The men's sprint cycling event at the 1936 Summer Olympics took place on 6 and 7 August and was one of six events at the 1936 Olympics. There were 20 competitors from 20 nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist.Official Report, vol. 2, p. 926. The event was won, in a disputed final, by Toni Merkens of Germany, the nation's first medal in the men's sprint. Arie van Vliet took the silver medal, the fifth consecutive Games that a Dutch cyclist had finished in the top two. Louis Chaillot of France became the first man to win multiple medals in the event, adding a bronze to his 1932 silver; it was the fourth consecutive podium appearance for France.
When van Vliet began to overtake Merkens in the first race of the final, Merkens swerved to the right and blatantly interfered with Van Vliet. No penalty was called, and a disconcerted van Vliet lost the second race. The Dutch team protested, but instead of being disqualified, Merkens was fined 100 marks instead.
Background
This was the eighth appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. Two of the semifinalists from 1932 returned: Louis Chaillot of France, who had won the silver medal, and Dunc Gray of Australia, who had not started the bronze medal race but had won the track time trial event. The favorites in 1936, however, were Toni Merkens of Germany and Arie van Vliet of the Netherlands, the winner and runner-up in the 1935 World Championship.
The Republic of China, New Zealand, Norway, and Peru each made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its eighth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.
Competition format
This track cycling event consisted of numerous rounds. Each race involved the riders starting simultaneously and next to each other, from a standing start. Because the early part of races tend to be slow-paced and highly tactical, only the time for the last 200 metres of the one-kilometre race is recorded.
The competition involved five main rounds and a repechage. In the first round, there were ten heats of two cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced directly to the second round, while the loser competed in a repechage. The repechage featured four heats, two of three cyclists and two of two cyclists. The last-placed finisher in each repechage was eliminated, while the winner advanced along with the second-place rider in the three-man heats. Round 2 and the quarterfinals were each head-to-head, single-elimination races: eight heats in round 2 and four heats in the quarterfinals. The semifinals were also head-to-head competitions, with the winners advancing to the final and the losers going to a bronze medal match.
The 1932 competition had introduced the best-of-three format for the final (and only the final); the 1936 version expanded that best-of-three format to the bronze medal match as well. The two cyclists in each match competed up to three times, with the first cyclist to win two races being the winner.
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 records were not tracked by the UCI until 1954.
No new Olympic record was set during the competition.
Schedule
Date Time Round Thursday, 6 August 1936 18:00 Round 1Repechage Friday, 7 August 1936 18:00 Round 2QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals
Results
Round 1
The winner in each heat qualified for the second round. The loser was relegated to the repechage for another chance at qualifying.
Round 1 heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Henri Collard 13.2 2 Dunc Gray
Round 1 heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Louis Chaillot 12.8 2 Nedyu Rachev
Round 1 heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ray Hicks 13.6 2 Manuel Riquelme
Round 1 heat 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Arie van Vliet 12.6 2 Doug Peace
Round 1 heat 5
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Benedetto Pola 14.0 2 Howard Wing
Round 1 heat 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Werner Wägelin 12.4 2 Haakon Sandtorp
Round 1 heat 7
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 George Giles 12.6 2 Imre Győrffy
Round 1 heat 8
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Toni Merkens 12.8 2 Al Sellinger
Round 1 heat 9
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Franz Dusika 15.0 2 Ted Clayton
Round 1 heat 10
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Karl Magnussen 13.2 2 José Mazzini
Repechage
The last place finisher in each repechage was eliminated. The winner of each heat advanced to the second round, along with the second place finisher in heats where there were three cyclists.
Repechage heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Dunc Gray 13.0 2 Ted Clayton 3 José Mazzini
Repechage heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Al Sellinger 13.4 2 Imre Győrffy 3 Nedyu Rachev
Repechage heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Haakon Sandtorp 13.0 2 Manuel Riquelme
Repechage heat 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Doug Peace 15.2 2 Howard Wing
Round 2
The winner of each heat advanced; the loser was eliminated.
Round 2 heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Karl Magnussen 13.4 2 Imre Győrffy
Round 2 heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Toni Merkens 13.0 2 Haakon Sandtorp
Round 2 heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Werner Wägelin 13.4 2 Ted Clayton
Round 2 heat 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Benedetto Pola 12.6 2 George Giles
Round 2 heat 5
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Arie van Vliet 12.0 2 Franz Dusika
Round 2 heat 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Dunc Gray 12.2 2 Ray Hicks
Round 2 heat 7
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Louis Chaillot 12.0 2 Doug Peace
Round 2 heat 8
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Henri Collard 13.2 2 Al Sellinger
Quarterfinals
The winners qualified for the semifinals; the losers were eliminated.
Quarterfinal 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Louis Chaillot 12.6 2 Karl Magnussen
Quarterfinal 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Arie van Vliet 13.0 2 Dunc Gray
Quarterfinal 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Benedetto Pola 12.6 2 Werner Wägelin
Quarterfinal 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Toni Merkens 13.0 2 Henri Collard
Semifinals
The semifinal winners advanced to the gold medal final, while the losers competed in the bronze medal final.
Semifinal 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Toni Merkens 12.4 2 Benedetto Pola
Semifinal 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Arie van Vliet 12.0 2 Louis Chaillot
Finals
Both the gold and bronze medal finals were conducted as best-of-three competitions. In each case, the same cyclist won both of the first two races, making a third race unnecessary. Merkens was fined for "deviating from the racing lane" in the first race of the final, though was allowed to finish the competition.Official Report, p. 927
Bronze medal match
Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Louis Chaillot 12.2 12.0 4 Benedetto Pola
Final
Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Toni Merkens 11.8 11.8 Arie van Vliet
References
1936 Official Report.