The men's sprint cycling event at the 1932 Summer Olympics took place on August 1 and 3. The format was a sprint of 1000 metres.[1] There were nine competitors from nine nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist.[2][3] The event was won by Jacobus van Egmond of the Netherlands, the nation's second victory in the men's sprint. It was the fourth consecutive Games that the Netherlands reached the podium in the event. France made the podium for the third consecutive Games, with Louis Chaillot taking silver. Bruno Pellizzari gave Italy its first men's sprint medal with his bronze.
Background
This was the seventh appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. None of the semifinalists from 1928 returned. The small field included only one rider who had medaled at a World Championship: Bruno Pellizzari of Italy, who finished third in 1930.[2]
Mexico made its debut in the men's sprint. France made its seventh appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.
Competition format
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 four main rounds and a repechage. In the first round, there were three heats of three cyclists each. The top two in each heat advanced directly to the quarterfinals. The third-placed rider in each heat went to a repechage. The repechage was a single heat of three cyclists; the top two advanced to the quarterfinals while the third-place rider was eliminated. Starting in the quarterfinals, each race was one-on-one: the eight quarterfinalists competed in four quarterfinals, with the winner advancing to the semifinals and the loser eliminated. Similarly, the four semifinalists competed in two semifinals. The winners advanced to the final while the losers competed against each other in a bronze medal match.
The 1932 competition introduced the best-of-three format for the final (and only the final). The two finalists competed up to three times, with the first cyclist to win two races being the winner.[2][4]
Records
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.
Pellizzari pushed Chambers out to the edge of the track, resulting in a protest by the British side. The protest was denied and Pellizzari advanced.[2]
Chaillot won the first race in a very close finish, with some observers believing van Egmond had won. However, the Dutch team did not protest. Van Egmond won by a bike length in the second race to set up a decisive third race. Van Egmond led the entire third race and was able to hold off Chaillot's attack to win by a wheel.[2]
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