Cycling at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

The men's sprint cycling event at the 1936 Summer Olympics took place on 6 and 7 August and was one of six events at the 1936 Olympics.[1] There were 20 competitors from 20 nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist.[2][3] The event was won, in a disputed final, by Toni Merkens of Germany, the nation's first medal in the men's sprint. Arie van Vliet took the silver medal, the fifth consecutive Games that a Dutch cyclist had finished in the top two. Louis Chaillot of France became the first man to win multiple medals in the event, adding a bronze to his 1932 silver; it was the fourth consecutive podium appearance for France.

Men's sprint
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
Stone commemorating Toni Merkens
VenueOlympic Cycling Stadium, Berlin
Dates6–7 August 1936
Competitors20 from 20 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Toni Merkens
 Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Arie van Vliet
 Netherlands
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Louis Chaillot
 France
← 1932
1948 →

When van Vliet began to overtake Merkens in the first race of the final, Merkens swerved to the right and blatantly interfered with Van Vliet. No penalty was called, and a disconcerted van Vliet lost the second race. The Dutch team protested, but instead of being disqualified, Merkens was fined 100 marks instead.[4]

Background

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This was the eighth appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. Two of the semifinalists from 1932 returned: Louis Chaillot of France, who had won the silver medal, and Dunc Gray of Australia, who had not started the bronze medal race but had won the track time trial event. The favorites in 1936, however, were Toni Merkens of Germany and Arie van Vliet of the Netherlands, the winner and runner-up in the 1935 World Championship.[2]

The Republic of China, New Zealand, Norway, and Peru each made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its eighth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format

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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 involved five main rounds and a repechage. In the first round, there were ten heats of two cyclists each. The winner of each heat advanced directly to the second round, while the loser competed in a repechage. The repechage featured four heats, two of three cyclists and two of two cyclists. The last-placed finisher in each repechage was eliminated, while the winner advanced along with the second-place rider in the three-man heats. Round 2 and the quarterfinals were each head-to-head, single-elimination races: eight heats in round 2 and four heats in the quarterfinals. The semifinals were also head-to-head competitions, with the winners advancing to the final and the losers going to a bronze medal match.

The 1932 competition had introduced the best-of-three format for the final (and only the final); the 1936 version expanded that best-of-three format to the bronze medal match as well. The two cyclists in each match competed up to three times, with the first cyclist to win two races being the winner.[2][3]

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 Unknown Unknown* Unknown Unknown
Olympic record   Thomas Johnson (GBR) 11.8 Antwerp, Belgium 9 August 1920

* World records were not tracked by the UCI until 1954.

No new Olympic record was set during the competition.

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Thursday, 6 August 1936 18:00 Round 1
Repechage
Friday, 7 August 1936 18:00 Round 2
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Finals

Results

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Round 1

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The winner in each heat qualified for the second round. The loser was relegated to the repechage for another chance at qualifying.

Round 1 heat 1

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Henri Collard   Belgium 13.2 Q
2 Dunc Gray   Australia R

Round 1 heat 2

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Louis Chaillot   France 12.8 Q
2 Nedyu Rachev   Bulgaria R

Round 1 heat 3

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Ray Hicks   Great Britain 13.6 Q
2 Manuel Riquelme   Chile R

Round 1 heat 4

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Arie van Vliet   Netherlands 12.6 Q
2 Doug Peace   Canada R

Round 1 heat 5

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Benedetto Pola   Italy 14.0 Q
2 Howard Wing   Republic of China R

Round 1 heat 6

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Werner Wägelin   Switzerland 12.4 Q
2 Haakon Sandtorp   Norway R

Round 1 heat 7

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 George Giles   New Zealand 12.6 Q
2 Imre Győrffy   Hungary R

Round 1 heat 8

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Toni Merkens   Germany 12.8 Q
2 Al Sellinger   United States R

Round 1 heat 9

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Franz Dusika   Austria 15.0 Q
2 Ted Clayton   South Africa R

Round 1 heat 10

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Karl Magnussen   Denmark 13.2 Q
2 José Mazzini   Peru R

Repechage

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The last place finisher in each repechage was eliminated. The winner of each heat advanced to the second round, along with the second place finisher in heats where there were three cyclists.

Repechage heat 1

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Dunc Gray   Australia 13.0 Q
2 Ted Clayton   South Africa Q
3 José Mazzini   Peru

Repechage heat 2

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Al Sellinger   United States 13.4 Q
2 Imre Győrffy   Hungary Q
3 Nedyu Rachev   Bulgaria

Repechage heat 3

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Haakon Sandtorp   Norway 13.0 Q
2 Manuel Riquelme   Chile

Repechage heat 4

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Doug Peace   Canada 15.2 Q
2 Howard Wing   Republic of China

Round 2

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The winner of each heat advanced; the loser was eliminated.

Round 2 heat 1

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Karl Magnussen   Denmark 13.4 Q
2 Imre Győrffy   Hungary

Round 2 heat 2

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Toni Merkens   Germany 13.0 Q
2 Haakon Sandtorp   Norway

Round 2 heat 3

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Werner Wägelin   Switzerland 13.4 Q
2 Ted Clayton   South Africa

Round 2 heat 4

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Benedetto Pola   Italy 12.6 Q
2 George Giles   New Zealand

Round 2 heat 5

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Arie van Vliet   Netherlands 12.0 Q
2 Franz Dusika   Austria

Round 2 heat 6

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Dunc Gray   Australia 12.2 Q
2 Ray Hicks   Great Britain

Round 2 heat 7

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Louis Chaillot   France 12.0 Q
2 Doug Peace   Canada

Round 2 heat 8

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Henri Collard   Belgium 13.2 Q
2 Al Sellinger   United States

Quarterfinals

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The winners qualified for the semifinals; the losers were eliminated.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Louis Chaillot   France 12.6 Q
2 Karl Magnussen   Denmark

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Arie van Vliet   Netherlands 13.0 Q
2 Dunc Gray   Australia

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Benedetto Pola   Italy 12.6 Q
2 Werner Wägelin   Switzerland

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Toni Merkens   Germany 13.0 Q
2 Henri Collard   Belgium

Semifinals

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The semifinal winners advanced to the gold medal final, while the losers competed in the bronze medal final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Toni Merkens   Germany 12.4 Q
2 Benedetto Pola   Italy B

Semifinal 2

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1 Arie van Vliet   Netherlands 12.0 Q
2 Louis Chaillot   France B

Finals

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Both the gold and bronze medal finals were conducted as best-of-three competitions. In each case, the same cyclist won both of the first two races, making a third race unnecessary. Merkens was fined for "deviating from the racing lane" in the first race of the final, though was allowed to finish the competition.[5]

Bronze medal match

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Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
  Louis Chaillot   France 12.2 12.0
4 Benedetto Pola   Italy

Final

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Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
  Toni Merkens   Germany 11.8 11.8
  Arie van Vliet   Netherlands

References

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  1. ^ "Cycling at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's Sprint". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "Sprint, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b Official Report, vol. 2, p. 926.
  4. ^ Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 200. ISBN 0140066322.
  5. ^ Official Report, p. 927
  • 1936 Official Report.