Cycling at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's track time trial

The men's track time trial at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, was held on 26 August 1960. There were 25 participants from 25 nations, with each nation limited to one competitor.[1] The event was won by Sante Gaiardoni of Italy, the nation's second consecutive victory (tying Australia and France for most all-time) and third consecutive podium appearance in the men's track time trial. Dieter Gieseler won the United Team of Germany's first medal in the event in its first appearance with his silver; it was the first medal for a German athlete since 1936. Rostislav Vargashkin's bronze was the first medal for the Soviet Union in the event.

Men's cycling track time trial
at the Games of the XVII Olympiad
Sante Gaiardoni
VenueOlympic Velodrome, Rome
Date26 August 1960
Competitors25 from 25 nations
Winning time1:07.27 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Sante Gaiardoni
 Italy
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Dieter Gieseler
 United Team of Germany
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Rostislav Vargashkin
 Soviet Union
← 1956
1964 →

Background

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This was the eighth appearance of the event, which had previously been held in 1896 and every Games since 1928. It would be held every Games until being dropped from the programme after 2004. Returning cyclists from 1956 were fifth-place finisher Luis Serra of Uruguay, eighth-place finisher Warwick Dalton of New Zealand, ninth-place finisher Anésio Argenton of Brazil, tenth-place finisher Allen Bell of the United States, twelfth-place finisher Tetsuo Osawa of Japan, and eighteenth-place finisher Paul Nyman of Finland. Sante Gaiardoni was the sprint world champion (having placed second two times in a row before finally winning in 1960) and had set the amateur world record in the time trial a month and a half before the Games.[2]

The British West Indies made its debut in the men's track time trial. East and West Germany competed as the United Team of Germany for the first time. France and Great Britain each made their eighth appearance, having competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format

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The event was a time trial on the track, with each cyclist competing separately to attempt to achieve the fastest time. Each cyclist raced one kilometre from a standing start. This was the first time that results were measured to the hundredth of a second instead of the tenth of a second.[2][3]

Records

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The following were the world and Olympic records prior to the competition.

World record   Sante Gaiardoni (ITA) 1:07.50 Rome, Italy 3 July 1960
Olympic record   Leandro Faggin (ITA) 1:09.8 Melbourne, Australia 6 December 1956

Piet van der Touw was the first to break the Olympic record, recording a time of 1:09.20. Dieter Gieseler bettered that, to 1:08.75. But Sante Gaiardoni, the world record holder, broke his own world record with a time of 1:07.27. Rostislav Vargashkin and Ian Chapman also finished faster than the old Olympic record.

Schedule

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All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Friday, 26 August 1960 "night" Final

Results

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Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
  Sante Gaiardoni   Italy 1:07.27 WR
  Dieter Gieseler   United Team of Germany 1:08.75
  Rostislav Vargashkin   Soviet Union 1:08.86
4 Piet van der Touw   Netherlands 1:09.20
5 Ian Chapman   Australia 1:09.55
6 Anésio Argenton   Brazil 1:09.96
7 Jean Govaerts   Belgium 1:10.23
8 Josef Helbling   Switzerland 1:10.42
9 Les Haupt   South Africa 1:10.61
10 János Söre   Hungary 1:10.63
11 Warwick Dalton   New Zealand 1:10.68
12 Ion Ioniţă   Romania 1:10.91
13 Allen Bell   United States 1:11.33
14 Luis Serra   Uruguay 1:11.42
15 Mauricio Mata   Mexico 1:11.61
16 Michel Scob   France 1:11.65
17 Karl Barton   Great Britain 1:11.72
18 Boncho Novakov   Bulgaria 1:11.73
19 Tetsuo Osawa   Japan 1:11.86
20 Günther Kriz   Austria 1:12.58
21 Paul Nyman   Finland 1:14.11
22 Diego Calero   Colombia 1:14.18
23 Clyde Rimple   British West Indies 1:16.08
24 Michael Horgan   Ireland 1:17.18
25 Muhammad Ashiq   Pakistan 1:20.17

References

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  1. ^ "Cycling at the 1960 Rome Summer Games: Men's 1000m Time Trial". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  2. ^ a b "1,000 metres Time Trial, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 2, p. 337.