Cycling at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's track time trial

The men's track time trial in Cycling at the 1996 Summer Olympics was a time trial race in which each of the twenty cyclists attempted to set the fastest time for four laps (1 kilometre) of the track. The race was held on Wednesday, July 24, 1996 at the Stone Mountain Velodrome.[1] There were 20 competitors from 20 nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist.[2] The event was won by Florian Rousseau of France, the nation's first victory in the men's track trial since 1968 and fourth overall (most of any nation, leading multiple others by two). Erin Hartwell of the United States took silver, becoming the fourth man to win multiple medals in the event. Japan won its first track time trial medal with Takanobu Jumonji's bronze.

Men's track time trial
at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Florian Rousseau (2012)
VenueStone Mountain Park Velodrome
Date24 July
Competitors20 from 20 nations
Winning time1:02.712 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Florian Rousseau
 France
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Erin Hartwell
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Takanobu Jumonji
 Japan
← 1992
2000 →

Background

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This was the 17th 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 1992 were silver medalist Shane Kelly of Australia, bronze medalist Erin Hartwell of the United States, eighth-place finisher Gene Samuel of Trinidad and Tobago, ninth-place finisher Dirk Jan van Hameren of the Netherlands, twelfth-place finisher Aleksandr Kirichenko of the Unified Team (also the 1988 gold medalist for the Soviet Union, and now competing for Russia), thirteenth-place finisher Christian Meidlinger of Austria, and twentieth-place finisher Grzegorz Krejner of Poland. Kelly was the reigning world champion and world record holder, as well. Kelly and two-time (1993 and 1994) world champion Florian Rousseau of France were the favorites.[2]

Russia and Ukraine each made their debut in the men's track time trial. France made its 17th appearance, the only nation to have 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.[2][3]

Records

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

World record   Shane Kelly (AUS) 1:00.613 Bogota, Colombia 26 September 1995
Olympic record   Lothar Thoms (GDR) 1:02.955 Moscow, Soviet Union 22 July 1980

Erin Hartwell broke the Olympic record with a time of 1:02.940. Florian Rousseau later bettered that, finishing in 1:02.712.

Schedule

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All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)

Date Time Round
Wednesday, 24 July 1996 11:20 Final

Results

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Hartwell's Olympic-record race gave him the lead until the last two riders, favorites Rousseau and Kelly (guaranteeing Hartwell a rare second medal to add to his 1992 bronze). Rousseau outdid Hartwell's time, dropping the Olympic record further. Kelly, however, had his foot slip from his toe clip shortly after starting and did not finish.[2]

Rank Cyclist Nation 250 m 500 m 750 m Time Notes
  Florian Rousseau   France 18.709 32.549 47.014 1:02.712 OR
  Erin Hartwell   United States 18.892 33.059 47.616 1:02.940
  Takanobu Jumonji   Japan 18.725 32.632 47.315 1:03.261
4 Soeren Lausberg   Germany 19.403 33.208 47.743 1:03.514
5 Jean-Pierre van Zyl   South Africa 18.975 33.049 47.959 1:04.214
6 Grzegorz Krejner   Poland 19.472 33.482 48.481 1:04.697
7 Dimitrios Georgalis   Greece 19.654 33.877 48.876 1:04.995
8 Ainārs Ķiksis   Latvia 19.341 33.510 48.902 1:05.457
9 Christian Meidlinger   Austria 19.453 34.256 49.424 1:05.530
10 Gene Samuel   Trinidad and Tobago 19.277 33.644 49.082 1:05.553
11 Bogdan Bondariew   Ukraine 20.771 35.230 50.002 1:05.658
12 Dirk Jan van Hameren   Netherlands 19.401 33.709 49.061 1:05.886
13 José Antonio Escuredo   Spain 19.828 34.078 49.339 1:05.994
14 Darren McKenzie Potter   New Zealand 19.568 34.311 49.870 1:06.311
15 Gianluca Capitano   Italy 19.878 34.179 49.538 1:06.408
16 Shaun Wallace   Great Britain 19.767 34.590 50.068 1:06.456
17 Ángel Colla   Argentina 19.774 34.417 49.897 1:06.619
18 Aleksandr Kirichenko   Russia 19.446 34.218 49.987 1:07.013
19 Hong Seok-han   South Korea 19.591 34.367 50.118 1:07.099
Shane Kelly   Australia DNF

References

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  1. ^ "Cycling at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games: Men's 1,000 metres Time Trial". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d "1,000 metres Time Trial, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 November 2020.
  3. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 180.
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