The men's sprint was one of the three

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

events, all

track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

, now regarded as "Olympic" on the

Cycling at the 1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics were held as part of the 1900 World's Fair, during which many cycling events were contested. The IOC website currently affirms a total of 3 medal events, after accepting, as it appears, the recommendation of Olympic h ...

programme. It was held on 11 September and 13 September. The sprint, a 2000-metre race with 1000-metre heats, was conducted in four rounds. 69 of the 72 cyclists competed in the sprint, including cyclists from all six competing nations. The event was won by

Albert Taillandier Albert Philippe Taillandier (8 February 1879 – ?) was a French racing cyclist who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He participated in cycling at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris Paris () is the Capital city, ca ...

of France (the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's sprint), with his countryman Fernand Sanz in second place.

John Henry Lake John Henry Lake (born July 27, 1877, date of death unknown) was an American racing cyclist who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was born in Port Richmond, Staten Island. He participated in Cycling at the 1900 Summer Ol ...

of the United States won the nation's first cycling medal with his bronze.

Background

This was the second appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. None of the cyclists from 1896 returned. Two of the three top sprinters in 1900 were French and competed:

Ferdinand Vasserot Ferdinand Vasserot (2 March 1881 – 7 February 1963) was a French cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged ...

and

. (The third, Alphonse Didier-Nauts of Belgium, did not compete). An American,

, however, had finished second in the world championships to Didier-Nauts and was the most significant non-French competitor in the field. Belgium, Bohemia, Italy, and the United States each made their debut in the men's sprint. France and Germany made their second appearance, having previously competed in 1896.

Competition format

Unlike modern sprint events (which use a flying 200 metre time trial to cut down and seed the field, followed by one-on-one matches), the 1900 sprint used very large initial heats of up to eight cyclists each before smaller quarterfinals, semifinals, and final with three cyclists in each race. For the first round, the top three cyclists in each heat advanced; in the quarterfinals and semifinals, only the fastest man moved on. The distance for each race was 1 kilometre.

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.

Lloyd Hildebrand Lloyd Augustin Biden Hildebrand (25 December 1870, in Tottenham, United Kingdom – 1 April 1924, in Levallois-Perret, France) was a British racing cyclist who competed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Hildebrand was sti ...

set the initial record of 15.4 seconds in the first heat. Adolphe Cayron improved on that in the second heat, to 14.2 seconds.

dropped the record to 14.0 seconds in heat 6.

Antonio Restelli Antonio Restelli (6 January 1877 – 11 March 1945) was an Italian cyclist. He competed in the men's sprint event at the 1900 Summer Olympics The 1900 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1900, link=no), today officially ...

finished the first round with a 13.6 second time in the ninth heat. Lake responded with 13.2 seconds in the first quarterfinal, only to see Restelli go 13.0 seconds in the fourth.

dropped below that to 12.6 seconds in the next quarterfinal, a time that held through the rest of the 1900 Games.

Schedule

Results

Round 1

The first round was held on 11 September. It began at 9 a.m. The top three cyclists in each of the 9 heats advanced to the quarterfinals.

Heat 1

Stratta was a wheel behind Hildebrand, with Vasserot very close after that.

Heat 2

Coindre was a wheel behind Cayron; Daumain was not close.

Heat 3

Sanz was a half-length behind Gottron.

Heat 4

Heat 5

Davis was a length behind Maisonnave.

Heat 6

Heat 7

Dohis was a wheel behind Taillandier, with Germain a close third.

Heat 8

Heat 9

Wick and Hubault fell and did not finish.

Quarterfinals

The quarterfinals were also held on the first day of competition, 11 September. They began at 2 p.m. Only the winning cyclist of each of the 9 quarterfinals advanced to the semifinals.

Quarterfinal 1

Stratta was three lengths behind Lake.

Quarterfinal 2

Bullier was two lengths behind Sanz.

Quarterfinal 3

Duill was a wheel behind Coindre.

Quarterfinal 4

Hildebrand was a wheel behind Restelli.

Quarterfinal 5

Vincent was two lengths behind Taillandier.

Quarterfinal 6

In a very close race, Brusoni was a quarter-wheel behind Mallet.

Quarterfinal 7

Ponscarme was three lengths behind Maisonnave.

Quarterfinal 8

Dohis was a half length behind Vasserot.

Quarterfinal 9

Semifinals

The semifinals were conducted on 13 September. The top cyclist in each of the three semifinals advanced to the final, guaranteeing himself a medal.

Semifinal 1

Lake had defeated Vasserot previously in 1900, at the world championships where the two had placed second and third to Léon Didier-Nauts. Lake won again in this match, with Vasserot a short length behind.

Semifinal 2

Restelli was a half wheel behind Sanz.

Semifinal 3

Final

The final was held on the same day as the semifinals, 13 September.

Results summary

References

International Olympic Committee
medal winners database * De Wael, Herman. ''Herman's Full Olympians'': "Cycling - track 1900". Accessed 19 March 2006. Available electronically a

. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cycling at the 1900 Summer Olympics - Men's sprint Men's sprint Cycling at the Summer Olympics – Men's sprint