Cycling at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

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Men's sprint
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
Toni Merkens Olympiaeiche 1.jpg
Stone commemorating Toni Merkens
Venue Olympic Cycling Stadium, Berlin
Dates6–7 August 1936
Competitors20 from 20 nations
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Toni Merkens
Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany
Silver medal icon.svg Arie van Vliet
Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
Bronze medal icon.svg Louis Chaillot
Flag of France.svg  France
  1932
1948  

The men's sprint cycling event at the 1936 Summer Olympics took place on 6 and 7 August and was one of six events at the 1936 Olympics. [1] There were 20 competitors from 20 nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist. [2] [3] The event was won, in a disputed final, by Toni Merkens of Germany, the nation's first medal in the men's sprint. Arie van Vliet took the silver medal, the fifth consecutive Games that a Dutch cyclist had finished in the top two. Louis Chaillot of France became the first man to win multiple medals in the event, adding a bronze to his 1932 silver; it was the fourth consecutive podium appearance for France.

When van Vliet began to overtake Merkens in the first race of the final, Merkens swerved to the right and blatantly interfered with Van Vliet. No penalty was called, and a disconcerted van Vliet lost the second race. The Dutch team protested, but instead of being disqualified, Merkens was fined 100 marks instead. [4]

Background

This was the eighth appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. Two of the semifinalists from 1932 returned: Louis Chaillot of France, who had won the silver medal, and Dunc Gray of Australia, who had not started the bronze medal race but had won the track time trial event. The favorites in 1936, however, were Toni Merkens of Germany and Arie van Vliet of the Netherlands, the winner and runner-up in the 1935 World Championship. [2]

The Republic of China, New Zealand, Norway, and Peru each made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its eighth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format

This track cycling event consisted of numerous rounds. Each race involved the riders starting simultaneously and next to each other, from a standing start. Because the early part of races tend to be slow-paced and highly tactical, only the time for the last 200 metres of the one-kilometre race is recorded.

The competition involved five main rounds and a repechage. In the first round, there were ten heats of two cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced directly to the second round, while the loser competed in a repechage. The repechage featured four heats, two of three cyclists and two of two cyclists. The last-placed finisher in each repechage was eliminated, while the winner advanced along with the second-place rider in the three-man heats. Round 2 and the quarterfinals were each head-to-head, single-elimination races: eight heats in round 2 and four heats in the quarterfinals. The semifinals were also head-to-head competitions, with the winners advancing to the final and the losers going to a bronze medal match.

The 1932 competition had introduced the best-of-three format for the final (and only the final); the 1936 version expanded that best-of-three format to the bronze medal match as well. The two cyclists in each match competed up to three times, with the first cyclist to win two races being the winner. [2] [3]

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 recordUnknownUnknown*UnknownUnknown
Olympic recordFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  Thomas Johnson  (GBR)11.8 Antwerp, Belgium 9 August 1920

* World records were not tracked by the UCI until 1954.

No new Olympic record was set during the competition.

Schedule

DateTimeRound
Thursday, 6 August 193618:00Round 1
Repechage
Friday, 7 August 193618:00Round 2
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals

Results

Round 1

The winner in each heat qualified for the second round. The loser was relegated to the repechage for another chance at qualifying.

Round 1 heat 1

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Henri Collard Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 13.2Q
2 Dunc Gray Flag of Australia.svg  Australia R

Round 1 heat 2

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Louis Chaillot Flag of France.svg  France 12.8Q
2 Nedyu Rachev Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria R

Round 1 heat 3

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Ray Hicks Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 13.6Q
2 Manuel Riquelme Flag of Chile.svg  Chile R

Round 1 heat 4

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Arie van Vliet Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 12.6Q
2 Doug Peace Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada R

Round 1 heat 5

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Benedetto Pola Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy 14.0Q
2 Howard Wing Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China R

Round 1 heat 6

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Werner Wägelin Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 12.4Q
2 Haakon Sandtorp Flag of Norway.svg  Norway R

Round 1 heat 7

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 George Giles Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 12.6Q
2 Imre Győrffy Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946; 3-2 aspect ratio).svg  Hungary R

Round 1 heat 8

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Toni Merkens Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany 12.8Q
2 Al Sellinger US flag 48 stars.svg  United States R

Round 1 heat 9

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Franz Dusika Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 15.0Q
2 Ted Clayton Flag of South Africa (1928-1994).svg  South Africa R

Round 1 heat 10

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Karl Magnussen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 13.2Q
2 José Mazzini Flag of Peru (1825-1950).svg  Peru R

Repechage

The last place finisher in each repechage was eliminated. The winner of each heat advanced to the second round, along with the second place finisher in heats where there were three cyclists.

Repechage heat 1

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Dunc Gray Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 13.0Q
2 Ted Clayton Flag of South Africa (1928-1994).svg  South Africa Q
3 José Mazzini Flag of Peru (1825-1950).svg  Peru

Repechage heat 2

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Al Sellinger US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 13.4Q
2 Imre Győrffy Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946; 3-2 aspect ratio).svg  Hungary Q
3 Nedyu Rachev Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria

Repechage heat 3

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Haakon Sandtorp Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 13.0Q
2 Manuel Riquelme Flag of Chile.svg  Chile

Repechage heat 4

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Doug Peace Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada 15.2Q
2 Howard Wing Flag of the Republic of China.svg  Republic of China

Round 2

The winner of each heat advanced; the loser was eliminated.

Round 2 heat 1

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Karl Magnussen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 13.4Q
2 Imre Győrffy Flag of Hungary (1915-1918, 1919-1946; 3-2 aspect ratio).svg  Hungary

Round 2 heat 2

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Toni Merkens Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany 13.0Q
2 Haakon Sandtorp Flag of Norway.svg  Norway

Round 2 heat 3

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Werner Wägelin Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland 13.4Q
2 Ted Clayton Flag of South Africa (1928-1994).svg  South Africa

Round 2 heat 4

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Benedetto Pola Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy 12.6Q
2 George Giles Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand

Round 2 heat 5

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Arie van Vliet Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 12.0Q
2 Franz Dusika Flag of Austria.svg  Austria

Round 2 heat 6

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Dunc Gray Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 12.2Q
2 Ray Hicks Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain

Round 2 heat 7

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Louis Chaillot Flag of France.svg  France 12.0Q
2 Doug Peace Canadian Red Ensign 1921-1957 (with disc).svg  Canada

Round 2 heat 8

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Henri Collard Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium 13.2Q
2 Al Sellinger US flag 48 stars.svg  United States

Quarterfinals

The winners qualified for the semifinals; the losers were eliminated.

Quarterfinal 1

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Louis Chaillot Flag of France.svg  France 12.6Q
2 Karl Magnussen Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark

Quarterfinal 2

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Arie van Vliet Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 13.0Q
2 Dunc Gray Flag of Australia.svg  Australia

Quarterfinal 3

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Benedetto Pola Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy 12.6Q
2 Werner Wägelin Flag of Switzerland.svg  Switzerland

Quarterfinal 4

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Toni Merkens Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany 13.0Q
2 Henri Collard Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium

Semifinals

The semifinal winners advanced to the gold medal final, while the losers competed in the bronze medal final.

Semifinal 1

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Toni Merkens Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany 12.4Q
2 Benedetto Pola Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy B

Semifinal 2

RankCyclistNationTimeNotes
1 Arie van Vliet Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands 12.0Q
2 Louis Chaillot Flag of France.svg  France B

Finals

Both the gold and bronze medal finals were conducted as best-of-three competitions. In each case, the same cyclist won both of the first two races, making a third race unnecessary. Merkens was fined for "deviating from the racing lane" in the first race of the final, though was allowed to finish the competition. [5]

Bronze medal match

RankCyclistNationRace 1Race 2Race 3
Bronze medal icon.svg Louis Chaillot Flag of France.svg  France 12.212.0
4 Benedetto Pola Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg  Italy

Final

RankCyclistNationRace 1Race 2Race 3
Gold medal icon.svg Toni Merkens Flag of the German Reich (1935-1945).svg  Germany 11.811.8
Silver medal icon.svg Arie van Vliet Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands

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References

  1. "Cycling at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's Sprint". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sprint, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 Official Report, vol. 2, p. 926.
  4. Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 200. ISBN   0140066322.
  5. Official Report, p. 927