Cycling at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

The men's sprint at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, was held on 1 to 2 September 1972. There were 51 entrants from 30 nations; 5 withdrawals left 46 competitors from 27 nations. Nations were limited to two cyclists each. The event was won by Daniel Morelon of France, successfully defending his 1968 title and becoming the first man to win three medals in the event (with his 1964 bronze). It was France's seventh gold medal in the event, most in the world. Silver went to John Nicholson of Australia, taking the nation's first medal in the men's sprint since 1956. Omar Pkhakadze, who had finished fourth in 1968, won the bronze this time for the Soviet Union's first medal in the event. Italy's six-Games medal streak was broken.

Background

This was the 15th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. Two quarterfinalists from 1968 returned: gold medalist (and 1964 bronze medalist) Daniel Morelon of France and fourth-place finisher Omar Pkhakadze of the Soviet Union. Morelon was heavily favored to repeat, with three world championships and two Grand Prix de Paris wins since his 1968 gold medal.

The Bahamas and Malaysia each made their debut in the men's sprint; East Germany competed separately for the first time. France made its 15th 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. The 1972 competition involved ten rounds: six main rounds (first round, second round, 1/8 finals, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) as well as three repechages after the first three main rounds; the third repechage was a two-round repechage.Official Report, vol. 3, pp. 214–15.

First round: The 51 entrants were divided into 17 heats of 3 cyclists each. Withdrawals left some heats with only 2 competitors. The winner of each heat advanced directly to the second round (17 cyclists), while all other cyclists who competed were sent to the first repechage (29 cyclists). First repechage: The 29 cyclists were divided into 12 heats, each with 2 or 3 cyclists. The winner of each heat advanced to the second round (12 cyclists), while all others were eliminated (17 cyclists, including those who did not start). Second round: The 29 cyclists who advanced through the first round or first repechage were divided into 10 heats; all heats had 3 cyclists except heat 1, which had only 2. The winner of each heat advanced directly to the third round, the 1/8 finals (10 cyclists), while all others went to the second repechage (19 cyclists). Second repechage: The 19 cyclists from the second round were divided into 8 heats, with 2 or 3 cyclists per heat. Winners advanced to the 1/8 finals (8 cyclists), while all others were eliminated (11 cyclists). 1/8 finals: The 18 cyclists who advanced through the first two rounds (including repechages) competed in a 1/8 finals round. There were 6 heats in this round, with 3 cyclists in each. The top cyclist in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals (6 cyclists), while the other 2 in each heat went to the third repechage (12 cyclists). Third repechage: This was a two-round repechage. The repechage began with 4 heats of 3 cyclists each. The top cyclist in each heat advanced to the second round, while the other 2 cyclists in each heat were eliminated. The second round of this repechage featured 2 heats of 2 cyclists each, with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals and the losers eliminated. 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 eliminated. 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.

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.

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round Friday, 1 September 1972 11:1912:2915:5916:5020:0021:11  Round 1First repechageRound 2Second repechage1/8 finalsThird repechage heatsThird repechage finals Saturday, 2 September 1972 17:5820:5121:52 QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal

Results

First round

First round heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Daniel Morelon 11.71 2 Hector Edwards – 3 Suriya Chiarasapawong –

First round heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Serhiy Kravtsov 11.83 2 Taworn Tarwan – 3 Shue Ming-fa –

First round heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ivan Kučírek 11.78 2 Winston Attong – 3 Kensley Reece –

First round heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Gérard Quintyn 11.40 2 Yoshikazu Cho – 3 Jeffrey Spencer –

First round heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ezio Cardi 11.92 2 Félix Suárez – 3 Daud Ibrahim –

First round heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 John Nicholson 11.20 2 Ed McRae – – Mabruk Ilmarimi Mah

First round heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Peter van Doorn 11.58 2 Yaichi Numata – – Ahmed Abdussal Gariani

First round heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Omar Pkhakadze 11.64 2 Andrzej Bek – 3 Honson Chin –

First round heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jürgen Geschke 11.52 2 Jairo Díaz – – Behrouz Rahbar

First round heat 10

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Karl Köther 11.30 2 Peder Pedersen – – Gholamhosain Koohi

First round heat 11

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Vladimír Vačkář 11.89 2 Klaas Balk – 3 Carlos Galeano –

First round heat 12

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Massimo Marino 11.83 2 Roger Young – 3 Geoffrey Burnside –

First round heat 13

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Dieter Berkmann 11.71 2 Leslie King – 3 Arturo Cambroni –

First round heat 14

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Niels Fredborg 12.16 2 Maurice Hugh-Sam – – Harry Kent

First round heat 15

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Benedykt Kocot 11.44 2 Geoff Cooke – 3 Manu Snellinx –

First round heat 16

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Carlos Reybaud 11.50 2 Werner Otto – 3 Ernie Crutchlow –

First round heat 17

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Robert Maveau Unknown 2 Víctor Limba – 3 Neville Hunte –

First repechage

First repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jeffrey Spencer 12.46 2 Hector Edwards –

First repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Leslie King 11.62 2 Werner Otto – 3 Suriya Chiarasapawong –

First repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Neville Hunte 11.54 2 Taworn Tarwan – 3 Manu Snellinx –

First repechage heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Yoshikazu Cho 11.17 2 Félix Suárez – 3 Shue Ming-fa –

First repechage heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ernie Crutchlow 11.41 2 Jairo Díaz – 3 Winston Attong –

First repechage heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Roger Young 11.99 2 Kensley Reece –

First repechage heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Klaas Balk 12.02 2 Maurice Hugh-Sam – 3 Daud Ibrahim –

First repechage heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Honson Chin 11.90 2 Yaichi Numata –

First repechage heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ed McRae Unknown 2 Víctor Limba –

First repechage heat 10

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Andrzej Bek 11.86 2 Arturo Cambroni –

First repechage heat 11

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Peder Pedersen 11.34 2 Geoffery Burnside –

First repechage heat 12

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Geoff Cooke 12.27 2 Carlos Galeano –

Second round

Second round heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Daniel Morelon 12.26 2 Neville Hunte –

Second round heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Serhiy Kravtsov 11.35 2 Geoff Cooke – 3 Jeffrey Spencer –

Second round heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Leslie King 11.77 2 Ivan Kučírek – 3 Roger Young –

Second round heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Gérard Quintyn Unknown 2 Carlos Reybaud – 3 Klaas Balk –

Second round heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Vladimír Vačkář 11.83 2 Ezio Cardi – 3 Andrzej Bek –

Second round heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 John Nicholson 11.92 2 Niels Fredborg – 3 Honson Chin –

Second round heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Peder Pedersen 11.69 2 Dieter Berkmann – 3 Peter van Doorn –

Second round heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Robert Maveau 11.98 2 Omar Pkhakadze – 3 Ed McRae –

Second round heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jürgen Geschke 11.53 2 Benedykt Kocot – 3 Ernie Crutchlow –

Second round heat 10

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Karl Köther 11.37 2 Yoshikazu Cho – 3 Massimo Marino –

Second repechage

Second repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ivan Kučírek 12.27 2 Jeffrey Spencer –

Second repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Klaas Balk 11.68 2 Benedykt Kocot –

Second repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Ezio Cardi 11.93 2 Roger Young –

Second repechage heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Andrzej Bek 11.87 2 Dieter Berkmann –

Second repechage heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Niels Fredborg 11.96 2 Honson Chin –

Second repechage heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Omar Pkhakadze 11.56 2 Ernie Crutchlow – 3 Neville Hunte –

Second repechage heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Peter van Doorn 11.74 2 Yoshikazu Cho – 3 Ed McRae –

Second repechage heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Massimo Marino 11.68 2 Carlos Reybaud – 3 Geoff Cooke –

1/8 finals

1/8 final 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Daniel Morelon 12.26 2 Niels Fredborg – 3 Peter van Doorn –

1/8 final 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Klaas Balk 11.48 2 Andrzej Bek – 3 Serhiy Kravtsov –

1/8 final 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Massimo Marino 11.40 2 Robert Maveau – 3 Gérard Quintyn –

1/8 final 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Omar Pkhakadze 11.43 2 Karl Köther – 3 Vladimír Vačkář –

1/8 final 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jürgen Geschke 11.42 2 Ezio Cardi – 3 Leslie King –

1/8 final 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 John Nicholson 11.67 2 Ivan Kučírek – 3 Peder Pedersen –

Third repechage heats

Third repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Niels Fredborg 11.91 2 Ivan Kučírek – 3 Gérard Quintyn –

Third repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Peter van Doorn 11.59 2 Robert Maveau – 3 Ezio Cardi –

Third repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Karl Köther 11.40 2 Leslie King – 3 Serhiy Kravtsov –

Third repechage heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Vladimír Vačkář 11.46 2 Peder Pedersen – 3 Andrzej Bek –

Third repechage finals

Third repechage final 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Niels Fredborg 11.59 2 Karl Köther –

Third repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Peter van Doorn 11.61 2 Vladimír Vačkář –

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time 1 Daniel Morelon 11.78 1 11.78 1 colspan=2 rowspan=2 2 Peter van Doorn – 2 – 2

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time 1 John Nicholson 11.68 1 11.59 1 colspan=2 rowspan=2 2 Niels Fredborg – 2 – 2

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time 1 Klaas Balk – 2 11.58 1 11.47 1 2 Jürgen Geschke 11.63 1 – 2 – 2

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time 1 Omar Pkhakadze 11.34 1 – 2 11.65 1 2 Massimo Marino – 2 11.47 1 – 2

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time 1 Daniel Morelon 11.55 1 11.49 1 colspan=2 rowspan=2 2 Klaas Balk – 2 – 2

Semifinal 2