Cycling at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

Men's sprint
at the Games of the VII Olympiad
Maurice Peeters.jpg
Maurice Peeters after winning the gold medal
VenueVélodrome d'Anvers Zuremborg
Date9 August
Competitors37 from 11 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Maurice Peeters
 Netherlands
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Thomas Johnson
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Harry Ryan
 Great Britain
← 1908
1924 →

The men's sprint event was part of the track cycling programme at the 1920 Summer Olympics. There were 37 competitors from 11 nations, with each nation apparently limited to four cyclists (down from 12 the last time the event was held, in 1908). The event was won by Maurice Peeters of the Netherlands, the nation's first victory in the men's sprint. Two British cyclists, Thomas Johnson and Harry Ryan, were in the final as well, taking silver and bronze.

Summary

One day before the Olympic tournament, Peeters had become amateur world champion in track cycling. One day later he rode the Olympic 1000 m sprint, and of course he was considered a favourite. He lost in the first round, but his second place was enough to progress to the next round. He then won the quarter final and the semi-final. In the final, he rode against two British cyclists, Harry Ryan and Tiny Johnson. They tried to make use of their numerical advantage, and Ryan attacked, so that Peeters had to get him back. In the final corner, Johnson tried to come around the corner to win the race, but Peeters was ahead and kept his lead. The British team protested the race, arguing that Peeters had obstructed Johnson by forcing him up the bank, but the protest was denied.

Background

This was the fourth appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. None of the finalists from 1908 returned. Peeters was the favorite.

Australia, Denmark, and Luxembourg each made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its fourth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event. For the first time, Germany did not compete in the men's sprint, having been excluded from the 1920 Games after World War I.

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 1920 sprint used a competition format featuring four main rounds and a two-round repechage.

There were 12 first-round heats, mostly with three cyclists each but one with four. The top two in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals. The 24 quarterfinalists were divided into eight heats of three cyclists each; the winner of each quarterfinal advanced directly to the semifinals while the other two cyclists competed in the repechage. There were four repechage semifinals of four cyclists each, with the winner of each heat advancing to the repechage final. The four repechage finalists competed in a single heat, with the winner joining the eight quarterfinal winners in the semifinals. There were three semifinals of three cyclists each, with the winners advancing to the three-man final.

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 record Unknown Unknown* Unknown Unknown
Olympic record  Albert Taillandier (FRA) 12.6 Paris, France 13 September 1900

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

Thomas Johnson matched the Olympic record in heat 6, as did Gerald Halpin in heat 12. Halpin matched it again in quarterfinal 2. Johnson broke the record in the fifth quarterfinal, recording 11.8 seconds for the final 200 metres.

Albert White, Harry Ryan (cyclist), and Maurice Peeters also tied the old record, but after Johnson had set a new one.

Schedule

Date Time Round
Monday, 9 August 1920 14:55 Round 1
Quarterfinals
Repechage semifinals
Repechage final
Semifinals
Final

Results

Round 1

Heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Henri Bellivier  France 13.2 Q
2 Christopher Dotterweich  United States Q
3 William Taylor  Canada

Heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Anthony Young  United States 13.2 Q
2 Maurice Peeters  Netherlands Q
3 Pietro Martinelli  Italy

Heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Thomas Lance  Great Britain 13.2 Q
2 Binard  Belgium Q
3 Jack King  Australia

Heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Léonard Daghelinckx  Belgium 13.2 Q
2 Norman Webster  Canada Q
3 Tjabel Boonstra  Netherlands

Heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Harry Ryan  Great Britain 13.2 Q
2 L'Empereur  Belgium Q
3 Jean Majérus  Luxembourg

Heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Thomas Johnson  Great Britain 12.6 Q, =OR
2 Piet Ikelaar  Netherlands Q
3 Sammy Goosen  South Africa

Heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 James Walker  South Africa 13.6 Q
2 Georges Paillard  France Q
3 Vittorio Cavalotti  Italy

Heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Henry Andersen  Denmark 13.6 Q
2 George Thursfield  South Africa Q
3 William Beck  United States
4 Herbert McDonald  Canada

Heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Charles Lanusse  France 13.0 Q
2 Albert White  Great Britain Q
3 Axel Hansen  Denmark

Heat 10

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Fred Taylor  United States 13.2 Q
2 Georges Perrin  France Q
3 Armido Rizzetto  Italy

Heat 11

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 John Verhoeven  Belgium 13.2 Q
2 Franco Giorgetti  Italy Q
3 William Smith  South Africa

Heat 12

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Gerald Halpin  Australia 12.6 Q, =OR
2 Harold Bounsall  Canada Q
3 Frans de Vreng  Netherlands

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Fred Taylor  United States 13.0 Q
2 Henri Bellivier  France R
3 Norman Webster  Canada R

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Gerald Halpin  Australia 12.6 Q, =OR
2 Anthony Young  United States R
3 L'Empereur  Belgium R

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 George Thursfield  South Africa 13.2 Q
2 Christopher Dotterweich  United States R
3 Thomas Lance  Great Britain R

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Maurice Peeters  Netherlands 13.2 Q
2 Harold Bounsall  Canada R
3 John Verhoeven  Belgium R

Quarterfinal 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Thomas Johnson  Great Britain 11.8 Q, OR
2 Charles Lanusse  France R
3 Piet Ikelaar  Netherlands R

Quarterfinal 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 James Walker  South Africa 13.6 Q
2 Georges Perrin  France R
3 Léonard Daghelinckx  Belgium R

Quarterfinal 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Albert White  Great Britain 12.6 Q
2 Henry Andersen  Denmark R
3 Georges Paillard  France R

Quarterfinal 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Harry Ryan  Great Britain 12.8 Q
2 Franco Giorgetti  Italy R
3 Binard  Belgium R

Repechage

Repechage semifinals

Repechage semifinal 1

Young finished first, but had cut off Bellivier and was penalized by dropping him to second place, eliminating him and allowing Bellivier to advance.

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Henri Bellivier  France Q
2 Anthony Young  United States 13.2
3 L'Empereur  Belgium
4 Norman Webster  Canada
Repechage semifinal 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Charles Lanusse  France 13.0 Q
2 Henry Andersen  Denmark
3 Georges Paillard  France
4 Piet Ikelaar  Netherlands
Repechage semifinal 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Georges Perrin  France 12.8 Q
2 Léonard Daghelinckx  Belgium
3 Binard  Belgium
Franco Giorgetti  Italy DNS
Repechage semifinal 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Harold Bounsall  Canada 13.4 Q
2 Christopher Dotterweich  United States
3 John Verhoeven  Belgium
4 Thomas Lance  Great Britain

Repechage final

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Pierre Lanousse  France 13.0 Q
2 Harold Bounsall  Canada
3 Georges Perrin  France
4 Henri Bellivier  France

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Thomas Johnson  Great Britain 14.8 Q
2 George Thursfield  South Africa 15.2
3 Albert White  Great Britain 15.3

Semifinal 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Harry Ryan  Great Britain 12.6 Q
2 Fred Taylor  United States 15.2
3 Gerald Halpin  Australia 15.2

Semifinal 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Maurice Peeters  Netherlands 12.6 Q
2 Pierre Lanousse  France 15.2
3 James Walker  South Africa 15.2

Final

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Maurice Peeters  Netherlands 13.0
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Thomas Johnson  Great Britain 15.1
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Harry Ryan  Great Britain 15.1

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