cyclists); the losers were eliminated (4 cyclists).
  • Quarterfinals: Beginning with the quarterfinals, all matches were one-on-one competitions and were held in best-of-three format. There were 4 quarterfinals, with the winner of each advancing to the semifinals and the loser going to the fifth-eighth classification race.
  • Semifinals: The two semifinals provided for advancement to the gold medal final for winners and to the bronze medal final for losers.
  • Finals: Both a gold medal final and a bronze medal final were held, as well as a classification final for fifth through eighth places for quarterfinal losers.

Records

The records for the sprint are 200 metre flying time trial records, kept for the qualifying round in later Games as well as for the finish of races.

World record  Curt Harnett (CAN) 9.865 Bogotá, Colombia 28 September 1995
Olympic record  Jens Fiedler (GER) 10.252 Barcelona, Spain 28 July 1992

Five men broke the old Olympic record in the qualifying round, though only three held a new record even temporarily. Eyk Pokorny broke it first, with a 10.233 seconds run. Marty Nothstein was next, at 10.176 seconds. Gary Neiwand finished with the record at 10.129 seconds. Curt Harnett and Jens Fiedler also came in under the old record, but not below the record as it stood during their turn for the time trial.

Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 24 July 1996 10:00
17:35
18:45		 Qualifying round
Round 1
First repechage
Thursday, 25 July 1996 10:55 Round 2
Second repechage
Friday, 26 July 1996 11:40
12:30		 1/8 finals
Third repechage
Saturday, 27 July 1996 11:15
13:35
13:45		 Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Classification 5–8
Sunday, 28 July 1996 12:15 Bronze medal match
Final

Results

Qualifying round

Times and average speeds are listed. All 24 riders advanced to the first round.

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Speed
km/h		 Notes
1 Gary Neiwand  Australia 10.129 71.08 Q, OR
2 Curt Harnett  Canada 10.175 70.76 Q
3 Marty Nothstein  United States 10.176 70.75 Q
4 Jens Fiedler  Germany 10.232 70.36 Q
5 Eyk Pokorny  Germany 10.233 70.36 Q
6 Darryn Hill  Australia 10.329 69.70 Q
7 Pavel Buráň  Czech Republic 10.389 69.30 Q
8 Florian Rousseau  France 10.397 69.25 Q
9 Viesturs Bērziņš  Latvia 10.463 68.81 Q
10 Roberto Chiappa  Italy 10.473 68.74 Q
11 Jose Moreno  Spain 10.492 68.62 Q
12 William Clay  United States 10.543 68.29 Q
13 George Himonetos  Greece 10.559 68.18 Q
14 Frédéric Magné  France 10.602 67.91 Q
15 José Antonio Escuredo  Spain 10.630 67.73 Q
16 Martin Hrbacek  Slovakia 10.693 67.33 Q
17 Jean-Pierre van Zyl  South Africa 10.695 67.32 Q
18 Lambros Vasilopoulos  Greece 10.726 67.12 Q
19 Yuichiro Kamiyama  Japan 10.772 66.83 Q
20 Peter Bazálik  Slovakia 10.837 66.43 Q
21 Gianluca Capitano  Italy 10.895 66.08 Q
22 Hyeon Byeong-cheol  South Korea 11.001 65.44 Q
23 Darren McKenzie Potter  New Zealand 11.211 64.22 Q
24 Claus Martínez  Bolivia 12.341 58.34 Q

Round 1

The first round consisted of twelve heats of two riders each. Winners advanced to the next round, losers competed in the repechage.

Round 1 heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Gary Neiwand  Australia 11.191 Q
2 Claus Martinez Arroyo  Bolivia R

Round 1 heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Curt Harnett  Canada 11.380 Q
2 Darren McKenzie Potter  New Zealand R

Round 1 heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Marty Nothstein  United States 11.415 Q
2 Byung Hyun  South Korea R

Round 1 heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Jens Fiedler  Germany 11.722 Q
2 Gianluca Capitano  Italy R

Round 1 heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Eyk Pokorny  Germany 10.995 Q
2 Peter Bazálik  Slovakia R

Round 1 heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Darryn Hill  Australia 11.192 Q
2 Yuichiro Kamiyama  Japan R

Round 1 heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Pavel Buráň  Czech Republic 11.700 Q
2 Labros Vassilopoulus  Greece R

Round 1 heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Florian Rousseau  France 11.296 Q
2 Jean-Pierre van Zyl  South Africa R

Round 1 heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Viesturs Bērziņš  Latvia 11.008 Q
2 Martin Hrbacek  Slovakia R

Round 1 heat 10

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Roberto Chiappa  Italy 10.896 Q
2 José Antonio Escuredo  Spain R

Round 1 heat 11

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Frédéric Magné  France 10.740 Q
2 Jose Moreno  Spain R

Round 1 heat 12

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 George Himonetos  Greece 11.182 Q
2 William Clay  United States R

First repechage

The twelve defeated cyclists from the first round took part in the first round repechage. The winner of each heat rejoined the twelve victors of the first round in advancing to the second round.

First repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 William Clay  United States 11.191 Q
2 Claus Martinez Arroyo  Bolivia

First repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Jose Moreno  Spain 11.017 Q
2 Darren McKenzie Potter  New Zealand

First repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 José Antonio Escuredo  Spain 11.257 Q
2 Byung Hyun  South Korea

First repechage heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Martin Hrbacek  Slovakia 11.076 Q
2 Gianluca Capitano  Italy

First repechage heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Peter Bazálik  Slovakia 11.222 Q
2 Jean-Pierre van Zyl  South Africa

First repechage heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Labros Vassilopoulus  Greece 11.060 Q
2 Yuichiro Kamiyama  Japan

Round 2

The second round consisted of nine heats of two riders each. Winners advanced to the 1/8 finals, losers competed in the repechage.

Round 2 heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Gary Neiwand  Australia 11.249 Q
2 Labros Vassilopoulus  Greece R

Round 2 heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Curt Harnett  Canada 11.058 Q
2 Peter Bazálik  Slovakia R

Round 2 heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Marty Nothstein  United States 10.899 Q
2 Martin Hrbacek  Slovakia R

Round 2 heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Jens Fiedler  Germany 10.597 Q
2 José Antonio Escuredo  Spain R

Round 2 heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Eyk Pokorny  Germany 10.966 Q
2 Jose Moreno  Spain R

Round 2 heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Darryn Hill  Australia 10.811 Q
2 William Clay  United States R

Round 2 heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Pavel Buráň  Czech Republic 11.272 Q
2 George Himonetos  Greece R

Round 2 heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Florian Rousseau  France 10.745 Q
2 Frédéric Magné  France R

Round 2 heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Viesturs Bērziņš  Latvia 11.044 Q
2 Roberto Chiappa  Italy R

Second repechage

The nine defeated cyclists from the second round took part in the second round repechage. The winner of each heat rejoined the nine victors of the second round in advancing to the 1/8 finals.

Second repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Roberto Chiappa  Italy 11.378 Q
2 Labros Vassilopoulus  Greece
3 William Clay  United States REL

Second repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Jose Moreno  Spain 11.089 Q
2 George Himonetos  Greece
3 Peter Bazálik  Slovakia

Second repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Frédéric Magné  France 11.035 Q
2 Gianluca Capitano  Italy
3 José Antonio Escuredo  Spain

1/8 finals

The 1/8 round consisted of six matches, each pitting two of the twelve remaining cyclists against each other. The winners advanced to the quarterfinals, with the losers getting another chance in the 1/8 repechage.

1/8 final 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Gary Neiwand  Australia 11.625 Q
2 Frédéric Magné  France R

1/8 final 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Curt Harnett  Canada 10.793 Q
2 Jose Moreno  Spain R

1/8 final 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Marty Nothstein  United States 11.047 Q
2 Roberto Chiappa  Italy R

1/8 final 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Jens Fiedler  Germany 10.808 Q
2 Viesturs Bērziņš  Latvia R

1/8 final 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Florian Rousseau  France 10.828 Q
2 Eyk Pokorny  Germany R

1/8 final 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Darryn Hill  Australia 11.008 Q
2 Pavel Buráň  Czech Republic R

Third repechage

The six cyclists defeated in the 1/8 round competed in the 1/8 repechage. Two heats of three riders were held. Winners rejoined the victors from the 1/8 round and advanced to the quarterfinals.

Third repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Frédéric Magné  France 10.975 Q
2 Pavel Buráň  Czech Republic
3 Viesturs Bērziņš  Latvia

Third repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m		 Notes
1 Eyk Pokorny  Germany 10.982 Q
2 Roberto Chiappa  Italy
3 Jose Moreno  Spain

Quarterfinals

The eight riders that had advanced to the quarterfinals competed pairwise in four matches. Each match consisted of two races, with a potential third race being used as a tie-breaker if each cyclist won one of the first two races. The winners advanced to the semifinals, with the losers racing in a 5-8 placement race.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Gary Neiwand  Australia 10.794 11.091 — Q
2 Eyk Pokorny  Germany — C

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Curt Harnett  Canada 11.127 REL 10.712 Q
2 Frédéric Magné  France 11.022 C

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Marty Nothstein  United States 10.950 10.650 — Q
2 Darryn Hill  Australia — C

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Jens Fiedler  Germany 10.752 10.957 — Q
2 Florian Rousseau  France — C

Semifinals

The four riders that had advanced to the semifinals competed pairwise in two matches. Each match consisted of two races, with a potential third race being used as a tie-breaker if each cyclist won one of the first two races. Winners advanced to the finals, losers competed in the bronze medal match.

Semifinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Jens Fiedler  Germany 10.618 10.974 — Q
2 Gary Neiwand  Australia — B

Semifinal 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Marty Nothstein  United States 10.731 10.905 — Q
2 Curt Harnett  Canada — B

Finals

Classification 5-8

Held 19 September. The 5-8 classification was a single race with all four riders that had lost in the quarterfinals. The winner of the race received 5th place, with the others taking the three following places in order.

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
5 Darryn Hill  Australia 11.072
6 Frédéric Magné  France
7 Eyk Pokorny  Germany
8 Florian Rousseau  France

Bronze medal match

The bronze medal match was contested in a set of three races, with the winner of two races declared the winner.

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Curt Harnett  Canada 10.947 10.949 —
4 Gary Neiwand  Australia —

Gold medal match

The gold medal match was contested in a set of three races, with the winner of two races declared the winner.

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jens Fiedler  Germany 10.664 11.074 —
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Marty Nothstein  United States —

Final classification

Rank Cyclist Nation
1 Jens Fiedler  Germany
2 Marty Nothstein  United States
3 Curt Harnett  Canada
4 Gary Neiwand  Australia
5 Darryn Hill  Australia
6 Frédéric Magné  France
7 Eyk Pokorny  Germany
8 Florian Rousseau  France
9 Pavel Buráň  Czech Republic
10 Viesturs Bērziņš  Latvia
11 Roberto Chiappa  Italy
12 Jose Moreno  Spain
13 William Clay  United States
14 George Himonetos  Greece
15 José Antonio Escuredo  Spain
16 Labros Vassilopoulus  Greece
17 Peter Bazálik  Slovakia
18 Gianluca Capitano  Italy
19 Jean-Pierre van Zyl  South Africa
20 Yuichiro Kamiyama  Japan
21 Gianluca Capitano  Italy
22 Byung Hyun  South Korea
23 Darren McKenzie Potter  New Zealand
24 Claus Martinez Arroyo  Bolivia

References

  1. ^ "Cycling at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Men's Sprint". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b "Sprint, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 180.

External links

  • Official Olympic Report
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Olympic Cycling Champions in Men's Individual Sprint