Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Cycling at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

Men's sprint
at the Games of the XVII Olympiad
Sante Gaiardoni
VenueOlympic Velodrome, Rome
Dates26–29 August 1960
Competitors30 from 18 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sante Gaiardoni
 Italy
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Leo Sterckx
 Belgium
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Valentino Gasparella
 Italy
← 1956
1964 →

The men's sprint at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy was held on 26 to 29 August 1960. There were 30 participants from 18 nations.[1] For the first time since 1924, nations were allowed to have more than one competitor each (the limit was raised to two); for the first time since 1924, one nation took multiple medals. Italians Sante Gaiardoni and Valentino Gasparella won gold and bronze, giving Italy a four-Games podium streak with three total gold medals—second all-time behind France's five. Leo Sterckx's silver was Belgium's first medal in the men's sprint.

Background

This was the 12th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. None of the quarterfinalists from 1956 returned. The Italian team was favored, with Valentino Gasparella (the 1958 and 1959 world champion) and Sante Gaiardoni (the 1960 world champion, and runner-up to Gasparella in both previous years).[2]

The British West Indies made its debut in the men's sprint; East and West Germany competed as the United Team of Germany. France made its 12th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format

Sprint cycling involves a series of head-to-head matches. The 1960 competition involved nine rounds: heats, a two-round repechage, 1/8 finals, another two-round repechage, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals.[3]

  • Heats: The 37 entrants were divided into 12 heats, most of 3 cyclists but one of 4 cyclists. After 7 withdrawals, no heat had more than 3 cyclists; many had 2 and one heat had only 1 competitor. The winner of each heat advanced directly to the 1/8 finals (12 cyclists), while all other cyclists who competed were sent to the first repechage (18 cyclists).
  • Repechage 1: This was a two-round repechage. The first round consisted of 9 heats of 2 cyclists. The winners advanced to the second round of the repechage, while the losers were eliminated. The second round had 3 heats of 3 cyclists each; the top 2 in each heat joined the main competition again at the 1/8 finals (6 cyclists) while the 3rd-place rider in each heat was eliminated.
  • 1/8 finals: The 18 cyclists who advanced through the heats or the first repechage 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 second repechage (12 cyclists).
  • Repechage 2: This was another two-round repechage, but with a different format. This 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  Sante Gaiardoni (ITA) 11.0 Rome, Italy 30 July 1960
Olympic record  Dick Ploog (AUS) 11.4 Melbourne, Australia 3 December 1956

Leo Sterckx matched the Olympic record of 11.4 seconds in the last 200 metres of the third heat in round 1. Anésio Argenton tied it as well, in heat 4 of the 1/8 finals. Sterckx broke it with 11.3 seconds in the next heat. Sante Gaiardoni matched Sterckx's new record in the second race of the fourth quarterfinal. Valentino Gasparella dropped the record a further two-tenths of a second, to 11.1 seconds, in the first race of the first semifinal. Gaiardoni matched him in the first race of the final.

Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Friday, 26 August 1960 "afternoon"
 
 
"night"
 
 
Round 1
First repechage heats
First repechage finals
1/8 finals
Second repechage heats
Second repechage finals
Saturday, 27 August 1960 "afternoon" Quarterfinals
Monday, 29 August 1960 "night" Semifinals
Finals

Results

Round 1

Heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Sante Gaiardoni  Italy 11.7 Q
2 Clyde Rimple  British West Indies N/A R
Mohamed Touati  Tunisia DNS

Heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Ron Baensch  Australia 11.7 Q
K. Melby  Denmark DNS
Les Haupt  South Africa DNS

Heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Leo Sterckx  Belgium 11.4 Q
2 Anésio Argenton  Brazil N/A R
P. Tache  Romania DNS

Heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Mario Vanegas  Colombia 11.7 Q
2 Karl Barton  Great Britain N/A R
V. Oprea  Romania DNS

Heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Valentino Gasparella  Italy 11.7 Q
2 José María Errandonea  Spain N/A R
3 Martin McKay  Ireland N/A R

Heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Günter Kaslowski  United Team of Germany 12.0 Q
2 Gilbert De Rieck  Belgium N/A R
3 Cenobio Ruiz  Mexico N/A R

Heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 André Gruchet  France 11.6 Q
2 Herbert Francis  United States N/A R
3 Muhammad Ashiq  Pakistan N/A R

Heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Kurt Rechsteiner  Switzerland 11.7 Q
2 Luis Muciño  Mexico N/A R
3 Abdul Razzaq Baloch  Pakistan N/A R

Heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Lloyd Binch  Great Britain 12.0 Q
2 Imants Bodnieks  Soviet Union N/A R
3 Piet van der Touw  Netherlands N/A R

Heat 10

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Boris Vasilyev  Soviet Union 11.8 Q
2 Francisco Tortellá  Spain N/A R
3 Michael Horgan  Ireland N/A R

Heat 11

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Antoine Pellegrina  France 12.4 Q
2 Aad de Graaf  Netherlands N/A R
Diego Calero  Colombia DNS

Heat 12

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 August Rieke  United Team of Germany 11.9 Q
2 Jackie Simes  United States N/A R
3 Paul Nyman  Finland N/A R
Ian Browne  Australia DNS

First repechage heats

First repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Anésio Argenton  Brazil 12.3 Q
2 Karl Barton  Great Britain N/A

First repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Cenobio Ruiz  Mexico 12.4 Q
2 Martin McKay  Ireland N/A

First repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Gilbert De Rieck  Belgium 12.4 Q
2 José María Errandonea  Spain N/A

First repechage heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Herbert Francis  United States 12.1 Q
2 Abdul Razzaq Baloch  Pakistan N/A

First repechage heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Luis Muciño  Mexico 12.8 Q
2 Muhammad Ashiq  Pakistan N/A

First repechage heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Imants Bodnieks  Soviet Union 11.7 Q
2 Michael Horgan  Ireland N/A

First repechage heat 7

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Piet van der Touw  Netherlands 12.1 Q
2 Francisco Tortellá  Spain N/A

First repechage heat 8

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Aad de Graaf  Netherlands 11.6 Q
2 Jackie Simes  United States N/A

First repechage heat 9

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Clyde Rimple  British West Indies 12.5 Q
2 Paul Nyman  Finland N/A

First repechage finals

First repechage final 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Aad de Graaf  Netherlands 11.8 Q
2 Gilbert De Rieck  Belgium N/A Q
3 Cenobio Ruiz  Mexico N/A

First repechage final 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Imants Bodnieks  Soviet Union 12.5 Q
2 Anésio Argenton  Brazil N/A Q
3 Luis Muciño  Mexico N/A

First repechage final 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Piet van der Touw  Netherlands 11.9 Q
2 Clyde Rimple  British West Indies N/A Q
3 Herbert Francis  United States N/A

1/8 finals

1/8 final heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 August Rieke  United Team of Germany 11.7 Q
2 Piet van der Touw  Netherlands N/A R
3 Boris Vasilyev  Soviet Union N/A R

1/8 final heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Antoine Pellegrina  France 11.6 Q
2 Kurt Rechsteiner  Switzerland N/A R
3 Gilbert De Rieck  Belgium N/A R

1/8 final heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Lloyd Binch  Great Britain 11.7 Q
2 André Gruchet  France N/A R
3 Clyde Rimple  British West Indies N/A R

1/8 final heat 4

Gasparella "was retroceded from 1st to 3rd place."[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Anésio Argenton  Brazil 11.4 Q
2 Ron Baensch  Australia N/A R
3 Valentino Gasparella  Italy N/A R

1/8 final heat 5

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Leo Sterckx  Belgium 11.3 Q
2 Aad de Graaf  Netherlands N/A R
3 Mario Vanegas  Colombia N/A R

1/8 final heat 6

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Sante Gaiardoni  Italy 11.7 Q
2 Imants Bodnieks  Soviet Union N/A R
3 Günter Kaslowski  United Team of Germany N/A R

Second repechage heats

Second repechage heat 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Mario Vanegas  Colombia 11.8 Q
2 André Gruchet  France N/A
3 Aad de Graaf  Netherlands N/A

Second repechage heat 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Valentino Gasparella  Italy 11.6 Q
2 Clyde Rimple  British West Indies N/A
3 Boris Vasilyev  Soviet Union N/A

Second repechage heat 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Kurt Rechsteiner  Switzerland 11.5 Q
2 Günter Kaslowski  United Team of Germany N/A
3 Gilbert De Rieck  Belgium N/A

Second repechage heat 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Ron Baensch  Australia 12.1 Q
2 Piet van der Touw  Netherlands N/A
3 Imants Bodnieks  Soviet Union N/A

Second repechage finals

Second repechage final 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Valentino Gasparella  Italy 11.4 Q
2 Mario Vanegas  Colombia N/A

Second repechage final 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Ron Baensch  Australia 11.6 Q
2 Kurt Rechsteiner  Switzerland N/A

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Valentino Gasparella  Italy 1 12.0 1 11.7 Q
2 Antoine Pellegrina  France 2 N/A 2 N/A

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Ron Baensch  Australia 1 12.2 1 12.0 Q
2 August Rieke  United Team of Germany 2 N/A 2 N/A

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Leo Sterckx  Belgium 1 11.9 1 11.7 Q
2 Lloyd Binch  Great Britain 2 N/A 2 N/A

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Sante Gaiardoni  Italy 1 11.6 1 11.3 Q
2 Anésio Argenton  Brazil 2 N/A 2 N/A

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Leo Sterckx  Belgium 2 N/A 1 11.3 1 11.5 Q
2 Valentino Gasparella  Italy 1 11.1 2 N/A 2 N/A B

Semifinal 2

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1 Sante Gaiardoni  Italy 1 11.6 1 12.8 Q
2 Ron Baensch  Australia 2 N/A 2 N/A B

Finals

Bronze medal final

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Valentino Gasparella  Italy 1 12.2 1 12.0
4 Ron Baensch  Australia 2 N/A 2 N/A

Gold medal final

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
Rank Time Rank Time Rank Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sante Gaiardoni  Italy 1 11.1 1 11.5
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Leo Sterckx  Belgium 2 N/A 2 N/A

Final classification

Rank Cyclist Nation
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sante Gaiardoni  Italy
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Leo Sterckx  Belgium
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Valentino Gasparella  Italy
4 Ron Baensch  Australia
5 Anésio Argenton  Brazil
Lloyd Binch  Great Britain
Antoine Pellegrina  France
August Rieke  United Team of Germany
9 Kurt Rechsteiner  Switzerland
Mario Vanegas  Colombia
11 André Gruchet  France
Günter Kaslowski  United Team of Germany
Clyde Rimple  British West Indies
Piet van der Touw  Netherlands
15 Imants Bodnieks  Soviet Union
Aad de Graaf  Netherlands
Gilbert De Rieck  Belgium
Boris Vasilyev  Soviet Union
19 Herbert Francis  United States
Luis Muciño  Mexico
Cenobio Ruiz  Mexico
22 Muhammad Ashiq  Pakistan
Abdul Razzaq Baloch  Pakistan
Karl Barton  Great Britain
José María Errandonea  Spain
Michael Horgan  Ireland
Martin McKay  Ireland
Paul Nyman  Finland
Jackie Simes  United States
Francisco Tortellá  Spain

References

  1. ^ "Cycling at the 1960 Rome Summer Games: Men's Sprint". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  2. ^ "Sprint, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 326
  4. ^ Official Report, p. 328.