Cycling at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

Men's sprint
at the Games of the XIX Olympiad
VenueOlympic Velodrome, Mexico City
Dates18–19 October 1968
Competitors47 from 28 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Daniel Morelon
 France
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Giordano Turrini
 Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Pierre Trentin
 France
← 1964
1972 →

The men's sprint was a cycling event held at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico, held on 18 to 19 October 1968. There were 47 participants from 28 nations. Each nation was limited to two cyclists. The event was won by Daniel Morelon of France, his second consecutive medal and first gold; it was also France's world-leading sixth victory in the men's sprint. His countryman Pierre Trentin, who had lost the bronze medal match to Morelon four years earlier, this year won it against Omar Pkhakadze of the Soviet Union. Between the French cyclists was silver medalist Giordano Turrini of Italy, extending that nation's streak of top-two results in the event to six Games.

Background

This was the 14th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. The only two quarterfinalists from 1964 to return were the French cyclists: Pierre Trentin and Daniel Morelon. Trentin had been favored in 1964, but both had lost in the semifinals and Morelon had won the bronze medal match between them. Morelon would beat Trentin again at the 1966 and 1967 World Championship finals and the 1968 Grand Prix de Paris, though Trentin would prevail in the 1964, 1965, and 1967 Grand Prix competitions. Coming into Mexico City, Morelon was favored with Trentin expected to challenge him in the final. Also contending were 1965 World Champion Omar Phakadze of the Soviet Union and runner-up Giordano Turrini of Italy, as well as 1968 runner-up Niels Fredborg of Denmark.

Barbados, Belize, Lebanon, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and Thailand each made their debut in the men's sprint; West Germany competed separately for the first time. France made its 14th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format

This sprint competition involved a series of head-to-head matches. The 1968 competition involved ten rounds: six main rounds (first round, second round, 1/8 finals, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals) as well as three repechages after the first three main rounds; the third repechage was a two-round repechage.

  • First round: The 51 entrants were divided into 17 heats of 3 cyclists each. Withdrawals left some heats with only 2 competitors. The winner of each heat advanced directly to the second round (17 cyclists), while all other cyclists who competed were sent to the first repechage (30 cyclists).
  • First repechage: The 30 cyclists were divided into 12 heats, each with 2 or 3 cyclists. The winner of each heat advanced to the second round (12 cyclists), while all others were eliminated (18 cyclists, including those who did not start).
  • Second round: The 29 cyclists who advanced through the first round or first repechage were divided into 10 heats; all heats had 3 cyclists except heat 1, which had only 2. The winner of each heat advanced directly to the third round, the 1/8 finals (10 cyclists), while all others went to the second repechage (19 cyclists).
  • Second repechage: The 19 cyclists from the second round were divided into 8 heats, with 2 or 3 cyclists per heat. Winners advanced to the 1/8 finals (8 cyclists), while all others were eliminated (11 cyclists, including those who did not start).
  • 1/8 finals: The 18 cyclists who advanced through the first two rounds (including repechages) 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 third repechage (12 cyclists).
  • Third 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 eliminated.
  • 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.

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  Omar Pkhakadze (URS) 10.61 Mexico City, Mexico 22 October 1967
Olympic record  Valentino Gasparella (ITA) 11.1 Rome, Italy 29 August 1960

Jan Jansen matched the Olympic record at 11.10 seconds for the last 200 metres in the eighth heat of round 1. Dino Verzini set a new record of 10.87 seconds in the next heat. Roger Gibbon pushed the record to 10.70 seconds in the fifth heat of round 2. Leijn Loevesijn's time of 10.66 seconds in the second heat of the third repechage semifinals was the last record-breaking performance of the event.

Schedule

All times are Central Standard Time (UTC-6)

Date Time Round
Friday, 18 October 1968 10:00 Round 1
First repechage
Round 2
Second repechage
1/8 finals
Third repechage semifinals
Third repechage finals
Saturday, 19 October 1968 10:00 Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals

Results

First round

First round heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Daniel Morelon  France 11.24 Q
2 Juan Reyes  Cuba R
3 Roberto Roxas  Philippines R

First round heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Pierre Trentin  France 11.61 Q
2 José Jaime Galeano  Colombia R
3 Pakanit Boriharnvanakhet  Thailand R

First round heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Giordano Turrini  Italy 11.34 Q
2 Sanji Inoue  Japan R
3 Kensley Reece  Barbados R

First round heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Omar Pkhakadze  Soviet Union 11.30 Q
2 José Pittaro  Argentina R
3 Tarek Abou Al Dahab  Lebanon R

First round heat 5

Jürgen Kissner of West Germany was entered in this heat but did not compete.

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Roger Gibbon  Trinidad and Tobago 11.15 Q
2 Fan Yue-tao  Taiwan R

First round heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Robert Van Lancker  Belgium 11.37 Q
2 Héctor Urrego  Colombia R
3 Kim Gwang-seon  South Korea R

First round heat 7

George Artin of Iraq was entered in this heat but did not compete.

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Reg Barnett  Great Britain 11.34 Q
2 Bob Boucher  Canada R

First round heat 8

Constantin Kabemba of the Cook Islands was entered in this heat but did not compete.

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Jan Jansen  Netherlands 11.10 Q, =OR
2 Arturo García  Mexico R

First round heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Dino Verzini  Italy 10.87 Q, OR
2 Leslie King  Trinidad and Tobago R
3 Rolando Guaves  Philippines R

First round heat 10

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Niels Fredborg  Denmark 10.91 Q
2 Jocelyn Lovell  Canada R
3 Kriengsak Varavudhi  Thailand R

First round heat 11

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Leijn Loevesijn  Netherlands 10.92 Q
2 András Baranyecz  Hungary R
3 Tim Mountford  United States R

First round heat 12

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Gordon Johnson  Australia 11.42 Q
2 José Mercado  Mexico R
3 Gwon Jung-hyeon  South Korea R

First round heat 13

Ignace Mandjambi of the Cook Islands was entered in this heat but did not compete.

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Jürgen Barth  West Germany 11.39 Q
2 Carlos Roqueiro  Argentina R

First round heat 14

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Ivan Kučírek  Czechoslovakia 11.03 Q
2 Ian Alsop  Great Britain R
3 Aubrey Bryce  Guyana R

First round heat 15

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Jackie Simes  United States 11.23 Q
2 Daniel Goens  Belgium R
3 Kenneth Sutherland  British Honduras R

First round heat 16

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Peder Pedersen  Denmark 11.08 Q
2 Sergey Kravtsov  Soviet Union R
3 Edwin Torres  Puerto Rico R

First round heat 17

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Miloš Jelínek  Czechoslovakia 11.40 Q
2 John Nicholson  Australia R
3 Raúl Marcelo Vázquez  Cuba R

First repechage

Tarek Abou Al Dahab of Lebanon withdrew.

First repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Sanji Inoue  Japan 11.60 Q
2 Pakanit Boriharnvanakhet  Thailand
3 Héctor Urrego  Colombia

First repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 José Pittaro  Argentina 11.41 Q
2 Roberto Roxas  Philippines
3 Aubrey Bryce  Guyana

First repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Tim Mountford  United States 11.03 Q
2 Kim Gwang-seon  South Korea
3 José Jaime Galeano  Colombia

First repechage heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Leslie King  Trinidad and Tobago 11.35 Q
2 Juan Reyes  Cuba
3 Gwon Jung-hyeon  South Korea

First repechage heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Jocelyn Lovell  Canada 11.30 Q
2 Arturo García  Mexico
3 Rolando Guaves  Philippines

First repechage heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 András Baranyecz  Hungary 11.08 Q
2 Kriengsak Varavudhi  Thailand

First repechage heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 José Mercado  Mexico 11.27 Q
2 Kensley Reece  Barbados

First repechage heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Carlos Roqueiro  Argentina 11.15 Q
2 Edwin Torres  Puerto Rico

First repechage heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Ian Alsop  Great Britain 11.19 Q
2 Bob Boucher  Canada

First repechage heat 10

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Daniel Goens  Belgium 11.81 Q
2 Fan Yue-tao  Taiwan

First repechage heat 11

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Sergey Kravtsov  Soviet Union 11.56 Q
2 Raúl Marcelo Vázquez  Cuba

First repechage heat 12

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 John Nicholson  Australia 11.09 Q
2 Kenneth Sutherland  British Honduras

Second round

Second round heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Daniel Morelon  France 10.94 Q
2 Tim Mountford  United States R

Second round heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Pierre Trentin  France 10.91 Q
2 Sanji Inoue  Japan R
3 Leslie King  Trinidad and Tobago R

Second round heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Giordano Turrini  Italy 11.47 Q
2 José Pittaro  Argentina R
3 Jocelyn Lovell  Canada R

Second round heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Omar Pkhakadze  Soviet Union 11.26 Q
2 Miloš Jelínek  Czechoslovakia R
3 Ian Alsop  Great Britain R

Second round heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Roger Gibbon  Trinidad and Tobago 10.70 Q, OR
2 Peder Pedersen  Denmark R
3 András Baranyecz  Hungary R

Second round heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Jackie Simes  United States 10.72 Q
2 Robert Van Lancker  Belgium R
3 Sergey Kravtsov  Soviet Union R

Second round heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Ivan Kučírek  Czechoslovakia 11.38 Q
2 Reg Barnett  Great Britain R
3 José Mercado  Mexico R

Second round heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Gordon Johnson  Australia 11.06 Q
2 Jan Jansen  Netherlands R
3 Carlos Roqueiro  Argentina R

Second round heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Jürgen Barth  West Germany 10.95 Q
2 Dino Verzini  Italy R
3 John Nicholson  Australia R

Second round heat 10

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Niels Fredborg  Denmark 11.09 Q
2 Leijn Loevesijn  Netherlands R
3 Daniel Goens  Belgium R

Second repechage

Second repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Sergey Kravtsov  Soviet Union 10.87 Q
2 Sanji Inoue  Japan
Miloš Jelínek  Czechoslovakia DNS

Second repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Leslie King  Trinidad and Tobago 11.16 Q
2 José Mercado  Mexico
3 Ian Alsop  Great Britain

Second repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Tim Mountford  United States 11.31 Q
2 Peder Pedersen  Denmark

Second repechage heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Robert Van Lancker  Belgium 10.99 Q
2 András Baranyecz  Hungary

Second repechage heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Reg Barnett  Great Britain 11.01 Q
2 John Nicholson  Australia

Second repechage heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Jan Jansen  Netherlands 11.13 Q
2 Daniel Goens  Belgium
3 José Pittaro  Argentina

Second repechage heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Dino Verzini  Italy 11.04 Q
2 Carlos Roqueiro  Argentina

Second repechage heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Leijn Loevesijn  Netherlands 11.91 Q
2 Jocelyn Lovell  Canada

1/8 finals

1/8 final 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Daniel Morelon  France 11.00 Q
2 Leslie King  Trinidad and Tobago R
3 Reg Barnett  Great Britain R

1/8 final 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Pierre Trentin  France 10.96 Q
2 Sergey Kravtsov  Soviet Union R
3 Robert Van Lancker  Belgium R

1/8 final 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Giordano Turrini  Italy 10.96 Q
2 Jürgen Barth  West Germany R
3 Leijn Loevesijn  Netherlands R

1/8 final 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Omar Pkhakadze  Soviet Union 10.94 Q
2 Tim Mountford  United States R
3 Niels Fredborg  Denmark R

1/8 final 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Jan Jansen  Netherlands 11.06 Q
2 Roger Gibbon  Trinidad and Tobago R
3 Gordon Johnson  Australia R

1/8 final 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Dino Verzini  Italy 10.81 Q
2 Jackie Simes  United States R
3 Ivan Kučírek  Czechoslovakia R

Third repechage heats

Third repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Jürgen Barth  West Germany 10.98 Q
2 Robert Van Lancker  Belgium
3 Reg Barnett  Great Britain

Third repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Leijn Loevesijn  Netherlands 10.66 Q, OR
2 Roger Gibbon  Trinidad and Tobago
3 Sergey Kravtsov  Soviet Union

Third repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Jackie Simes  United States 10.92 Q
2 Niels Fredborg  Denmark
3 Leslie King  Trinidad and Tobago

Third repechage heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Tim Mountford  United States 10.79 Q
2 Gordon Johnson  Australia
3 Ivan Kučírek  Czechoslovakia

Third repechage finals

Third repechage final 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Jürgen Barth  West Germany 11.30 Q
2 Jackie Simes  United States

Third repechage final 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Leijn Loevesijn  Netherlands 11.09 Q
2 Tim Mountford  United States

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Daniel Morelon  France 1 11.09 1 11.26 N/A Q
2 Leijn Loevesijn  Netherlands 2 2

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Pierre Trentin  France 1 11.49 1 12.09 N/A Q
2 Jürgen Barth  West Germany 2 2

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Giordano Turrini  Italy 2 1 10.97 1 11.12 Q
2 Jan Jansen  Netherlands 1 10.85 2 2

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Omar Pkhakadze  Soviet Union 2 1 11.35 1 10.86 Q
2 Dino Verzini  Italy 1 11.14 2 2

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Daniel Morelon  France 2 1 10.76 1 10.69 Q
2 Omar Pkhakadze  Soviet Union 1 10.69 2 2 B

Semifinal 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Giordano Turrini  Italy 1 11.76 1 11.24 N/A Q
2 Pierre Trentin  France 2 2 B

Finals

Bronze medal match

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Pierre Trentin  France 1 11.57 2 1 10.92
4 Omar Pkhakadze  Soviet Union 2 1 11.53 2

Final

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Daniel Morelon  France 1 11.27 1 10.68 N/A
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Giordano Turrini  Italy 2 2

Final classification

Rank Cyclist Nation
1st place, gold medalist(s) Daniel Morelon  France
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Giordano Turrini  Italy
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Pierre Trentin  France
4 Omar Pkhakadze  Soviet Union
5 Jürgen Barth  West Germany
Jan Jansen  Netherlands
Leijn Loevesijn  Netherlands
Dino Verzini  Italy
9 Jackie Simes  United States
Tim Mountford  United States
Robert Van Lancker  Belgium
Roger Gibbon  Trinidad and Tobago
Niels Fredborg  Denmark
Gordon Johnson  Australia
Reg Barnett  Great Britain
Serhiy Kravtsov  Soviet Union
Leslie King  Trinidad and Tobago
Ivan Kučírek  Czechoslovakia
Sanji Inoue  Japan
José Mercado  Mexico
Peder Pedersen  Denmark
András Baranyecz  Hungary
John Nicholson  Australia
Daniel Goens  Belgium
Carlos Roqueiro  Argentina
Jocelyn Lovell  Canada
Ian Alsop  Great Britain
José Pittaro  Argentina
Miloš Jelínek  Czechoslovakia
Pakanit Boriharnvanakhet  Thailand
Roberto Roxas  Philippines
Kim Gwang-seon  South Korea
Juan Reyes  Cuba
Arturo García  Mexico
Kriengsak Varavudhi  Thailand
Kensley Reece  Barbados
Edwin Torres  Puerto Rico
Bob Boucher  Canada
Fan Yue-tao  Taiwan
Raúl Marcelo Vázquez  Cuba
Kenneth Sutherland  British Honduras
Héctor Urrego  Colombia
Aubrey Bryce  Guyana
José Jaime Galeano  Colombia
Gwon Jung-hyeon  South Korea
Rolando Guaves  Philippines
Tarek Abou Al Dahab  Lebanon

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