Cycling at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's points race

The men's points race was an event at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, for which the final was held on 24 September 1988. There were 34 participants from 34 nations, with 24 cyclists competing in the final.[1] Each nation was limited to 1 cyclist in the event. The event was won by Dan Frost of Denmark, with Leo Peelen of the Netherlands taking silver and Marat Ganeyev of the Soviet Union bronze. It was the first medal in the men's points race for each of the three nations.

Men's points race
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Track cycling pictogram
VenueOlympic Velodrome
Dates21–24 September
Competitors34 from 34 nations
Winning score38 (0 laps behind)
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Dan Frost
 Denmark
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Leo Peelen
 Netherlands
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Marat Ganeyev
 Soviet Union
← 1984
1992 →

Background edit

This was the third appearance of the event. It was first held in 1900 and not again until 1984; after that, it was held every Summer Games until 2008 when it was removed from the programme. The women's version was held from 1996 through 2008.[2]

Three of the 24 finalists from the 1984 Games returned: silver medalist Uwe Messerschmidt of West Germany, bronze medalist José Youshimatz of Mexico, and fifth-place finisher Juan Curuchet of Argentina. The reigning World Champion (1987) was Marat Ganeyev of the Soviet Union; Messerschmidt had been runner-up. Dan Frost of Denmark had won the World Championship in 1986. Ganeyev and Frost were favored in Seoul.[2]

Barbados, Bolivia, Chinese Taipei, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Iran, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Poland, South Korea, the Soviet Union, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela each made their debut in the event. France and Italy both competed for the third time, the only nations to have competed in all three Olympic men's points races.

Competition format edit

The contest consisted of two rounds: semifinals and a final. The distance varied by round, with 30 kilometres in the semifinals and 50 kilometres in the final. The top 12 in each of the two semifinals advanced to the 24-man final. Placement in each race was determined first by how many laps behind the leader the cyclist was and second by how many sprint points the cyclist accumulated. That is, a cyclist with more sprint points but who was lapped once would be ranked behind a cyclist with fewer points but who had not been lapped. Sprint points could be gained only by cyclists who had not been lapped.

In the semifinals, there were 20 sprints—one every 1.5 kilometres. Points were awarded based on the position of the cyclists at the end of the sprint. Most of the sprints were worth five points for the leader, three to the second-place cyclist, two to third, and one to fourth. The 10th (halfway) and 20th (final) sprint were worth double: ten points, six, four, and two.

The final featured 30 sprints—one every 1.67 kilometres. As in the semifinals, most sprints were worth 5/3/2/1 points, with the halfway (15th) and final (30th) sprints worth 10/6/4/2.[2]

Schedule edit

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

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 21 September 1988 14:30 Semifinal 1
Thursday, 22 September 1988 10:50 Semifinal 2
Saturday, 24 September 1988 19:30 Final

Results edit

Semifinals edit

Semifinal 1 edit

Rank Cyclist Nation Laps behind Points Notes
1 Do Eun-cheol   South Korea 0 29 Q
2 Dan Frost   Denmark 0 27 Q
3 Alexis Méndez   Venezuela 0 21 Q
4 Miklós Somogyi   Hungary 0 12 Q
5 Roland Königshofer   Austria 0 5 Q
6 Robert Burns   Australia 1 24 Q
7 Olaf Ludwig   East Germany 1 21 Q
8 Marat Ganeyev   Soviet Union 1 17 Q
9 Antonio Salvador   Spain 1 15 Q
10 Wojciech Pawłak   Poland 1 11 Q
11 Frankie Andreu   United States 1 11 Q
12 Fernando Louro   Brazil 1 10 Q
13 Peter Hermann   Liechtenstein 1 9
14 Yoshihiro Tsumuraya   Japan 1 7
14 Michele Smith   Cayman Islands 1 1
Roderick Chase   Barbados DNF
Bernardo Rimarim   Philippines DNF

Semifinal 2 edit

Rank Cyclist Nation Laps behind Points Notes
1 José Youshimatz   Mexico 0 32 Q
2 Luboš Lom   Czechoslovakia 0 20 Q
3 Gene Samuel   Trinidad and Tobago 0 16 Q
4 Leo Peelen   Netherlands 0 13 Q
5 Juan Curuchet   Argentina 0 11 Q
6 Pascal Lino   France 1 28 Q
7 Uwe Messerschmidt   West Germany 1 22 Q
8 Philippe Grivel   Switzerland 1 19 Q
9 Peter Aldridge   Jamaica 1 15 Q
10 Hsu Jui-te   Chinese Taipei 1 14 Q
11 Giovanni Lombardi   Italy 1 13 Q
12 Gianni Vignaduzzi   Canada 1 3 Q
13 Murugayan Kumaresan   Malaysia 1 1
14 Jalil Eftekhari   Iran 2 13
Bailón Becerra   Bolivia DNF
Neil Lloyd   Antigua and Barbuda DNF
Federico Moreira   Uruguay DNF

Final edit

Ganeyev led the scoreboard for most of the race, but near the end was lapped by Frost and Peelen. He took bronze despite having the most points. Frost had scored more between the lead pair, so took gold.[2]

Rank Cyclist Nation Laps behind Points
  Dan Frost   Denmark 0 38
  Leo Peelen   Netherlands 0 26
  Marat Ganeyev   Soviet Union 1 46
4 Robert Burns   Australia 1 20
5 Juan Curuchet   Argentina 1 18
6 Uwe Messerschmidt   West Germany 2 28
7 Pascal Lino   France 2 21
8 Frankie Andreu   United States 2 21
9 José Youshimatz   Mexico 2 21
10 Miklós Somogyi   Hungary 2 13
11 Giovanni Lombardi   Italy 2 13
12 Roland Königshofer   Austria 2 11
13 Alexis Méndez   Venezuela 2 8
14 Olaf Ludwig   East Germany 3 19
15 Gene Samuel   Trinidad and Tobago 3 10
16 Wojciech Pawłak   Poland 3 8
17 Gianni Vignaduzzi   Canada 3 7
18 Antonio Salvador   Spain 3 5
19 Do Eun-cheol   South Korea 3 4
20 Philippe Grivel   Switzerland 3 4
21 Hsu Jui-te   Chinese Taipei 3 4
22 Peter Aldridge   Jamaica 3 4
23 Luboš Lom   Czechoslovakia 3 3
24 Fernando Louro   Brazil 3 0

Results summary edit

Rank Cyclist Nation Semifinals Final
Laps behind Points Laps behind Points
  Dan Frost   Denmark 0 27 0 38
  Leo Peelen   Netherlands 0 13 0 26
  Marat Ganeyev   Soviet Union 1 17 1 46
4 Robert Burns   Australia 1 24 1 20
5 Juan Curuchet   Argentina 0 11 1 18
6 Uwe Messerschmidt   West Germany 1 22 2 28
7 Pascal Lino   France 1 28 2 21
8 Frankie Andreu   United States 1 11 2 21
9 José Youshimatz   Mexico 0 32 2 21
10 Miklós Somogyi   Hungary 0 12 2 13
11 Giovanni Lombardi   Italy 1 13 2 13
12 Roland Königshofer   Austria 0 5 2 11
13 Alexis Méndez   Venezuela 0 21 2 8
14 Olaf Ludwig   East Germany 1 21 3 19
15 Gene Samuel   Trinidad and Tobago 0 16 3 10
16 Wojciech Pawłak   Poland 1 11 3 8
17 Gianni Vignaduzzi   Canada 1 3 3 7
18 Antonio Salvador   Spain 1 15 3 5
19 Do Eun-cheol   South Korea 0 29 3 4
20 Philippe Grivel   Switzerland 1 19 3 4
21 Hsu Jui-te   Chinese Taipei 1 14 3 4
22 Peter Aldridge   Jamaica 1 15 3 4
23 Luboš Lom   Czechoslovakia 0 20 3 3
24 Fernando Louro   Brazil 1 10 3 0
25 Peter Hermann   Liechtenstein 1 9 Did not advance
26 Yoshihiro Tsumuraya   Japan 1 7 Did not advance
27 Murugayan Kumaresan   Malaysia 1 1 Did not advance
28 Michele Smith   Cayman Islands 1 1 Did not advance
29 Jalil Eftekhari   Iran 2 13 Did not advance
Bailón Becerra   Bolivia DNF Did not advance
Roderick Chase   Barbados DNF Did not advance
Neil Lloyd   Antigua and Barbuda DNF Did not advance
Federico Moreira   Uruguay DNF Did not advance
Bernardo Rimarim   Philippines DNF Did not advance
Mario Pons   Ecuador DNS Did not advance

References edit

  1. ^ "Cycling at the 1988 Summer Games: Men's Points Race". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d "Points Race, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 1 February 2021.

External links edit