Cycling at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

The men's sprint at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, was held from 21 to 24 July 1976. There were 25 participants from 25 nations. Following the explosion in size of the event from 1960 to 1972, when nations were allowed two cyclists each, the limit was again reduced to one competitor from each nation. The event was won by Anton Tkáč of Czechoslovakia, the nation's first medal in the men's sprint. Tkáč beat two-time defending champion Daniel Morelon of France in the final; Morelon's silver was a (still-standing record fourth medal in the event. Jürgen Geschke earned bronze to give East Germany its first medal in the event and the first medal for any German cyclist since 1952.

Background

This was the 16th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except in 1904 and 1912. Three quarterfinalists from 1972 returned: two-time gold medalist (and 1964 bronze medalist) Daniel Morelon of France and fifth-place finishers Niels Fredborg of Denmark and Jürgen Geschke of East Germany. Morelon had seven world championships to go with his two Olympic gold medals, and was again the favorite. Anton Tkáč of Czechoslavkia had won the 1974 world championship and was a contender as well.

Antigua and Barbuda and Yugoslavia each made their debut in the men's sprint; East Germany competed separately for the first time. France made its 16th 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. The 1976 competition featured a smaller field than previous Games, reducing the number of rounds from ten to eight by eliminating the second round and second repechage. The 1976 sprint involved eight rounds: five main rounds (first round, 1/8 finals, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) as well as two repechages after the first two main rounds; the second repechage was a two-round repechage.Official Report, vol. 3, pp. 191–93.

First round: The 25 entrants were divided into 12 heats of 2 cyclists each (except the final heat, which had 3). The winner of each heat advanced directly to the 1/8 finals (12 cyclists), while all other cyclists who competed were sent to the first repechage (13 cyclists). First repechage: The 13 cyclists were divided into 6 heats, each with 2 cyclists (again, except the final heat, which had 3). The winner of each heat advanced to the 1/8 finals (6 cyclists), while all others were eliminated (7 cyclists). 1/8 finals: The 18 cyclists who advanced through the first rounds (including repechage) competed in a 1/8 finals round. There were 6 heats in this round, with 3 cyclists in each. The top cyclist in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals (6 cyclists), while the other 2 in each heat went to the second repechage (12 cyclists). Second repechage: This was a two-round repechage. The repechage began with 4 heats of 3 cyclists each. The top cyclist in each heat advanced to the second round, while the other 2 cyclists in each heat were eliminated. The second round of this repechage featured 2 heats of 2 cyclists each, with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals and the losers eliminated. 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 (for the first time) 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.

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round Wednesday, 21 July 1976 16:0016:40 Round 1First repechage Thursday, 22 July 1976 15:2016:1516:4517:00 1/8 finalsSecond repechage semifinalsSecond repechage finalsQuarterfinals Friday, 23 July 1976 16:30 Semifinals Saturday, 24 July 1976 15:15 Finals

Results

First round

First round heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Daniel Morelon 11.46 2 Taworn Tarwan –

First round heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Giorgio Rossi 11.36 2 Mikhail Kountras –

First round heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jürgen Geschke 11.55 2 Vlado Fumić –

First round heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Benedykt Kocot 11.79 2 Leslie Rawlins –

First round heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Anton Tkáč 11.19 2 Stanley Smith –

First round heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Sergey Kravtsov 11.16 2 Julio Echevarry –

First round heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Gordon Singleton 11.44 2 Dimo Angelov Tonchev –

First round heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Yoshikazu Cho 11.21 2 Niels Fredborg –

First round heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Dieter Berkmann 11.38 2 Ron Boyle –

First round heat 10

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Richard Tormen 11.63 2 Sjaak Pieters –

First round heat 11

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Xavier Mirander 11.45 2 Trevor Gadd –

First round heat 12

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Michel Vaarten 11.26 2 Leigh Barczewski – 3 Patrick Spencer –

First repechage

First repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Stanley Smith 12.34 2 Taworn Tarwan –

First repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Dimo Angelov Tonchev 11.50 2 Mikhail Kountras –

First repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Julio Echevarry – 2 Leslie Rawlins

First repechage heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Niels Fredborg 11.96 2 Ron Boyle –

First repechage heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Trevor Gadd – 2 Leigh Barczewski

First repechage heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Sjaak Pieters 11.71 2 Vlado Fumić – 3 Patrick Spencer –

1/8 finals

1/8 final 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Daniel Morelon 11.29 2 Michel Vaarten – 3 Stanley Smith –

1/8 final 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Giorgio Rossi 11.39 2 Richard Tormen – 3 Dimo Angelov Tonchev –

1/8 final 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jürgen Geschke 11.52 2 Xavier Mirander – 3 Julio Echevarry –

1/8 final 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Niels Fredborg 11.59 2 Dieter Berkmann – 3 Benedykt Kocot –

1/8 final 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Anton Tkáč 11.69 2 Gordon Singleton – 3 Trevor Gadd –

1/8 final 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Yoshikazu Cho 11.28 2 Sergey Kravtsov – 3 Sjaak Pieters –

Second repechage heats

Second repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Michel Vaarten 12.61 2 Julio Echevarry – 3 Dimo Angelov Tonchev –

Second repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Richard Tormen 11.75 2 Benedykt Kocot – 3 Stanley Smith –

Second repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Sergey Kravtsov 11.31 2 Trevor Gadd – 3 Xavier Mirander –

Second repechage heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Dieter Berkmann 11.43 2 Sjaak Pieters – 3 Gordon Singleton –

Second repechage finals

Second repechage final 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Dieter Berkmann 11.67 2 Richard Tormen –

Second repechage final 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Sergey Kravtsov 11.39 2 Michel Vaarten –

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time 1 Daniel Morelon 11.69 1 11.15 1 colspan=2 rowspan=2 2 Sergey Kravtsov – 2 – 2

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time 1 Dieter Berkmann – 2 11.96 1 11.80 1 2 Giorgio Rossi 12.44 1 – 2 – 2

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time 1 Jürgen Geschke 12.14 1 12.44 1 colspan=2 rowspan=2 2 Yoshikazu Cho – 2 – 2

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time 1 Anton Tkáč 11.53 1 11.69 1 colspan=2 rowspan=2 2 Niels Fredborg – 2 – 2

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time 1 Daniel Morelon 11.42 1 11.62 1 colspan=2 rowspan=2 2 Dieter Berkmann – 2 – 2

Semifinal 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time 1 Anton Tkáč 11.24 1 – 2 11.13 1 2 Jürgen Geschke – 2 11.65 1 – 2

Finals

Classification 5–8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time 5 Sergey Kravtsov Unknown 6 Yoshikazu Cho – 7 Niels Fredborg – 8 Giorgio Rossi –

Bronze medal match

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Jürgen Geschke 11.35 1 2 11.42 1 4 Dieter Berkmann – 2 – 1 – 2

Final

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time Anton Tkáč 10.78 1 – 2 11.17 1 Daniel Morelon – 2 11.58 1 – 2

Final classification

Rank Cyclist Nation Anton Tkáč Daniel Morelon Jürgen Geschke 4 Dieter Berkmann 5 Sergey Kravtsov 6 Yoshikazu Cho 7 Niels Fredborg 8 Giorgio Rossi 9 Richard Tormen Michel Vaarten 11 Julio Echevarry Trevor Gadd Benedykt Kocot Sjaak Pieters 15 Dimo Angelov Tonchev Xavier Mirander Gordon Singleton Stanley Smith 19 Leigh Barczewski Ron Boyle Vlado Fumić Mikhail Kountras Leslie Rawlins Taworn Tarwan 25 Patrick Spencer

References

External links Official Report