The men's 1000 metre sprint was one of seven track cycling events on the Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Its distance was the second shortest of the individual event distances. Each nation could enter up to 12 cyclists.Official Report, p. 33.
Background
This was the third appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. None of the finalists from 1900 returned.
Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Sweden each made their debut in the men's sprint. France and Germany made their third appearance, having competed in both previous editions of the event.
Competition format
The 1000 metre sprint race consisted of approximately 1 laps of the 660 yard track. The time limit for the race was 1 minute and 45 seconds. The competition was conducted in three rounds (quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final). The quarterfinals featured 16 heats, with up to 4 cyclists each. The winning cyclist in each heat advanced to the semifinals, provided that the time limit was not exceeded. The semifinal round comprised 4 semifinals, each with 4 cyclists except that 2 were reduced to 3 cyclists because two of the heats had resulted in no winner under the time limit. Again, the winning cyclist in each semifinal advanced to the final.
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.
The 200 metre sprint splits were not tracked for this Games, so no new records were set.
Schedule
Date Time Round Thursday, 16 July 1908 15:0016:4517:30 QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal
Results
Quarterfinals
Quarterfinal 1
Johnson won by two lengths.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Victor Johnson 1:33.8 2 Gerard Bosch van Drakenstein Unknown 3 Guglielmo Malatesta Unknown
Quarterfinal 2
Poulain was a wheel behind Venter.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Floris Venter 1:33.2 2 André Poulain Unknown 3 Thomas Matthews Unknown
Quarterfinal 3
Hansson was one length behind Schilles.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Maurice Schilles 1:38.4 2 Andrew Hansson Unknown
Quarterfinal 4
Flynn won by two lengths.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Daniel Flynn 1:30.2 2 Pierre Seginaud Unknown 3 Paul Schulze Unknown 4 Frederick McCarthy Unknown
Quarterfinal 5
Nijland trailed Payne by a length and a half.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ernest Payne 1:32.0 2 Dorus Nijland Unknown
Quarterfinal 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes — Willie Maggie Time limit exceeded Hermann Martens Johannes van Spengen
Quarterfinal 7
Neumer won by two lengths.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Karl Neumer 1:33.2 2 Richard Villepontoux Unknown 3 William Bailey Unknown
Quarterfinal 8
Cameron won by two lengths.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 George Cameron 1:29.4 2 Philipus Freylinck Unknown 3 Herbert Crowther Unknown 4 Gaston Dreyfus Unknown
Quarterfinal 9
Morton was two and a half lengths behind Demangel.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Émile Demangel 1:35.2 2 William Morton Unknown
Quarterfinal 10
Auffray was the only starter in the heat.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 André Auffray 1:23.6
Quarterfinal 11
Morisetti was the only starter in the heat.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Guglielmo Morisetti 1:21.4
Quarterfinal 12
Marechal was one length behind Jones.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Benjamin Jones 1:35.0 2 Émile Marechal Unknown 3 Bruno Götze Unknown
Quarterfinal 13
Summers was nearly two lengths behind Texier.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Pierre Texier 1:31.0 2 George Summers Unknown 3 Louis Weintz Unknown
Quarterfinal 14
Lavery won easily.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Joe Lavery 1:41.0 2 Antonie Gerrits Unknown
Quarterfinal 15
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Clarence Kingsbury 1:27.4 2 Gaston Delaplane Unknown
Quarterfinal 16
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes — Georges Perrin Time limit exceeded Frank Shore
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
Neumer was inches behind Johnson.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Victor Johnson 1:27.4 2 Karl Neumer Unknown 3 Floris Venter Unknown 4 Pierre Texier Unknown
Semifinal 2
Payne was over a length behind Schilles; placement of the three non-qualifiers is unclear.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Maurice Schilles 1:38.8 2–4 George Cameron Unknown Daniel Flynn Unknown Ernest Payne Unknown
Semifinal 3
Jones won by half a wheel.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Benjamin Jones 1:40.8 2 Émile Demangel Unknown 3 J. L. Lavery Unknown
Semifinal 4
Morisetti was two lengths behind Kingsbury.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Clarence Kingsbury 1:35.6 2 Guglielmo Morisetti Unknown 3 André Auffray Unknown
Final
Johnson suffered a punctured wheel shortly after the start, and retired. The other three riders crawled around the track, jockeying for position. When the final sprint occurred on the last lap, Kingsbury also punctured a tyre when entering the main straight. Jones and Schilles raced to the finish line, with Schilles winning by a couple of inches. However the race took longer than the 1 minute 45 second time limit, and was declared void. Much to the surprise of spectators and the competitors, the National Cyclists Union refused to allow the race to be rerun. According to the Official Report, "the Frenchman apparently won by inches, but the Judge did not officially place the riders.Cook, p. 116"
Rank Cyclist Nation Time – Victor Johnson Benjamin Jones Clarence Kingsbury Maurice Schilles
Notes
Sources
De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Cycling 1908". Accessed 7 April 2006. Available electronically at .