The men's sprint event at the 1980 Summer Olympics took place on 23–26 July 1980 in Krylatskoye Sports Complex Velodrome. There were 15 competitors from 15 nations, with three additional non-starters. The event was won by Lutz Heßlich of East Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's sprint. Yavé Cahard took silver, extending France's medal streak to five Games despite the retirement of Daniel Morelon (who had medaled in the past four). Sergei Kopylov of the host Soviet Union earned bronze.
Background This was the 17th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. The only returning quarterfinalist from 1976 was champion Anton Tkáč of Czechoslovakia. France's Daniel Morelon, who had taken a medal in the last four Games, had retired in 1977. Lutz Heßlich of East Germany was the 1979 world champion and the favorite in Moscow.
Libya and Zimbabwe each made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its 17th 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 1980 competition, despite an even smaller starting field than in 1976 (15 cyclists, down from 18), actually increased the number of rounds back to 10 (from eight in 1976). This format used six main rounds (first round, second round, 1/8 finals, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) and three repechages, including a two-round first repechage. Only one cyclist was eliminated after the first three rounds (round 1 and the two-round first repechage).Official Report, vol. 3, p. 205.
Round 1: The 18 entrants were divided into 9 heats of 2 cyclists each; because of three withdrawals, three of the heats were walkovers. The winner of each heat advanced directly to round 2 (9 cyclists), while all other cyclists who competed were sent to the first repechage semifinals (6 cyclists). First repechage semifinals: The 6 cyclists were divided into 3 heats, each with 2 cyclists. The winner of each heat advanced to round 2 (3 cyclists), while the loser went to the first repechage final (3 cyclists). First repechage final: The 3 cyclists all competed together in the first repechage final; the top two advanced to round 2 while the last-placed cyclist was the first man eliminated from the competition. Round 2: The 14 cyclists were divided into 7 heats of 2 cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced to the 1/8 finals (7 cyclists) while losers went to the second repechage (because of one withdrawal, there were only 6 cyclists that went to the repechage). Second repechage: The 6 cyclists competed in 3 heats of 2 cyclists. Winners advanced to the 1/8 finals, losers were eliminated. 1/8 finals: The 10 cyclists who advanced through the first rounds (including repechage) competed in a 1/8 finals round. There were 5 heats in this round, with 2 cyclists in each. The top cyclist in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals (5 cyclists), while the loser in each heat went to the third repechage (5 cyclists). Third repechage: This repechage featured two heats, one of two cyclists and one of three cyclists. Only the last-placed man in each heat was eliminated; the winners advanced to the quarterfinals along with the second-place cyclist in the three-rider heat. 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.
Sergei Kopylov recorded 10.55 seconds in the fourth heat of round 2, 10.56 seconds, in the first race of the bronze medal match, and 10.47 seconds in the second race of the bronze medal match.
Schedule All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)
Date Time Round Wednesday, 23 July 1980 18:00 Round 1First repechage semifinalsFirst repechage finalRound 2Second repechage Thursday, 24 July 1980 18:00 1/8 finalsThird repechageQuarterfinals Friday, 25 July 1980 19:00 Semifinals Saturday, 26 July 1980 16:00 Finals
Results Round 1 Round 1 heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Lutz Heßlich 11.42 2 John Musa
Round 1 heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Anton Tkáč 10.86 2 Fawzi Abdussalam
Round 1 heat 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Yavé Cahard 10.70 2 Terrence Tinsley
Round 1 heat 4 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Sergei Kopylov — Paul Ahokas
Round 1 heat 5 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ottavio Dazzan — Juan Palacios
Round 1 heat 6 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Benedykt Kocot — Hans Fischer
Round 1 heat 7 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Henrik Salée 11.24 2 James Joseph
Round 1 heat 8 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Heinz Isler 10.98 2 László Morcz
Round 1 heat 9 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Kenrick Tucker 11.35 2 Lau Veldt
First repechage semifinals First repechage semifinal 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Terrence Tinsley 11.62 2 John Musa
First repechage semifinal 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 James Joseph 11.08 2 Fawzi Abdussalam
First repechage semifinal 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Lau Veldt 11.38 2 Fawzi Abdussalam
First repechage final Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 László Morcz 11.49 2 Fawzi Abdussalam 3 John Musa
Round 2 Round 2 heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Lutz Heßlich — Fawzi Abdussalam
Round 2 heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Anton Tkáč 11.23 2 László Morcz
Round 2 heat 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Yeve Cahard 10.87 2 Lau Veldt
Round 2 heat 4 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Sergei Kopylov 10.55 , 2 James Joseph
Round 2 heat 5 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ottavio Dazzan 11.07 2 Terrence Tinsley
Round 2 heat 6 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Heinz Isler 11.47 2 Henrik Salée
Round 2 heat 7 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Kenrick Tucker 10.93 2 Benedykt Kocot
Second repechage Second repechage heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Henrik Salée 10.94 2 László Morcz
Second repechage heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Lau Veldt 11.04 2 Benedykt Kocot
Second repechage heat 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 James Joseph No time — Terrence Tinsley
1/8 finals 1/8 final 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Lutz Heßlich 10.75 2 James Joseph
1/8 final 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Anton Tkáč 11.19 2 Lau Veldt
1/8 final 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Yavé Cahard 10.94 2 Henrik Salée
1/8 final 4 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Sergei Kopylov 10.95 2 Kenrick Tucker
1/8 final 5 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ottavio Dazzan 10.95 2 Heinz Isler
Third repechage Third repechage heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Heinz Isler 10.95 2 Lau Veldt
Third repechage heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Kenrick Tucker 11.49 2 Henrik Salée 3 James Joseph
Quarterfinals Quarterfinal 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes 1 Lutz Heßlich 10.95 10.96 2 Henrik Salée
Quarterfinal 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes 1 Anton Tkáč 10.94 10.70 2 Kenrick Tucker
Quarterfinal 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes 1 Yavé Cahard 11.05 11.04 2 Heinz Isler
Quarterfinal 4 Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes 1 Sergei Kopylov 10.76 11.00 2 Ottavio Dazzan
Semifinals Semifinal 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes 1 Lutz Heßlich 11.60 11.24 2 Sergei Kopylov
Semifinal 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes 1 Yavé Cahard 11.28 10.66 2 Anton Tkáč 11.25
Finals Classification 5–8 Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m 5 Henrik Salée 11.36 6 Heinz Isler 7 Kenrick Tucker 8 Ottavio Dazzan
Bronze medal match Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Sergei Kopylov 10.56 10.47 4 Anton Tkáč
Final Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Lutz Heßlich 11.40 12.01 Yavé Cahard 10.86
References