The men's sprint at the 1996 Summer Olympics (Cycling) was an event that consisted of cyclists making three laps around the track. Only the time for the last 200 metres of the 750 metres covered was counted as official time. The races were held on July 24 through July 28, 1996 at the Stone Mountain Velodrome. There were 24 competitors from 16 nations, with nations once again being allowed to have up to two cyclists each (the limit had fluctuated between one and two for most of the history of the event). The event was won by Jens Fiedler of Germany, the second man to successfully defend an Olympic sprint title (and third to win two gold medals overall). Curt Harnett of Canada also repeated as bronze medalist; he and Fiedler were the fifth and sixth men to win multiple medals of any color in the event. Marty Nothstein of the United States took silver, the nation's first medal in the event since 1984.
Background
This was the 21st appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. Five of the quarterfinalists from 1992 returned: gold medalist Jens Fiedler of Germany, silver medalist Gary Neiwand of Australia, bronze medalist Curt Harnett of Canada, fourth-place finisher Roberto Chiappa of Italy, and eighth-place finisher José Manuel Moreno of Spain. There was no clear favorite. Neither Fiedler nor Harnett had had much success between Games. Neiwand had won the World Championship in 1993; two other recent world champions—American Marty Nothstein (1994) and Australian Darryn Hill (1995) were also competing in Atlanta.
The Czech Republic and Slovakia each made their debut in the men's sprint (after the breakup of Czechoslovakia, which had competed 10 times in the sprint). France made its 21st 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 along with the new qualifying round of time trials. There were six main match rounds, with three one-round repechages.Official Report, vol. 3, p. 180.
Qualifying round: Each of the 24 competitors completed a 200-metre flying time trial (reaching full speed before timing started for the last 200 metres). The top 24 advanced to the match rounds, seeded based on their time in the qualifying round. With only 24 riders starting, nobody was eliminated. Round 1: The 24 cyclists were seeded into 12 heats of 2 cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced to round 2 (12 cyclists) while the other cyclists went to the first repechage (12 cyclists). First repechage: The 12 cyclists were divided into 6 heats, each with 2 cyclists. The winner of each heat advanced to round 2 (6 cyclists) while the losers were eliminated (6 cyclists). Round 2: The 18 cyclists were divided into 9 heats, each with 2 cyclists. The winners of each heat advanced to the 1/8 finals (9 cyclists). The loser in each heat went to the second repechage (9 cyclists). Second repechage: The 9 cyclists were divided into 3 heats of 3 cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced to the 1/8 finals (3 cyclists), while the remaining cyclists were eliminated (6 cyclists). 1/8 finals: The 12 remaining cyclists competed in a 1/8 finals round. There were 6 heats in this round, with 2 cyclists in each. The winner in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals (6 cyclists), while the loser in each heat went to the third repechage (6 cyclists). Third repechage: This round featured 2 heats, with 3 cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced to the quarterfinals (2 cyclists); the losers were eliminated (4 cyclists). 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.
Five men broke the old Olympic record in the qualifying round, though only three held a new record even temporarily. Eyk Pokorny broke it first, with a 10.233 seconds run. Marty Nothstein was next, at 10.176 seconds. Gary Neiwand finished with the record at 10.129 seconds. Curt Harnett and Jens Fiedler also came in under the old record, but not below the record as it stood during their turn for the time trial.
Schedule
All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4)
Date Time Round Wednesday, 24 July 1996 10:0017:3518:45 Qualifying roundRound 1First repechage Thursday, 25 July 1996 10:55 Round 2Second repechage Friday, 26 July 1996 11:4012:30 1/8 finalsThird repechage Saturday, 27 July 1996 11:1513:3513:45 QuarterfinalsSemifinalsClassification 5–8 Sunday, 28 July 1996 12:15 Bronze medal matchFinal
Results
Qualifying round
Times and average speeds are listed. All 24 riders advanced to the first round.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Speedkm/h Notes 1 Gary Neiwand 10.129 71.08 , 2 Curt Harnett 10.175 70.76 3 Marty Nothstein 10.176 70.75 4 Jens Fiedler 10.232 70.36 5 Eyk Pokorny 10.233 70.36 6 Darryn Hill 10.329 69.70 7 Pavel Buráň 10.389 69.30 8 Florian Rousseau 10.397 69.25 9 Viesturs Bērziņš 10.463 68.81 10 Roberto Chiappa 10.473 68.74 11 Jose Moreno 10.492 68.62 12 William Clay 10.543 68.29 13 George Himonetos 10.559 68.18 14 Frédéric Magné 10.602 67.91 15 José Antonio Escuredo 10.630 67.73 16 Martin Hrbacek 10.693 67.33 17 Jean-Pierre van Zyl 10.695 67.32 18 Lambros Vasilopoulos 10.726 67.12 19 Yuichiro Kamiyama 10.772 66.83 20 Peter Bazálik 10.837 66.43 21 Gianluca Capitano 10.895 66.08 22 Hyeon Byeong-cheol 11.001 65.44 23 Darren McKenzie Potter 11.211 64.22 24 Claus Martínez 12.341 58.34
Round 1
The first round consisted of twelve heats of two riders each. Winners advanced to the next round, losers competed in the repechage.
Round 1 heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Gary Neiwand 11.191 2 Claus Martinez Arroyo
Round 1 heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Curt Harnett 11.380 2 Darren McKenzie Potter
Round 1 heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Marty Nothstein 11.415 2 Byung Hyun
Round 1 heat 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Jens Fiedler 11.722 2 Gianluca Capitano
Round 1 heat 5
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Eyk Pokorny 10.995 2 Peter Bazálik
Round 1 heat 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Darryn Hill 11.192 2 Yuichiro Kamiyama
Round 1 heat 7
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Pavel Buráň 11.700 2 Labros Vassilopoulus
Round 1 heat 8
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Florian Rousseau 11.296 2 Jean-Pierre van Zyl
Round 1 heat 9
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Viesturs Bērziņš 11.008 2 Martin Hrbacek
Round 1 heat 10
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Roberto Chiappa 10.896 2 José Antonio Escuredo
Round 1 heat 11
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Frédéric Magné 10.740 2 Jose Moreno
Round 1 heat 12
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 George Himonetos 11.182 2 William Clay
First repechage
The twelve defeated cyclists from the first round took part in the first round repechage. The winner of each heat rejoined the twelve victors of the first round in advancing to the second round.
First repechage heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 William Clay 11.191 2 Claus Martinez Arroyo
First repechage heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Jose Moreno 11.017 2 Darren McKenzie Potter
First repechage heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 José Antonio Escuredo 11.257 2 Byung Hyun
First repechage heat 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Martin Hrbacek 11.076 2 Gianluca Capitano
First repechage heat 5
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Peter Bazálik 11.222 2 Jean-Pierre van Zyl
First repechage heat 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Labros Vassilopoulus 11.060 2 Yuichiro Kamiyama
Round 2
The second round consisted of nine heats of two riders each. Winners advanced to the 1/8 finals, losers competed in the repechage.
Round 2 heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Gary Neiwand 11.249 2 Labros Vassilopoulus
Round 2 heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Curt Harnett 11.058 2 Peter Bazálik
Round 2 heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Marty Nothstein 10.899 2 Martin Hrbacek
Round 2 heat 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Jens Fiedler 10.597 2 José Antonio Escuredo
Round 2 heat 5
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Eyk Pokorny 10.966 2 Jose Moreno
Round 2 heat 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Darryn Hill 10.811 2 William Clay
Round 2 heat 7
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Pavel Buráň 11.272 2 George Himonetos
Round 2 heat 8
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Florian Rousseau 10.745 2 Frédéric Magné
Round 2 heat 9
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Viesturs Bērziņš 11.044 2 Roberto Chiappa
Second repechage
The nine defeated cyclists from the second round took part in the second round repechage. The winner of each heat rejoined the nine victors of the second round in advancing to the 1/8 finals.
Second repechage heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Roberto Chiappa 11.378 2 Labros Vassilopoulus 3 William Clay REL
Second repechage heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Jose Moreno 11.089 2 George Himonetos 3 Peter Bazálik
Second repechage heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Frédéric Magné 11.035 2 Gianluca Capitano 3 José Antonio Escuredo
1/8 finals
The 1/8 round consisted of six matches, each pitting two of the twelve remaining cyclists against each other. The winners advanced to the quarterfinals, with the losers getting another chance in the 1/8 repechage.
1/8 final 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Gary Neiwand 11.625 2 Frédéric Magné
1/8 final 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Curt Harnett 10.793 2 Jose Moreno
1/8 final 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Marty Nothstein 11.047 2 Roberto Chiappa
1/8 final 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Jens Fiedler 10.808 2 Viesturs Bērziņš
1/8 final 5
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Florian Rousseau 10.828 2 Eyk Pokorny
1/8 final 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Darryn Hill 11.008 2 Pavel Buráň
Third repechage
The six cyclists defeated in the 1/8 round competed in the 1/8 repechage. Two heats of three riders were held. Winners rejoined the victors from the 1/8 round and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Third repechage heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Frédéric Magné 10.975 2 Pavel Buráň 3 Viesturs Bērziņš
Third repechage heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Eyk Pokorny 10.982 2 Roberto Chiappa 3 Jose Moreno
Quarterfinals
The eight riders that had advanced to the quarterfinals competed pairwise in four matches. Each match consisted of two races, with a potential third race being used as a tie-breaker if each cyclist won one of the first two races. The winners advanced to the semifinals, with the losers racing in a 5-8 placement race.
Quarterfinal 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes 1 Gary Neiwand 10.794 11.091 2 Eyk Pokorny
Quarterfinal 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes 1 Curt Harnett 11.127 REL 10.712 2 Frédéric Magné 11.022
Quarterfinal 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes 1 Marty Nothstein 10.950 10.650 2 Darryn Hill
Quarterfinal 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes 1 Jens Fiedler 10.752 10.957 2 Florian Rousseau
Semifinals