The men's

points race A points race is a mass start track cycling event involving large numbers of riders simultaneously on track. It was an Olympic event for men between 1984–2008 and for women 1996–2008. Starting in 2012, the points race is one of the omnium even ...

was an event at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, for which the final was held on 24 September 1988. There were 34 participants from 34 nations, with 24 cyclists competing in the final. Each nation was limited to 1 cyclist in the event. The event was won by

Dan Frost Dan Frost (born 22 May 1961 in Frederiksberg, Hovedstaden) is a retired male track cyclist from Denmark, who won the gold medal for his native country in the men's points race at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. His other major ...

of Denmark, with

Leo Peelen Leopoldus Eduardus Theoduris "Leo" Peelen (16 July 1968 – 24 March 2017) was a Dutch track cyclist. He won the silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul in the points race. The following year, he captured a bronze medal at the 1989 Wor ...

of the Netherlands taking silver and

Marat Ganeyev Marat Ganeyev (born 6 December 1964) is a retired track cyclist from Russia, who won the bronze medal for the Soviet Union in the men's points race at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He was a professional road cyclist from 1989 ...

of the Soviet Union bronze. It was the first medal in the men's points race for each of the three nations.

Background

This was the third appearance of the event. It was first held in 1900 and not again until 1984; after that, it was held every Summer Games until 2008 when it was removed from the programme. The women's version was held from 1996 through 2008. Three of the 24 finalists from the 1984 Games returned: silver medalist

Uwe Messerschmidt Uwe Messerschmidt (born 22 January 1962) is a retired track cyclist and road bicycle racer from Germany, who was a professional rider from 1993 to 1997. He represented West Germany at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California ...

of West Germany, bronze medalist José Youshimatz of Mexico, and fifth-place finisher

Juan Curuchet Juan Esteban Curuchet (born 4 February 1965 in Mar del Plata) is a road bicycle racer and track cyclist from Argentina. Curuchet represented Argentina at the Summer Olympics in 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. He won the madison at t ...

of Argentina. The reigning World Champion (1987) was

of the Soviet Union; Messerschmidt had been runner-up.

of Denmark had won the World Championship in 1986. Ganeyev and Frost were favored in Seoul. Barbados, Bolivia, Chinese Taipei, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Iran, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Poland, South Korea, the Soviet Union, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela each made their debut in the event. France and Italy both competed for the third time, the only nations to have competed in all three Olympic men's points races.

Competition format

The contest consisted of two rounds: semifinals and a final. The distance varied by round, with 30 kilometres in the semifinals and 50 kilometres in the final. The top 12 in each of the two semifinals advanced to the 24-man final. Placement in each race was determined first by how many laps behind the leader the cyclist was and second by how many sprint points the cyclist accumulated. That is, a cyclist with more sprint points but who was lapped once would be ranked behind a cyclist with fewer points but who had not been lapped. Sprint points could be gained only by cyclists who had not been lapped. In the semifinals, there were 20 sprints—one every 1.5 kilometres. Points were awarded based on the position of the cyclists at the end of the sprint. Most of the sprints were worth five points for the leader, three to the second-place cyclist, two to third, and one to fourth. The 10th (halfway) and 20th (final) sprint were worth double: ten points, six, four, and two. The final featured 30 sprints—one every 1.67 kilometres. As in the semifinals, most sprints were worth 5/3/2/1 points, with the halfway (15th) and final (30th) sprints worth 10/6/4/2.

Schedule

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (

UTC+10 UTC+10:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +10:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Port Moresby, Dededo, Saipan'' North Asia *Russia – Vl ...

)

Results

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

Ganeyev led the scoreboard for most of the race, but near the end was lapped by Frost and Peelen. He took bronze despite having the most points. Frost had scored more between the lead pair, so took gold.

Results summary

References

External links

Official Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cycling At The 1988 Summer Olympics - Men's Points Race Track cycling at the 1988 Summer Olympics Cycling at the Summer Olympics – Men's points race Men's events at the 1988 Summer Olympics