The men's track time trial at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, was held on July 20, 1976. There were 30 participants from 30 nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist. One additional cyclist, Elmabruk Kehel from Libya, was entered but did not start because of the last-minute boycott from the African countries. The event was won by Klaus-Jürgen Grünke of East Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's track time trial. Michel Vaarten of Belgium took silver. Niels Fredborg became the only man to win three medals in the event, adding a bronze to his 1968 silver and 1972 gold.
Background
This was the 12th appearance of the event, which had previously been held in 1896 and every Games since 1928. It would be held every Games until being dropped from the programme after 2004. The returning cyclists from 1972 were gold medalist (and 1968 silver medalist) Niels Fredborg of Denmark, fifth-place finisher (and 1968 bronze medalist) Janusz Kierzkowski of Poland, sixth-place finisher Dimo Angelov Tonchev of Bulgaria, eighth-place finisher Eduard Rapp of the Soviet Union, fifteenth-place finisher Jocelyn Lovell of Canada, eighteenth-place finisher Harald Bundli of Norway, and non-finisher Hector Edwards of Barbados. Fredborg, Rapp (1974 world champion), and Klaus-Jürgen Grünke (1975 world champion) were favored.
Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Hong Kong, and Yugoslavia each made their debut in the men's track time trial. France and Great Britain each made their 12th appearance, having competed at every appearance of the event.
Competition format
The event was a time trial on the track, with each cyclist competing separately to attempt to achieve the fastest time. Each cyclist raced one kilometre from a standing start.Official Report, vol. 3, p. 191.
Records
The following were the world and Olympic records prior to the competition.
No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.
Schedule
All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
Date Time Round Tuesday, 20 July 1976 15:00 Final
Results
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Speed(km/h) Klaus-Jürgen Grünke 1:05.92754.606 Michel Vaarten 1:07.51653.321 Niels Fredborg 1:07.61753.241 4 Janusz Kierzkowski 1:07.66053.207 5 Eric Vermeulen 1:07.84653.061 6 Hans Michalsky 1:07.87853.036 7 Harald Bundli 1:08.09352.869 8 Walter Bäni 1:08.11252.854 9 Miroslav Vymazal 1:08.17352.807 10 Massimo Marino 1:08.48852.564 11 David Weller 1:08.53452.529 12 Stephen Goodall 1:08.61052.470 13 Jocelyn Lovell 1:08.85252.286 14 Dimo Angelov Tonchev 1:08.95052.212 15 Robert Vehe 1:09.05752.131 16 Richard Tormen 1:09.46851.822 17 Yoshikazu Cho 1:09.66451.677 18 Hector Edwards 1:10.08451.367 19 Paul Medhurst 1:10.16751.306 20 Anthony Sellier 1:11.10350.631 21 Mikhail Kountras 1:11.43550.395 22 Miguel Margalef 1:11.90550.066 23 Erol Küçükbakırcı 1:12.69749.521 24 Vlado Fumić 1:13.03749.290 25 Masoud Mobaraki 1:14.16948.538 26 Marco Soria 1:14.48048.335 27 Taworn Tarwan 1:15.13647.913 28 Chan Fai Lui 1:16.95746.779 — Donald Christian — — Eduard Rapp — — Elmabruk Kehel Libya —
References
External links Official Report