Cycling at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's track time trial

The men's track time trial at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada, was held on July 20, 1976.[1] There were 30 participants from 30 nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist. One additional cyclist, Elmabruk Kehel from Libya, was entered but did not start because of the last-minute boycott from the African countries. The event was won by Klaus-Jürgen Grünke of East Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's track time trial. Michel Vaarten of Belgium took silver. Niels Fredborg became the only man to win three medals in the event, adding a bronze to his 1968 silver and 1972 gold.

Men's track time trial
at the Games of the XXI Olympiad
Klaus-Jürgen Grünke
VenueMontreal, Canada
Date20 July 1976
Competitors31 from 31 nations
Winning time1:05.927
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Klaus-Jürgen Grünke  East Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Michel Vaarten  Belgium
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Niels Fredborg  Denmark
← 1972
1980 →

Background edit

This was the 12th 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. The returning cyclists from 1972 were gold medalist (and 1968 silver medalist) Niels Fredborg of Denmark, fifth-place finisher (and 1968 bronze medalist) Janusz Kierzkowski of Poland, sixth-place finisher Dimo Angelov Tonchev of Bulgaria, eighth-place finisher Eduard Rapp of the Soviet Union, fifteenth-place finisher Jocelyn Lovell of Canada, eighteenth-place finisher Harald Bundli of Norway, and non-finisher Hector Edwards of Barbados. Fredborg, Rapp (1974 world champion), and Klaus-Jürgen Grünke (1975 world champion) were favored.[2]

Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Hong Kong, and Yugoslavia each made their debut in the men's track time trial. France and Great Britain each made their 12th appearance, having competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format edit

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.[2][3]

Records edit

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

World record   Pierre Trentin (FRA) 1:03.91 Mexico City, Mexico 17 October 1968
Olympic record   Pierre Trentin (FRA) 1:03.91 Mexico City, Mexico 17 October 1968

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule edit

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 20 July 1976 15:00 Final

Results edit

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Speed
(km/h)
  Klaus-Jürgen Grünke   East Germany 1:05.927 54.606
  Michel Vaarten   Belgium 1:07.516 53.321
  Niels Fredborg   Denmark 1:07.617 53.241
4 Janusz Kierzkowski   Poland 1:07.660 53.207
5 Eric Vermeulen   France 1:07.846 53.061
6 Hans Michalsky   West Germany 1:07.878 53.036
7 Harald Bundli   Norway 1:08.093 52.869
8 Walter Bäni   Switzerland 1:08.112 52.854
9 Miroslav Vymazal   Czechoslovakia 1:08.173 52.807
10 Massimo Marino   Italy 1:08.488 52.564
11 David Weller   Jamaica 1:08.534 52.529
12 Stephen Goodall   Australia 1:08.610 52.470
13 Jocelyn Lovell   Canada 1:08.852 52.286
14 Dimo Angelov Tonchev   Bulgaria 1:08.950 52.212
15 Robert Vehe   United States 1:09.057 52.131
16 Richard Tormen   Chile 1:09.468 51.822
17 Yoshikazu Cho   Japan 1:09.664 51.677
18 Hector Edwards   Barbados 1:10.084 51.367
19 Paul Medhurst   Great Britain 1:10.167 51.306
20 Anthony Sellier   Trinidad and Tobago 1:11.103 50.631
21 Mikhail Kountras   Greece 1:11.435 50.395
22 Miguel Margalef   Uruguay 1:11.905 50.066
23 Erol Küçükbakırcı   Turkey 1:12.697 49.521
24 Vlado Fumić   Yugoslavia 1:13.037 49.290
25 Masoud Mobaraki   Iran 1:14.169 48.538
26 Marco Soria   Bolivia 1:14.480 48.335
27 Taworn Tarwan   Thailand 1:15.136 47.913
28 Chan Fai Lui   Hong Kong 1:16.957 46.779
Donald Christian   Antigua and Barbuda DNF
Eduard Rapp   Soviet Union DSQ
Elmabruk Kehel Libya DNS

References edit

  1. ^ "Cycling at the 1976 Montréal Summer Games: Men's 1000m time trial". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  2. ^ a b "1,000 metres Time Trial, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 191.

External links edit