Cycling at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

The men's sprint cycling event at the 1988 Summer Olympics took place from 21 to 24 September and was one of the nine cycling events at the 1988 Olympics.[1] There were 25 competitors from 25 nations.[2] After the 1984 Games had featured a humongously bloated 34-cyclist, 11-round, 63-match competition, the competition size was cut down by restricting nations to one cyclist yet again (the rule in place from 1928 to 1956 and in 1976 and 1980) and instituting a qualifying round: this reduced the format to 25 cyclists, 8 rounds (including the qualifying round), and 29 matches (not included the time trials in the qualifying round). The event was won by Lutz Heßlich of East Germany, the 1980 gold medalist who was unable to compete in 1984 due to the Soviet-led boycott. Soviet cyclist Nikolai Kovsh took silver, the best result to date for the Soviets. Gary Neiwand of Australia earned bronze; for the Australians, it was the first medal in the event since 1972.

Men's sprint
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
VenueSeoul Olympic Velodrome
Dates21–24 September
Competitors25 from 25 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Lutz Heßlich
 East Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Nikolai Kovsh
 Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Gary Neiwand
 Australia
← 1984
1992 →

Background

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This was the 19th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. None of the quarterfinalists from 1984 returned. The East German team was in the height of its dominance of the event, rising in the 1970s, peaking in the late 1980s, and continuing into the 1990s. The last nine medalists at the World Championships (gold, silver, and bronze in 1985, 1986, and 1987) had all been East German. Lutz Heßlich had won in 1985 and 1987 and finished second in 1986; he had also won the Olympic gold medal in 1980 (not competed in 1984 due to the Soviet-led boycott). When he was chosen to represent East Germany, he was an overwhelming favorite—everyone who had challenged him in the last few years was unable to compete due to the one-cyclist-per-nation rule that had been resurrected after the 1984 Games had allowed two per nation.[2]

Bolivia and Ecuador each made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its 19th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format

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This sprint competition involved a series of head-to-head matches along with the new qualifying round of time trials. There were five main match rounds, with two repechages. Only one-round repechages were used.[2][3]

  • Qualifying round: Each of the 25 competitors completed a 200 metre flying time trial (reaching full speed before timing started for the last 200 metres). The top 24 advanced to the match rounds, seeded based on their time in the qualifying round. With 25 riders starting, only the slowest cyclist was eliminated.
  • Round 1: The 24 cyclists were seeded into 8 heats of 3 cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced to the 1/8 finals (8 cyclists) while the other two cyclists went to the first repechage (16 cyclists).
  • First repechage: The 16 cyclists were divided into 4 heats, each with 4 cyclists. The winner of each heat advanced to the 1/8 finals (4 cyclists), with all others eliminated (12 cyclists).
  • 1/8 finals: The 12 remaining cyclists competed in a 1/8 finals round. There were 4 heats in this round, with 3 cyclists in each. The top cyclist in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals (4 cyclists), while the remaining two in each heat went to the second repechage (8 cyclists).
  • Second repechage: This round featured 4 heats, with 2 cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced to the quarterfinals (4 cyclists); the losers were eliminated (4 cyclists).
  • 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 a classification final for fifth through eighth places for quarterfinal losers.

Records

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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   Michael Huebner (GDR) 10.118 Colorado Springs, United States 27 August 1986
Olympic record   Sergei Kopylov (URS) 10.47 Moscow, Soviet Union 26 July 1980

Lutz Heßlich set a new record with 10.395 seconds in the qualifying round.

Schedule

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All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 21 September 1988 10:00
13:00
15:55
Qualifying round
Round 1
First repechage
Thursday, 22 September 1988 10:00
11:40
17:00
1/8 finals
Second repechage
Quarterfinals
Friday, 23 September 1988 20:10
20:30
Semifinals
Classification 5–8
Saturday, 24 September 1988 17:15 Bronze medal match
Final

Results

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Qualifying round

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Lutz Heßlich   East Germany 10.395 Q, OR
2 Gary Neiwand   Australia 10.563 Q
3 Nikolai Kovsh   Soviet Union 10.595 Q
4 Vratislav Šustr   Czechoslovakia 10.704 Q
5 Ken Carpenter   United States 10.792 Q
6 Fabrice Colas   France 10.857 Q
7 Frank Weber   West Germany 10.919 Q
8 Eddie Alexander   Great Britain 10.930 Q
9 José Manuel Moreno   Spain 10.931 Q
10 Erik Schoefs   Belgium 11.032 Q
11 Hideki Miwa   Japan 11.063 Q
12 Andrea Faccini   Italy 11.073 Q
13 Curt Harnett   Canada 11.144 Q
14 Maxwell Cheeseman   Trinidad and Tobago 11.171 Q
15 Gustavo Faris   Argentina 11.187 Q
16 Rosman Alwi   Malaysia 11.204 Q
17 Eom Yeong-seop   South Korea 11.222 Q
18 Mario Pons   Ecuador 11.339 Q
19 Lee Fu-hsiang   Chinese Taipei 11.475 Q
20 Paul Réneau   Belize 11.732 Q
21 Colin Abrams   Guyana 11.815 Q
22 Vincent Lynch   Barbados 11.845 Q
23 Michele Smith   Cayman Islands 12.055 Q
24 Bailón Becerra   Bolivia 12.216 Q
25 Ira Fabian   Antigua and Barbuda 12.817

Round 1

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Heat 1

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Lutz Heßlich   East Germany 11.25 Q
2 Eom Yeong-seop   South Korea R
3 Rosman Alwi   Malaysia R

Heat 2

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Gary Neiwand   Australia 11.19 Q
2 Mario Pons   Ecuador R
3 Gustavo Faris   Argentina R

Heat 3

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Nikolai Kovsh   Soviet Union 11.26 Q
2 Lee Fu-hsiang   Chinese Taipei R
3 Maxwell Cheeseman   Trinidad and Tobago R

Heat 4

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Vratislav Šustr   Czechoslovakia 11.21 Q
2 Curt Harnett   Canada R
3 Paul Réneau   Belize R

Heat 5

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Andrea Faccini   Italy 11,74 Q
2 Ken Carpenter   United States R
3 Colin Abrams   Guyana R

Heat 6

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Fabrice Colas   France 10.77 Q
2 Hideki Miwa   Japan R
3 Vincent Lynch   Barbados R

Heat 7

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Erik Schoefs   Belgium 11.34 Q
2 Frank Weber   West Germany R
3 Michele Smith   Cayman Islands R

Heat 8

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Eddie Alexander   Great Britain 11.40 Q
2 José Manuel Moreno   Spain R
3 Bailón Becerra   Bolivia R

First repêchage

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First repechage heat 1

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Maxwell Cheeseman   Trinidad and Tobago 12.11 Q
2 Gustavo Faris   Argentina
3 Eom Yeong-seop   South Korea
4 José Manuel Moreno   Spain

First repechage heat 2

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Frank Weber   West Germany 11.55 Q
2 Mario Pons   Ecuador
3 Bailón Becerra   Bolivia
4 Colin Abrams   Guyana

First repechage heat 3

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Hideki Miwa   Japan 11.56 Q
2 Lee Fu-hsiang   Chinese Taipei
3 Paul Réneau   Belize
4 Michele Smith   Cayman Islands

First repechage heat 4

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Curt Harnett   Canada 11.26 Q
2 Ken Carpenter   United States
3 Rosman Alwi   Malaysia
4 Vincent Lynch   Barbados

1/8 finals

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1/8 final 1

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Lutz Heßlich   East Germany 11.04 Q
2 Eddie Alexander   Great Britain R
3 Hideki Miwa   Japan R

1/8 final 2

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Erik Schoefs   Belgium 11.27 Q
2 Curt Harnett   Canada R
3 Gary Neiwand   Australia R

1/8 final 3

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Nikolai Kovsh   Soviet Union 11.10 Q
2 Fabrice Colas   France R
3 Frank Weber   West Germany R

1/8 final 4

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Vratislav Šustr   Czechoslovakia 11.13 Q
2 Maxwell Cheeseman   Trinidad and Tobago R
3 Andrea Faccini   Italy R

Second repêchage

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Second repechage heat 1

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Eddie Alexander   Great Britain 11.32 Q
2 Andrea Faccini   Italy

Second repechage heat 2

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Frank Weber   West Germany 11.39 Q
2 Curt Harnett   Canada

Second repechage heat 3

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Gary Neiwand   Australia 11.57 Q
2 Fabrice Colas   France

Second repechage heat 4

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
Notes
1 Maxwell Cheeseman   Trinidad and Tobago 11.31 Q
2 Hideki Miwa   Japan

Quarterfinals

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Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Lutz Heßlich   East Germany 10.60 11.50 Q
2 Frank Weber   West Germany C

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Eddie Alexander   Great Britain 11.81 10.79 Q
2 Erik Schoefs   Belgium 10.96 C

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Nikolai Kovsh   Soviet Union 11.77 11.05 Q
2 Maxwell Cheeseman   Trinidad and Tobago C

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Gary Neiwand   Australia 10.92 11.37 Q
2 Vratislav Šustr   Czechoslovakia C

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Lutz Heßlich   East Germany 11.12 10.64 Q
2 Gary Neiwand   Australia B

Semifinal 2

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Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Nikolai Kovsh   Soviet Union 11.09 11.90 Q
2 Eddie Alexander   Great Britain B

Finals

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Classification 5–8

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time
200 m
5 Vratislav Šustr   Czechoslovakia 11.34
6 Erik Schoefs   Belgium
7 Frank Weber   West Germany
8 Maxwell Cheeseman   Trinidad and Tobago

Bronze medal match

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Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
  Gary Neiwand   Australia 10.97 10.88
4 Eddie Alexander   Great Britain

Final

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Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
  Lutz Heßlich   East Germany 13.98 11.82
  Nikolai Kovsh   Soviet Union

References

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  1. ^ "Cycling at the 1988 Summer Games: Men's sprint". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "Sprint, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 376.