The men's 660 yards was one of seven track cycling events on the Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. It was the shortest of the events. The 1908 Games was the only time when the 660 yards event was part of the Olympic cycling program. Each nation could enter a maximum of 12 cyclists.Official Report, p.33.
Competition format
The 660 yards race was a sprint-style race that consisted of a single lap around the track. The time limit for the race was 1 minute, 10 seconds. The competition was conducted in three rounds (heats, semifinals, and a final). The first round featured 16 heats, with up to 4 cyclists each. The winning cyclist advanced to the semifinals, provided that the time limit was not exceeded. The semifinal round comprised 4 semifinals, each with 4 cyclists except that 1 was reduced to 3 cyclists because one of the heats had resulted in no winner under the time limit. Again, the winning cyclist in each semifinal advanced to the final.
Results
First round
One cyclist from each of the 16 heats advanced to the semifinal round.
Heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Benjamin Jones 59.0 2 Dorus Nijland Unknown
Heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 William Bailey 50.8 2 Frederick McCarthy Unknown 3 Pierre Seginaud Unknown
Heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Clarence Kingsbury 57.4 2 Rudolf Katzer Unknown 3 Georgius Damen Unknown
Heat 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Victor Johnson 56.2 2 Jules Patou Unknown 3 Richard Villepontoux Unknown
Heat 5
The fifth heat was voided due to the two cyclists both exceeding the time limit of 70 seconds.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes — Maurice Schilles No time Frank Shore No time
Heat 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Émile Demangel 59.8 2 George Summers Unknown 3 Andrew Hansson Unknown
Heat 7
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Johannes van Spengen 58.2 2 Hermann Martens Unknown 3 Joe Lavery Unknown
Heat 8
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Walter Andrews 55.8 2 Joseph Werbrouck Unknown 3 Gaston Delaplane Unknown
Heat 9
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Paul Texier 1:01.6 2 Thomas Passmore Unknown
Heat 10
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Floris Venter 1:03.2 2 Georges Perrin Unknown 3 Bruno Götze Unknown
Heat 11
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Karl Neumer 54.2 2 Willie Magee Unknown 3 Émile Maréchal Unknown 4 Antonie Gerrits Unknown
Heat 12
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ernest Payne 57.2 2 André Poulain Unknown 3 Jean van Benthem Unknown
Heat 13
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Daniel Flynn 55.0 2 Gerard Bosch van Drakenstein Unknown 3 Paul Schulze Unknown
Heat 14
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Lucien Renard 55.2 2 Gaston Dreyfus Unknown 3 William Morton Unknown 4 George Anderson Unknown
Heat 15
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 George Cameron 1:05.2 2 Léon Coeckelberg Unknown
Heat 16
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 André Auffray 58.4 2 Albert Denny Unknown 3 Philipus Freylinck Unknown
Semifinals
The fastest cyclist in each of the 4 semifinals advanced to the final.
Semifinal 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Victor Johnson 59.2 2 Johannes van Spengen Unknown 3 Paul Texier Unknown 4 Walter Andrews Unknown
Semifinal 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Émile Demangel 51.6 2 Clarence Kingsbury Unknown 3 William Bailey Unknown 4 Floris Venter Unknown
Semifinal 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Daniel Flynn 54.8 2 André Auffray Unknown 3 George Cameron Unknown 4 Ernest Payne Unknown
Semifinal 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Karl Neumer 1:05.6 2 Lucien Renard Unknown 3 Benjamin Jones Unknown
Final
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Victor Johnson 51.2 Émile Demangel Unknown Karl Neumer Unknown 4 Daniel Flynn Unknown
References
Sources
De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Cycling 1908". Accessed 7 April 2006. Available electronically at .