Cycling at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

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Men's sprint
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Podium de poursuite cycliste individuelle aux JO de Melbourne, 1er Michel Rousseau (Fr), 2e G. Pesenti (It), 3e R. Ploog (Aus).png
The medalists: Pesenti, Rousseau, Ploog
Venue Melbourne
Dates3–6 December 1956
Competitors18 from 18 nations
Medalists
Gold medal icon.svg Michel Rousseau
Flag of France.svg  France
Silver medal icon.svg Guglielmo Pesenti
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Bronze medal icon.svg Dick Ploog
Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
  1952
1960  

The men's sprint or "scratch race" at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, was held from 3 to 6 December 1956. There were 18 participants representing 18 nations in competition, with one additional non-starter. [1] Each nation was limited to one cyclist. The event was won by Michel Rousseau of France, the nation's first victory in the men's sprint since 1928 and fifth overall. Guglielmo Pesenti of Italy earned silver and Dick Ploog of Australia finished third for bronze.

Background

This was the 11th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. None of the semifinalists from 1952 returned. The favorite was Michel Rousseau of France, the reigning world champion. His main competitor (the runner-up at the last two world championships), Jorge Batiz of Argentina, did not compete in Melbourne. [2]

Brazil, Colombia, and Vietnam each made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its 11th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format

This track cycling event consisted of numerous rounds: four main rounds and a two-round repechage. 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 typically recorded.

The trend in the Olympic sprint competition was toward expansion of a best-of-three match format (beginning in 1932 for the final, expanding in 1936 and 1948 to more rounds). The 1952 edition had bucked that trend by returning to an entirely single-race format for the first time since 1928; the 1956 event returned to it, reversing many of the format changes made four years earlier.

The first round consisted of six heats of three cyclists each (one was scheduled to have four, but a withdrawal left it with only three). The winner of each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. The Official Report says that the eight fastest losers went to the repechage, but this is a very odd advancement rule for the sprint competition in which time is generally not relevant. Cycling Magazine provides results of repechage heats more consistent with all losers going to the repechage, which would be a much more common rule in a sprint event. In either case, there were four repechage semifinals; the winner of each moved on to the repechage finals while all others were eliminated. The repechage finals were two heats of two cyclists, with the winners rejoining the round 1 victors in the quarterfinals while the losers were eliminated.

The quarterfinals began the best-of-three rounds. The eight quarterfinalists were paired into four matches; the winner of a match was the first cyclist to win two races. The four winners moved on to the semifinals while the losers were eliminated. The semifinals again were best-of-three, with the winners moving on to the final and the losers going to a bronze medal match. Both of the medal matches were best-of-three as well. [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 recordFlag of the Soviet Union.svg  Rostislav Vargachkin  (USSR)11.4 Tula, Soviet Union 25 July 1955
Olympic recordFlag of Germany.svg  Werner Potzernheim  (GER)11.6 Helsinki, Finland 29 July 1952

Dick Ploog broke the Olympic record and matched the world record in the first race of the competition, finishing the last 200 metres in 11.4 seconds. This time was not beaten, but was matched multiple times: Michel Rousseau in the second race of quarterfinal 1, Warren Johnston in the first race of quarterfinal 4, Rousseau again in the first race of semifinal 1, Ploog in the second race of the bronze medal match, and Rousseau in both in both races of the final.

Schedule

All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

DateTimeRound
Monday, 3 December 195614:30Round 1
Repechage semifinals
Repechage finals
Tuesday, 4 December 195620:00Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Thursday, 6 December 195620:00Finals

Results

Round 1

Round 1 heat 1

León Mejía is listed as third place in this heat in the Official Report (with Lê fourth), but the Official Report also has a photograph of heat 3 which shows Mejía in that heat. Cycling Magazine reported the results as below. Mejía was likely moved to heat 3 after Günther Ziegler's withdrawal. [3] [4] [2]

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Dick Ploog Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 11.4Q, =WR , OR
2 Evrard Godefroid Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium R
3 Lê Văn Phước Flag of South Vietnam.svg  Vietnam R

Round 1 heat 2

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Michel Rousseau Flag of France.svg  France 11.6Q
2 Hylton Mitchell Flag of Trinidad and Tobago (1889-1958).svg  Trinidad and Tobago R
3 Shazada Muhammad Shah-Rukh Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan R

Round 1 heat 3

Ziegler is listed as third place in this heat in the Official Report, but the Official Report also has a photograph of the heat which shows León Mejía. Cycling Magazine reported the results as below. Mejía was likely moved to heat 3 after Ziegler's withdrawal. [3] [4] [2]

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Jack Disney US flag 48 stars.svg  United States 13.0Q
2 Keith Harrison Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain R
3 León Mejía Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia R
Günther Ziegler Flag of Germany.svg  Germany DNS

Round 1 heat 4

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Guglielmo Pesenti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 11.8Q
2 Hernán Masanés Flag of Chile.svg  Chile R
3 Fred Markus Flag of Canada (1921-1957).svg  Canada R

Round 1 heat 5

Nyman is listed as third place in the heat in the Official Report, but Cycling Magazine indicates he did not start. [3] [2]

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Ladislav Fouček Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia 12.4Q
2 Warren Johnston Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand R
3 Paul Nyman Flag of Finland.svg  Finland R

Round 1 heat 6

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Boris Romanov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 12.4Q
2 Thomas Shardelow Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa R
3 Anésio Argenton Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil R

Repechage semifinals

Repechage semifinal 1

The Official report lists only Godefroid and Shah-Rukh, but Cycling Magazine recorded Lê as third place in the first heat of the repechage. [3] [2]

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Evrard Godefroid Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium UnknownQ
2 Shazada Muhammad Shah-Rukh Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
3 Lê Văn Phước Flag of South Vietnam.svg  Vietnam

Repechage semifinal 2

The Official Report shows only Shardelow and Mejía, but Cycling Magazine indicates that all losers of the first round went to the repechage. It also identifies the cyclists in the other three heats, leaving Nyman. If Nyman did compete in the first round (which is unclear), he would have been assigned to this repechage heat; he did not start in it, however. [3] [2]

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Thomas Shardelow Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa 12.8Q
2 León Mejía Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia
Paul Nyman Flag of Finland.svg  Finland

Repechage semifinal 3

The Official Report lists only Argenton and Mitchell, but Cycling Magazine places Markus third in this heat. [3] [2]

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Anésio Argenton Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil 13.0Q
2 Hylton Mitchell Flag of Trinidad and Tobago (1889-1958).svg  Trinidad and Tobago
3 Fred Markus Flag of Canada (1921-1957).svg  Canada

Repechage semifinal 4

The Official Report lists only Johnston and Masanés, but Cycling Magazine places Harrison third in this heat. [3] [2]

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Warren Johnston Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 12.4Q
2 Hernán Masanés Flag of Chile.svg  Chile
3 Keith Harrison Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain

Repechage finals

Repechage final 1

Johnston won by a length. [2]

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Warren Johnston Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 12.0Q
2 Evrard Godefroid Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium

Repechage final 2

Shardelow won by inches. [2]

RankCyclistNationTime
200 m
Notes
1 Thomas Shardelow Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa 12.6Q
2 Anésio Argenton Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

RankCyclistNationRace 1Race 2Race 3Notes
1 Michel Rousseau Flag of France.svg  France 12.611.4 =WR Q
2 Thomas Shardelow Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa

Quarterfinal 2

Ploog had a puncture on the first race, which was restarted. [2]

RankCyclistNationRace 1Race 2Race 3Notes
1 Dick Ploog Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 12.411.6Q
2 Jack Disney US flag 48 stars.svg  United States

Quarterfinal 3

RankCyclistNationRace 1Race 2Race 3Notes
1 Guglielmo Pesenti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 11.812.8Q
2 Ladislav Fouček Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia

Quarterfinal 4

RankCyclistNationRace 1Race 2Race 3Notes
1 Warren Johnston Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 11.4 =WR 12.0Q
2 Boris Romanov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union 12.0

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

RankCyclistNationRace 1Race 2Race 3Notes
1 Michel Rousseau Flag of France.svg  France 11.4 =WR 12.2Q
2 Warren Johnston Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand B

Semifinal 2

Ploog had a puncture on the second race, which was restarted. In the third race, Ploog stopped, thinking he had been fouled; his protest was denied. [2]

RankCyclistNationRace 1Race 2Race 3Notes
1 Guglielmo Pesenti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 11.612.2Q
2 Dick Ploog Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 12.2B

Final

Bronze medal match

RankCyclistNationRace 1Race 2Race 3
Bronze medal icon.svg Dick Ploog Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 11.611.4 =WR
4 Warren Johnston Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand

Final

RankCyclistNationRace 1Race 2Race 3
Gold medal icon.svg Michel Rousseau Flag of France.svg  France 11.4 =WR 11.4 =WR
Silver medal icon.svg Guglielmo Pesenti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy

Final classification

RankCyclistNation
Gold medal icon.svg Michel Rousseau Flag of France.svg  France
Silver medal icon.svg Guglielmo Pesenti Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
Bronze medal icon.svg Dick Ploog Flag of Australia.svg  Australia
4 Warren Johnston Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
5 Jack Disney US flag 48 stars.svg  United States
Ladislav Fouček Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg  Czechoslovakia
Boris Romanov Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Thomas Shardelow Flag of South Africa (1928-1982).svg  South Africa
9 Anésio Argenton Flag of Brazil (1889-1960).svg  Brazil
Evrard Godefroid Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium
11 Hernán Masanés Flag of Chile.svg  Chile
León Mejía Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia
Hylton Mitchell Flag of Trinidad and Tobago (1889-1958).svg  Trinidad and Tobago
Shazada Muhammad Shah-Rukh Flag of Pakistan.svg  Pakistan
15 Keith Harrison Flag of the United Kingdom (3-2).svg  Great Britain
Lê Văn Phước Flag of South Vietnam.svg  Vietnam
Fred Markus Flag of Canada (1921-1957).svg  Canada
Paul Nyman Flag of Finland.svg  Finland
Günther Ziegler Flag of Germany.svg  Germany

References

  1. "Cycling at the 1948 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's Sprint". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Sprint, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Official Report, p. 417.
  4. 1 2 Official Report, p. 412.