The men's Keirin event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 7 and 8 August 2021 at the Izu Velodrome. 30 cyclists from 18 nations competed.
The medals were presented by Yasuhiro Yamashita, IOC member, Olympian, 1 Gold Medal, Japan; and the medalists' bouquets were presented by Dato' Amarjit Singh Gill, UCI Management Committee Member, Malaysia.
Background
This was the 6th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics since its introduction in 2000.
The reigning Olympic champion was Jason Kenny of Great Britain; Great Britain had won three consecutive titles in the event (Chris Hoy was the winner in 2008 and 2012). The reigning (2020) World Champion was Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands.
Russia, Germany, China, Great Britain, Australia, and the Netherlands were traditionally strong track cycling nations. A preview at Olympics.com also identified Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2017 World Champion, as a significant contender.
Qualification
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 2 qualified cyclists in the men's Keirin. Quota places are allocated to the NOC, which selects the cyclists. Qualification is entirely through the 2018–20 UCI nation rankings. The eight nations that qualify for the team sprint event may enter two cyclists each in the Keirin (as well as the individual sprint). The nations that qualify a cyclist through the individual sprint rankings may also enter that cyclist in the Keirin. Finally, seven places are allocated through the Keirin rankings. Because qualification was complete by the end of the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships on 1 March 2020 (the last event that contributed to the 2018–20 rankings), qualification was unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Competition format
Keirin races involve up to 7 cyclists each (though the 2020 format has no races with more than 6). The cyclists follow a pace motorcycle for 3 laps (750 m); the motorcycle then pulls away and the cyclists race for another 3 laps. These distances are changed from the 2016 Games, shortening the paced section from 5.5 laps and lengthening the unpaced sprint from 2.5 laps. The motorcycle starts at 30 km/h and increases speed to 50 km/h before it pulls off.
The tournament consists of four main rounds (up from three in 2016) and a repechage:
First round: Five heats of 6 cyclists each. The top 2 cyclists in each heat (10 total) advance to the second round; all others (20 cyclists) go to the repechage. Repechage: Four heats of 5 cyclists each. The top 2 cyclists in each heat (8 total) rejoin the first-round winners in the second round. The other 12 cyclists are eliminated. Second round: Three heats of 6 cyclists each. The top 4 cyclists in each heat (12 total) advance to the semifinals. The remaining 6 cyclists are eliminated. Semifinals: Two heats of 6 cyclists each. The top 3 cyclists in each semifinal (6 total) advance to Final A; the bottom 3 cyclists from each semifinal go to Final B, out of medal contention. Finals: Two finals. Final A consists of the top 6 cyclists, awarding medals and 4th through 6th place. Final B ranks the next 6 cyclists from 7th to 12th.
Schedule All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
Date Time Round 7 August 2021 15:4816:19 First roundRepechages 8 August 2021 10:2411:0911:51 QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals
Results First round
Heat 1 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Rayan Helal 2 Maximilian Levy +0.010 3 Kwesi Browne +0.248 4 Jason Kenny +0.462 5 Sam Webster +0.546 6 Ivan Gladyshev +3.173
Heat 2 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Jack Carlin 2 Matthew Richardson +0.070 3 Matthijs Büchli Hugo Barrette Sergey Ponomaryov Shah Firdaus Sahrom
Heat 3 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Azizulhasni Awang 2 Nicholas Paul +0.075 3 Patryk Rajkowski +0.104 4 Stefan Bötticher +0.115 5 Jean Spies +0.739 6 Sébastien Vigier +0.884
Heat 4 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Yudai Nitta 2 Denis Dmitriev +0.004 3 Matthew Glaetzer +0.093 4 Xu Chao +0.240 5 Harrie Lavreysen +0.256 6 Mateusz Rudyk +0.974
Heat 5 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Yuta Wakimoto 2 Callum Saunders +0.089 3 Kevin Quintero +0.096 4 Tomáš Bábek +0.228 5 Nick Wammes +0.292 6 Jair Tjon En Fa +0.396
Repechages
Heat 1 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Kwesi Browne 2 Shah Firdaus Sahrom +0.010 3 Sébastien Vigier +0.037 4 Tomáš Bábek +0.638 5 Xu Chao +0.979
Heat 2 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Jason Kenny 2 Stefan Bötticher +0.363 3 Matthijs Büchli +0.441 4 Mateusz Rudyk +0.480 5 Nick Wammes +0.564
Heat 3 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Harrie Lavreysen 2 Jair Tjon En Fa +0.578 3 Sam Webster +0.580 4 Hugo Barrette +0.738 5 Patryk Rajkowski +1.616
Heat 4 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Matthew Glaetzer 2 Kevin Quintero +0.069 3 Sergey Ponomaryov +0.124 4 Ivan Gladyshev +0.675 5 Jean Spies +0.760
Quarterfinals
Heat 1 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Kevin Quintero 2 Jason Kenny +0.045 3 Rayan Helal +0.105 4 Harrie Lavreysen +0.122 5 Matthew Richardson +0.212 6 Yudai Nitta +0.331
Heat 2 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Nicholas Paul 2 Jack Carlin +0.503 3 Jair Tjon En Fa +0.602 4 Maximilian Levy +0.667 5 Callum Saunders +0.723 6 Shah Firdaus Sahrom +1.204
Heat 3 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Yuta Wakimoto 2 Azizulhasni Awang +0.039 3 Kwesi Browne +0.098 4 Matthew Glaetzer +0.104 5 Stefan Bötticher +0.192 6 Denis Dmitriev +0.236
Semifinals
Heat 1 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Jason Kenny 2 Matthew Glaetzer +0.003 3 Jair Tjon En Fa +0.089 4 Jack Carlin +0.240 5 Kwesi Browne +0.357 6 Kevin Quintero +0.397
Heat 2 RankCyclistNationGapNotes 1 Azizulhasni Awang 2 Maximilian Levy +0.035 3 Harrie Lavreysen +0.073 4 Rayan Helal +0.497 5 Yuta Wakimoto +0.775 Nicholas Paul
Finals
Final A
The Keirin final was won in unusual and dramatic style by the reigning champion, Jason Kenny of Great Britain in what would be his last race, riding in position one behind the derny. Taking the drag of the derny in what is often considered an unhelpful position for the final sprint, Kenny's superior experience and racecraft led him to take advantage of the nervous Matthew Glaetzer in second wheel.
Noting that Glaetzer was looking behind himself instinctively every time Kenny checked back on him in second wheel, Kenny eased himself a few bike lengths ahead of the Australian, throwing a final glance back at Glaetzer just as the derny was pulling off. As Glaetzer held the field up very marginally with his attention again diverted by Kenny to the riders behind him, Kenny launched a highly unusual and ferocious breakaway attack immediately as the derny left the track, putting almost half a lap into all his rivals before they were fully aware what had happened. Despite a frenzied chase led by Dutch sprint and team sprint gold medalist, reigning world champion and hot favourite Harrie Lavreysen, seeking to replicate the sprint 'triple crown' previously won by Kenny in 2016 and Chris Hoy in 2008, Kenny was able to hold off the field riding purely in time trial mode he'd been training in for the team sprint, using the banking to gain speed free from the normal contact with the bunch, and winning the event by the length of a straight. The gold medal made Kenny the most successful British Olympian, and the most successful Olympic cyclist, in history. It also made Kenny one of the elite number of Olympians to have successfully defended an Olympic gold medal in three different events (in Kenny's case, team sprint between 2008 and 2016, sprint between 2012 and 2016 and keirin between 2016 and 2020), the others being Michael Phelps, Ray Ewry, Larisa Latynina, Jenny Thompson and Sawao Kato. RankCyclistNationGap Notes Jason Kenny Azizulhasni Awang +0.763 Harrie Lavreysen +0.773 4 Jair Tjon En Fa +1.264 5 Matthew Glaetzer +1.344 6 Maximilian Levy +2.344
Final B RankCyclistNationGapNotes 7 Yuta Wakimoto 8 Jack Carlin +0.097 9 Kwesi Browne +0.203 10 Rayan Helal +0.251 11 Kevin Quintero +0.314
See also Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's keirin Keirin
References