The women's Keirin event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 4 and 5 August 2021 at the Izu Velodrome. 29 cyclists from 18 nations competed.
Background This will be the 3rd appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics since its introduction in 2012.
The reigning Olympic champion is Elis Ligtlee of the Netherlands. The reigning (2020) World Champion is Emma Hinze of Germany.
Russia, Germany, China, Great Britain, Australia, and the Netherlands are traditionally strong track cycling nations.
Qualification
A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 2 qualified cyclists in the women'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 seven cyclists each, though the 2020 format has no races with more than six.
The cyclists follow a pace motorcycle for three laps (750 m) before the motorcycle pulls away and the cyclists race for another three laps.
These distances are changed from the 2016 Games, shortening the paced section from 5½ laps and lengthening the unpaced sprint from 2½ laps. The motorcycle starts at 30 km/h and increases speed to 50 km/h before it pulls away.
The tournament consists of four main rounds, up from three in 2016, and a repechage:
First round: Four heats of six cyclists and one of five, with the top two in each heat (10 total) advancing to the second round; all others (19 cyclists) go to the repechage. Repechage: Three heats of five cyclists and one of four, with the top two in each heat (8 total) rejoining the first-round winners in the second round; the remaining 11 cyclists are eliminated. Second round: Three heats of six cyclists each. The top four cyclists in each heat (12 total) advance to the semifinals; the remaining six cyclists are eliminated. Semifinals: Two heats of six cyclists each; the top three in each semifinal (six total) advance to Final A and medal contention; the bottom three cyclists from each semifinal go to Final B. Finals: Two finals. Final A consists of the top six cyclists, awarding medals and 4th through 6th place. Final B ranks the next six cyclists from 7th to 12th place.
Schedule All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
Date Time Round 4 August 2021 16:1017:11 First roundRepechages 5 August 2021 16:0616:5717:37 QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinals
Results First round
Heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Laurine van Riessen 2 Zhong Tianshi +0.174 3 Lee Hye-jin +0.371 4 Jessica Lee +0.445 5 Katy Marchant
Heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Lea Friedrich 2 Daria Shmeleva +0.102 3 Lee Wai-sze +0.188 4 Charlene du Preez +0.309 5 Coralie Demay +0.425 6 Miglė Marozaitė +1.364
Heat 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Kelsey Mitchell 2 Daniela Gaxiola +0.100 3 Anastasia Voynova +0.119 4 Bao Shanju +0.206 5 Emma Hinze +0.310 6 Lyubov Basova +0.554
Heat 4 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Olena Starikova 2 Yuka Kobayashi +0.070 3 Shanne Braspennincx +0.105 4 Ellesse Andrews +0.182 5 Marlena Karwacka +0.400 6 Simona Krupeckaitė +1.093
Heat 5 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Lauriane Genest 2 Madalyn Godby +0.075 3 Urszula Łoś +0.159 4 Kaarle McCulloch +0.365 5 Yuli Verdugo +0.440 6 Mathilde Gros +1.126
Repechages
Heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Ellesse Andrews 2 Lyubov Basova +0.074 3 Lee Hye-jin +0.133 4 Jessica Lee +1.005 5 Miglė Marozaitė +1.241
Heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Lee Wai-sze 2 Kaarle McCulloch +0.146 3 Simona Krupeckaitė +0.554 4 Yuli Verdugo +0.601 5 Bao Shanju +0.620
Heat 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Katy Marchant 2 Mathilde Gros +0.137 3 Anastasia Voynova +0.143 4 Marlena Karwacka +0.243 5 Charlene du Preez +0.351
Heat 4 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Shanne Braspennincx 2 Emma Hinze +0.005 3 Urszula Łoś +0.119 4 Coralie Demay +0.603
Quarterfinals
Heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Lee Wai-sze 2 Olena Starikova +0.029 3 Daria Shmeleva +0.086 4 Emma Hinze +0.490 5 Katy Marchant +41.527 6 Laurine van Riessen
Heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Shanne Braspennincx 2 Ellesse Andrews +0.052 3 Daniela Gaxiola +0.084 4 Lauriane Genest +0.094 5 Mathilde Gros +0.312 6 Lea Friedrich +0.313
Heat 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Kelsey Mitchell 2 Kaarle McCulloch +0.136 3 Zhong Tianshi +0.152 4 Lyubov Basova +0.354 5 Madalyn Godby +0.434 6 Yuka Kobayashi +0.447
Semifinals
Heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Olena Starikova 2 Ellesse Andrews +0.017 3 Lyubov Basova +0.071 4 Daniela Gaxiola +0.097 5 Lee Wai-sze +0.153 6 Zhong Tianshi +0.322
Heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Shanne Braspennincx 2 Kelsey Mitchell +0.277 3 Lauriane Genest +0.315 4 Daria Shmeleva +0.320 5 Kaarle McCulloch +0.400 6 Emma Hinze +0.814
Finals Final B Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 7 Emma Hinze 8 Lee Wai-sze +0.043 9 Kaarle McCulloch +0.097 10 Daria Shmeleva +0.163 11 Daniela Gaxiola +0.617 12 Zhong Tianshi +0.729
Final A Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes Shanne Braspennincx Ellesse Andrews +0.061 Lauriane Genest +0.148 4 Olena Starikova +0.396 5 Kelsey Mitchell +0.566 6 Lyubov Basova +0.580
See also Keirin Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's keirin Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's BMX racing
References