The men's sprint event was part of the track cycling programme at the 1924 Summer Olympics. The field consisted of 31 cyclists from 17 countries. The Vélodrome de Vincennes track was a loop.Cycling at the 1924 Paris Summer Games The event was won by Lucien Michard of France, the nation's third victory in the men's sprint. His teammate Jean Cugnot earned bronze. Jacob Meijer of the Netherlands took silver, putting the Dutch team on the podium for the second consecutive Games.
Background
This was the fifth appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. The only returning semifinalist from 1920 was gold medal winner Maurice Peeters of the Netherlands. Peeters had also won the Grand Prix de Paris in 1920. He was one of the favorites along with William Fenn of the United States and 1923 World Champion Jean Cugnot of France.
Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, and Switzerland each made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its fifth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.
Competition format
There were 12 first-round heats, with up to three cyclists in each. The top cyclist in each heat advanced to the quarterfinals (12 cyclists), while all other finishers went to the first repechage (18 cyclists, with one man eliminated because he did not finish his heat). In the first repechage, there were six heats of three cyclists each, with the winners advancing to the quarterfinals (6 cyclists, joining the 12 already qualified) and everyone else eliminated. The 18 quarterfinalists were divided into six heats of three cyclists each. The winner advanced directly to the semifinals (6 cyclists), while the other cyclists went to a second repechage (12 cyclists). The second repechage featured three heats of four cyclists each, with the winners advancing to the semifinals (3 cyclists, joining the 6 already qualified) and all others eliminated. The semifinals were three heats of three cyclists each, with winners advancing to the three-man final and others eliminated.
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 records were not tracked by the UCI until 1954.
No new Olympic record was set during the competition.
Schedule
Date Time Round Saturday, 26 July 1924 Round 1First repechage Sunday, 27 July 1924 QuarterfinalsSecond repechageSemifinalsFinal
Results
Source:Cycling at the 1924 Paris Summer Games: Men's Sprint, 1,000 Metres
Round 1
The top finisher in each heat qualified for the quarterfinals. All other cyclists went to the first repechage for a second chance at quarterfinal qualifying.
Heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Prudent De Bruyne 13.8 2 Eugenio Gret
Heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 George Dempsey 13.8 2 Julio Polet 3 Miloš Knobloch
Heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Walter Coppins 13.6 2 Willy Hansen 3 Boris Dimchev
Heat 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 William Fenn 13.6 2 Ricardo Bermejo — Maurice Gillen
Heat 5
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Lucien Michard 13.6 2 Alejandro Vidal
Heat 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Herbert Fuller 13.8 2 Holger Guldager
Heat 7
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Maurice Peeters 17.0
Heat 8
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Guglielmo Bossi 13.6 2 János Grimm 3 Oldřich Červinka
Heat 9
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jacob Meijer 13.2 2 Louis Mermillod 3 Ferenc Uhereczky
Heat 10
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jean Cugnot 12.8 2 George Owen 3 Artūrs Zeiberliņš
Heat 11
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Francesco Del Grosso 12.8 2 Jan Łazarski 3 Roberts Plūme
Heat 12
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Franciszek Szymczyk 13.6 2 Jean Verheyen 3 Francisco Juillet
First repechage
First repechage heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Willy Hansen 2 Julio Polet — Francisco Juillet
First repechage heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Miloš Knobloch — Boris Dimchev Alejandro Vidal
First repechage heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Holger Guldager 2 Artūrs Zeiberliņš 3 Eugenio Gret
First repechage heat 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Louis Mermillod 2 Ferenc Uhereczky 3 Oldřich Červinka
First repechage heat 5
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 János Grimm 2 Ricardo Bermejo 3 Jean Verheyen
First repechage heat 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 George Owen 2 Jan Łazarski 3 Roberts Plūme
Quarterfinals
The 18 winners of the first round and first repechage competed in the quarterfinals. Again, the winner of each heat advanced (this time to the semifinals) while the other cyclists competed in another repechage.
Quarterfinal 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jacob Meijer 13.2 2 Willy Hansen 3 Miloš Knobloch
Quarterfinal 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Lucien Michard 13.0 2 Holger Guldager 3 George Owen
Quarterfinal 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 George Dempsey 13.2 2 Maurice Peeters 3 János Grimm
Quarterfinal 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jean Cugnot 13.2 2 William Fenn 3 Prudent De Bruyne
Quarterfinal 5
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Francesco Del Grosso 13.6 2 Louis Mermillod 3 Franciszek Szymczyk
Quarterfinal 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Herbert Fuller 13.0 2 Guglielmo Bossi 3 Walter Coppins
Second repechage
Second repechage heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Guglielmo Bossi 2 Maurice Peeters 3 Willy Hansen 4 Miloš Knobloch
Second repechage heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Louis Mermillod 2 Prudent De Bruyne 3 János Grimm 4 George Owen
Second repechage heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Holger Guldager 2 William Fenn 3 Walter Coppins — Franciszek Szymczyk
Semifinals
The nine remaining cyclists competed in three semifinals, with the winners advancing to the finals and the losers eliminated.
Semifinal 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Lucien Michard 12.2 2 Herbert Fuller 3 Guglielmo Bossi
Semifinal 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jacob Meijer 12.8 2 Holger Guldager 3 Francesco Del Grosso
Semifinal 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes 1 Jean Cugnot 12.2 2 George Dempsey 3 Louis Mermillod
Final
The final three cyclists competed for the three medals.
Rank Cyclist Nation Time Lucien Michard 12.8 Jacob Meijer Jean Cugnot
References