The men's track time trial in Cycling at the 1996 Summer Olympics was a time trial race in which each of the twenty cyclists attempted to set the fastest time for four laps (1 kilometre) of the track. The race was held on Wednesday, July 24, 1996 at the Stone Mountain Velodrome. There were 20 competitors from 20 nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist. The event was won by Florian Rousseau of France, the nation's first victory in the men's track trial since 1968 and fourth overall (most of any nation, leading multiple others by two). Erin Hartwell of the United States took silver, becoming the fourth man to win multiple medals in the event. Japan won its first track time trial medal with Takanobu Jumonji's bronze.
Background
This was the 17th 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 1992 were silver medalist Shane Kelly of Australia, bronze medalist Erin Hartwell of the United States, eighth-place finisher Gene Samuel of Trinidad and Tobago, ninth-place finisher Dirk Jan van Hameren of the Netherlands, twelfth-place finisher Aleksandr Kirichenko of the Unified Team (also the 1988 gold medalist for the Soviet Union, and now competing for Russia), thirteenth-place finisher Christian Meidlinger of Austria, and twentieth-place finisher Grzegorz Krejner of Poland. Kelly was the reigning world champion and world record holder, as well. Kelly and two-time (1993 and 1994) world champion Florian Rousseau of France were the favorites.
Russia and Ukraine each made their debut in the men's track time trial. France made its 17th appearance, the only nation to have 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. 180.
Records The following were the world and Olympic records prior to the competition.
Erin Hartwell broke the Olympic record with a time of 1:02.940. Florian Rousseau later bettered that, finishing in 1:02.712.
Schedule
All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
Date Time Round Wednesday, 24 July 1996 11:20 Final
Results
Hartwell's Olympic-record race gave him the lead until the last two riders, favorites Rousseau and Kelly (guaranteeing Hartwell a rare second medal to add to his 1992 bronze). Rousseau outdid Hartwell's time, dropping the Olympic record further. Kelly, however, had his foot slip from his toe clip shortly after starting and did not finish.
RankCyclistNation 250 m 500 m 750 m TimeNotes Florian Rousseau 18.709 32.549 47.014 1:02.712 Erin Hartwell 18.892 33.059 47.616 1:02.940 Takanobu Jumonji 18.725 32.632 47.315 1:03.261 4 Soeren Lausberg 19.403 33.208 47.743 1:03.514 5 Jean-Pierre van Zyl 18.975 33.049 47.959 1:04.214 6 Grzegorz Krejner 19.472 33.482 48.481 1:04.697 7 Dimitrios Georgalis 19.654 33.877 48.876 1:04.995 8 Ainārs Ķiksis 19.341 33.510 48.902 1:05.457 9 Christian Meidlinger 19.453 34.256 49.424 1:05.530 10 Gene Samuel 19.277 33.644 49.082 1:05.553 11 Bogdan Bondariew 20.771 35.230 50.002 1:05.658 12 Dirk Jan van Hameren 19.401 33.709 49.061 1:05.886 13 José Antonio Escuredo 19.828 34.078 49.339 1:05.994 14 Darren McKenzie Potter 19.568 34.311 49.870 1:06.311 15 Gianluca Capitano 19.878 34.179 49.538 1:06.408 16 Shaun Wallace 19.767 34.590 50.068 1:06.456 17 Ángel Colla 19.774 34.417 49.897 1:06.619 18 Aleksandr Kirichenko 19.446 34.218 49.987 1:07.013 19 Hong Seok-han 19.591 34.367 50.118 1:07.099 — Shane Kelly —
References
External links Official Olympic Report