Cycling at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The men's
sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...
at the
1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...
in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, Canada, was held from 21 to 24 July 1976. There were 25 participants from 25 nations. Following the explosion in size of the event from 1960 to 1972 when nations were allowed two cyclists each, the limit was again reduced to one competitor from each nation. The event was won by
Anton Tkáč Anton Tkáč (30 March 1951 – 22 December 2022) was a Slovak track cyclist who claimed the gold medal for Czechoslovakia in the men's Match Sprint event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada when in the final he defeated eig ...
of Czechoslovakia, the nation's first medal in the men's sprint. Tkáč beat two-time defending champion
Daniel Morelon Daniel Morelon (born 24 July 1944) is a retired French racing cyclist who was active between 1963 and 1980. He is a triple Olympic champion, eight times world champion, and a knight of the Legion d'Honneur. Morelon was a police officer before b ...
of France in the final; Morelon's silver was a (still-standing record fourth medal in the event.
Jürgen Geschke Hans-Jürgen Geschke (also known as Tutti, born 7 July 1943) is a German former track cyclist who competed for East Germany in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics. After having won the silver medal in the 2000 m tandem, alongside Werner Otto, he ...
earned bronze to give East Germany its first medal in the event and the first medal for any German cyclist since 1952.


Background

This was the 16th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except in 1904 and 1912. Three quarterfinalists from 1972 returned: two-time gold medalist (and 1964 bronze medalist)
Daniel Morelon Daniel Morelon (born 24 July 1944) is a retired French racing cyclist who was active between 1963 and 1980. He is a triple Olympic champion, eight times world champion, and a knight of the Legion d'Honneur. Morelon was a police officer before b ...
of France and fifth-place finishers
Niels Fredborg Niels Christian Fredborg (born 28 October 1946) is a retired Danish track cyclist. He competed at the 1964, 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics in the sprint and 1 km time trial events, winning a silver, a gold and a bronze medal in the time tr ...
of Denmark and
Jürgen Geschke Hans-Jürgen Geschke (also known as Tutti, born 7 July 1943) is a German former track cyclist who competed for East Germany in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympics. After having won the silver medal in the 2000 m tandem, alongside Werner Otto, he ...
of East Germany. Morelon had seven world championships to go with his two Olympic gold medals, and was again the favorite.
Anton Tkáč Anton Tkáč (30 March 1951 – 22 December 2022) was a Slovak track cyclist who claimed the gold medal for Czechoslovakia in the men's Match Sprint event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada when in the final he defeated eig ...
of Czechoslavkia had won the 1974 world championship and was a contender as well. Antigua and Barbuda and Yugoslavia each made their debut in the men's sprint; East Germany competed separately for the first time. France made its 16th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.


Competition format

This
sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace *Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automotive and motorcycle *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, ...
competition involved a series of head-to-head matches. The 1976 competition featured a smaller field than previous Games, reducing the number of rounds from ten to eight by eliminating the second round and second repechage. The 1976 sprint involved eight rounds: five main rounds (first round, 1/8 finals, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) as well as two repechages after the first two main rounds; the second repechage was a two-round repechage.Official Report, vol. 3, pp. 191–93. * First round: The 25 entrants were divided into 12 heats of 2 cyclists each (except the final heat, which had 3). The winner of each heat advanced directly to the 1/8 finals (12 cyclists), while all other cyclists who competed were sent to the first repechage (13 cyclists). * First repechage: The 13 cyclists were divided into 6 heats, each with 2 cyclists (again, except the final heat, which had 3). The winner of each heat advanced to the 1/8 finals (6 cyclists), while all others were eliminated (7 cyclists). * 1/8 finals: The 18 cyclists who advanced through the first rounds (including repechage) 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 second repechage (12 cyclists). * Second 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 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 (for the first time) 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. No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.


Schedule

All times are
Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico, Panama, Colombia, mainland Ecuador, Peru, and a small por ...
( UTC-4)


Results


First round


First round heat 1


First round heat 2


First round heat 3


First round heat 4


First round heat 5


First round heat 6


First round heat 7


First round heat 8


First round heat 9


First round heat 10


First round heat 11


First round heat 12


First repechage


First repechage heat 1


First repechage heat 2


First repechage heat 3


First repechage heat 4


First repechage heat 5


First repechage heat 6


1/8 finals


1/8 final 1


1/8 final 2


1/8 final 3


1/8 final 4


1/8 final 5


1/8 final 6


Second repechage heats


Second repechage heat 1


Second repechage heat 2


Second repechage heat 3


Second repechage heat 4


Second repechage finals


Second repechage final 1


Second repechage final 2


Quarterfinals


Quarterfinal 1


Quarterfinal 2


Quarterfinal 3


Quarterfinal 4


Semifinals


Semifinal 1


Semifinal 2


Finals


Classification 5–8


Bronze medal match


Final


Final classification


References


External links


Official Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cycling At The 1976 Summer Olympics - Men's Sprint S Cycling at the Summer Olympics – Men's sprint Track cycling at the 1976 Summer Olympics