The men's sprint at the 1928 Summer Olympics took place at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam. There were 18 competitors from 18 nations, with each nation (for the first time) limited to one cyclist.Official Report, p. 505. The event was won by Roger Beaufrand of France, the nation's second consecutive and fourth overall victory in the men's sprint. Antoine Mazairac of the Netherlands, the only other nation to have won a gold medal in the event, put the Dutch team on the podium for the third consecutive Games with his silver. Willy Hansen earned Denmark's first medal in the event, with his bronze.
Background
This was the sixth appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. None of the semifinalists from 1924 returned. The favorites included Roger Beaufrand of France and the host nation cyclist Antoine Mazairac, who had finished second at the 1923 and 1925 World Championships.
Austria, Ireland, Spain, and Turkey each made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its sixth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.
Competition format
This track cycling event consisted of numerous rounds. 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 recorded.
The competition began with a preliminary round consisting of six races, with the winner of each advancing to the quarterfinals. The losers of the preliminary round competed in a two-round repechage, with two cyclists qualifying for the finals out of the repechage. Beginning with the quarterfinals, the competition was a single elimination tournament, with a bronze medal match.Official Report, p. 511.
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
The first round was interrupted by rain and had to be continued on the second day.
Date Time Round Saturday, 4 August 1928 19:00 Round 1Repechage semifinalsRepechage final Sunday, 5 August 1928 19:30 Quarterfinals Monday, 6 August 1928 14:00 SemifinalsMedal matches
Results Source:
Round 1
Heat 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Notes 1 Willy Hansen 2 Antonio Malvassi
Heat 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Notes 1 Roger Beaufrand 2 Bertie Donnelly 3 August Schaffer
Heat 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Notes 1 Yves Van Massenhove 2 Jerzy Koszutski 3 Walter Knabenhans
Heat 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Notes 1 Hans Bernhardt 2 James Davies 3 Cavit Cav
Heat 5
Rank Cyclist Nation Notes 1 Antoine Mazairac 2 Sydney Cozens 3 Francisco Juillet
Heat 6
Rank Cyclist Nation Notes 1 Jack Standen 2 Edoardo Severgnini 3 Roberts Plūme 4 José María Yermo
Repechage semifinals
Repechage semifinal 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Notes 1 Walter Knabenhans 2 Francisco Juillet
Repechage semifinal 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Notes 1 Antonio Malvassi 2 Edoardo Severgnini 3 James Davies
Repechage semifinal 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Notes 1 Jerzy Koszutski 2 Bertie Donnelly 3 Roberts Plūme
Repechage semifinal 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Notes 1 Sydney Cozens 2 José María de Yermo 3 August Schaffer
Repechage final
Rank Cyclist Nation Notes 1 Jerzy Koszutski 2 Antonio Malvassi 3 Sydney Cozens 4 Walter Knabenhans
Quarterfinals
Quarterfinal 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Hans Bernhardt 13.2 2 Yves Van Massenhove
Quarterfinal 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Antoine Mazairac 13.2 2 Jack Standen
Quarterfinal 3
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Roger Beaufrand 13.4 2 Antonio Malvassi
Quarterfinal 4
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Willy Hansen 13.2 2 Jerzy Koszutski
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Antoine Mazairac 12.2 2 Willy Hansen
Semifinal 2
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Notes 1 Roger Beaufrand 13.2 2 Hans Bernhardt
Medal matches
Bronze medal match
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Willy Hansen 12.2 4 Hans Bernhardt
Final
Rank Cyclist Nation Time200 m Roger Beaufrand 13.2 Antoine Mazairac
References