Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint explained

Event:	Men's sprint
Games:	2016 Summer
Venue:	Rio Olympic Velodrome
Dates:	12–14 August 2016
Competitors:	27
Nations:	16
Gold:	Jason Kenny
Goldnoc:	GBR
Silver:	Callum Skinner
Silvernoc:	GBR
Bronze:	Denis Dmitriev
Bronzenoc:	RUS
Prev:	2012
Next:	2020

The men's sprint at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro took place on 12–14 August 2016.^[1] There were 27 competitors from 16 nations, as once again nations were allowed to enter up to two cyclists (the limit had fluctuated between one and two since 1928). The event was won by Jason Kenny of Great Britain, successfully defending his gold from 2012 and making it the third straight Games that Great Britain was atop the podium for the sprint. Kenny was the third man to win two consecutive gold medals in the sprint, fourth man to win two golds at any point, and third man to win three medals of any color. He beat his teammate Callum Skinner in the final; it was the second time in three Games that Great Britain had both the top spots—and potentially could have been the third if nations had not been limited to a single cyclist in 2012. Denis Dmitriev earned Russia's first men's sprint medal with his bronze.

The medals were presented by Barry Maister, IOC member, New Zealand and David Lappartient, Vice President of the UCI.

Background

This was the 26th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. Four of the quarterfinalists from 2012 returned: gold medalist (and 2008 silver medalist) Jason Kenny of Great Britain, silver medalist Grégory Baugé of France, fourth-place finisher Njisane Phillip of Trinidad and Tobago, and fifth-place finisher Denis Dmitriev of Russia. Baugé had won the 2015 world championship (adding to his 2009–12 run, though the 2011 title had been stripped from him) and Dmitriev had been a fixture on the world championships podium throughout the four years since the last Games. Kenny had struggled for much of that period, but had a strong 2016 including a victory over Matthew Glaetzer of Australia in the 2016 worlds final.^[2]

No nations made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its 26th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.

Qualification

See main article: Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification.

There were 27 quota places available for the sprint. The nine nations qualified for the team sprint event could enter two members of the team in the individual sprint. The other nine places were assigned to nations based on the 2014–16 UCI track rankings, with one place for each of the top nine nations not qualified through team sprint.

Competition format

The event was a single-elimination tournament, with repechages after the first two rounds, after seeding via time trial. The time trial involved an 875-metre distance, but with only the last 200 metres timed. All other races were 750 metres (three laps of the track) with side-by-side starts, with time kept for the last 200 metres. The first two main rounds featured single head-to-head races, with winners advancing and losers competing in repechages. Repechage races were contested by up to 3 cyclists. Beginning with the quarterfinals, each match pitted two cyclists against each other in best-of-three races.^[3] ^[2]

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.

Callum Skinner set a new Olympic record of 9.703 seconds in the qualifying round, but Jason Kenny regained the record with his time of 9.551. Matthew Glaetzer also finished under the old record time.

Schedule

All times are Brasília Time

Date	Time	Round
Friday, 12 August 2016	16:14 17:30 18:08	Qualifying round Round 1 First repechage
Saturday, 13 August 2016	10:23 11:07 16:00 16:18 17:41 18:17	1/8 finals Second repechage Quarterfinals Classification 9–12 Semifinals Classification 5–8
Sunday, 14 August 2016	17:04	Bronze medal match Final

Results

Qualifying round

^[4]

Rank	Cyclist	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1		9.551	75.384	, OR
2		9.703	74.203	,
3		9.704	74.196
4		9.774	73.664
5		9.807	73.416
6		9.813	73.372
7		9.823	73.297
8		9.837	73.193
9		9.880	72.874
10		9.895	72.764
11		9.898	72.741
12		9.908	72.668
13		9.939	72.441
14		9.969	72.223
15		9.980	72.144
16		9.981	72.137
17	Patrick Constable	10.010	71.928
18		10.035	71.748
19		10.055	71.606
20		10.092	71.343
21		10.140	71.005
22		10.147	70.956
23		10.199	70.595
24		10.239	70.319
25		10.241	70.305
26		10.418	69.111
27		10.649	67.611

Was also an Olympic record until superseded by Jason Kenny

Round 1

^[5]

Heat 1

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.245	70.278
2			data-sort-value=10.311	+0.066

Heat 2

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.254	70.216
2	Patrick Constable		data-sort-value=10.325	+0.071

Heat 3

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.299	69.909
2			data-sort-value=10.357	+0.058

Heat 4

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.141	70.998
2			data-sort-value=10.177	+0.036

Heat 5

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.214	70.491
2			data-sort-value=10.264	+0.050

Heat 6

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.373	69.410
2			data-sort-value=10.518	+0.145

Heat 7

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.428	69.044
2			data-sort-value=10.469	+0.041

Heat 8

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.181	70.719
2			data-sort-value=10.233	+0.052

Heat 9

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.159	70.873
2			data-sort-value=10.309	+0.150

First repechage

^[6]

First repechage heat 1

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.356	69.524
2			data-sort-value=10.380	+0.024
3			data-sort-value=11.785	+1.429

First repechage heat 2

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1	Patrick Constable		10.363	69.477
2			data-sort-value=10.391	+0.028
3			data-sort-value=10.741	+0.378

First repechage heat 3

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.272	70.093
2			data-sort-value=10.358	+0.086
3			data-sort-value=10.879	+0.607

1/8 finals

^[7]

1/8 final 1

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.369	69.437
2			data-sort-value=10.478	+0.109

1/8 final 2

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.359	69.504
2	Patrick Constable		data-sort-value=10.380	+0.021

1/8 final 3

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.166	70.824
2			data-sort-value=10.225	+0.059

1/8 final 4

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.102	71.273
2			data-sort-value=10.244	+0.142

1/8 final 5

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.103	71.265
2			data-sort-value=10.224	+0.121

1/8 final 6

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.449	68.906
2			data-sort-value=10.507	+0.058

Second repechage

^[8]

Second repechage heat 1

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1			10.753	66.958
2			data-sort-value=10.801	+0.048
3			data-sort-value=10.934	+0.181

Second repechage heat 2

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h	Notes
1	Patrick Constable		10.456	68.859
2			data-sort-value=10.556	+0.100
3			data-sort-value=10.574	+0.118

Quarterfinals

^[9]

Quarterfinal 1

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Notes
1			10.341	10.219
2	Patrick Constable		data-sort-value=10.535	+0.194	data-sort-value=10.477	+0.258

Quarterfinal 2

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Notes
1			10.299	10.212
2			data-sort-value=10.421	+0.122	data-sort-value=10.412	+0.200

Quarterfinal 3

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Notes
1			10.456	10.401
2			data-sort-value=10.540	+0.084	data-sort-value=10.450	+0.049

Quarterfinal 4

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Notes
1			10.202	10.166
2			data-sort-value=10.265	+0.063	data-sort-value=10.379	+0.213

Semifinals

^[10]

Semifinal 1

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Notes
1			data-sort-value=10.182	+0.043	10.048	10.071
2			10.139	data-sort-value=10.080	+0.032	data-sort-value=10.373	+0.302

Semifinal 2

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Notes
1			10.119	10.244
2			data-sort-value=10.165	+0.046	data-sort-value=10.301	+0.057

Finals

Classification 9—12

^[11]

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h
9			10.275	70.072
10			data-sort-value=10.342	+0.067
11			data-sort-value=10.401	+0.126
12			data-sort-value=10.604	+0.329

Classification 5—8

^[12]

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time 200 m	Speed km/h
5			10.525	68.408
6			data-sort-value=10.561	+0.036
7			data-sort-value=10.678	+0.153
8	Patrick Constable		data-sort-value=10.740	+0.215

Bronze medal match

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3
			10.105	10.190
4			data-sort-value=10.177	+0.072	data-sort-value=10.234	+0.044

Gold medal match

^[13]

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3
			10.164	9.916
			data-sort-value=10.277	+0.113	data-sort-value=10.002	+0.086

Final classification

Rank	Cyclist	Nation



4
5
6
7
8	Patrick Constable
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27

Notes and References

Web site: Cycling at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint . 14 August 2016 . Rio 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160806081759/https://www.rio2016.com/en/cycling-track-standings-ct-mens-sprint . 6 August 2016 .
Web site: Sprint, Men . Olympedia . 18 November 2020.
Web site: Sprint format competition . 2020-11-18 . 2012-09-04 . https://archive.today/20120904071419/www.london2012.com/cycling-track/event/men-sprint/competition-format/index.html . dead .
Web site: Qualifying . 8 October 2016 . Rio 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010155834/https://assetrio2016.azureedge.net/_odf-documents/c/t/CTM001900_Results_2016_08_12_2797f6c2_59ec_47cc_b9ba_934d32474041.pdf . 2016-10-10 . live .
Web site: 1/16 Finals . 8 October 2016 . Rio 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010155129/https://assetrio2016.azureedge.net/_odf-documents/c/t/CTM001800_Results_2016_08_12_0841bc54_6ace_4637_98e3_24dbab8880fa.pdf . 2016-10-10 . live .
Web site: 1/16 Finals Repechages . 8 October 2016 . Rio 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010151606/https://assetrio2016.azureedge.net/_odf-documents/c/t/CTM001850_Results_2016_08_12_1ebdbee4_2d67_4000_a260_3d91e06f6ffd.pdf . 2016-10-10 . live .
Web site: 1/8 Finals . 8 October 2016 . Rio 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010145513/https://assetrio2016.azureedge.net/_odf-documents/c/t/CTM001400_Results_2016_08_13_8bd95503_042c_4da2_96b6_023ce8678364.pdf . 2016-10-10 . live .
Web site: 1/8 Finals Repechages . 8 October 2016 . Rio 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010145806/https://assetrio2016.azureedge.net/_odf-documents/c/t/CTM001450_Results_2016_08_13_17967237_5a23_4e5a_ab52_25fc18b1f9ac.pdf . 2016-10-10 . live .
Web site: Quarterfinals . 8 October 2016 . Rio 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010150216/https://assetrio2016.azureedge.net/_odf-documents/c/t/CTM001300_Results_2016_08_13_c4c76af7_07d4_4984_acb4_04fc24941c38.pdf . 2016-10-10 . live .
Web site: Semifinals . 8 October 2016 . Rio 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010153219/https://assetrio2016.azureedge.net/_odf-documents/c/t/CTM001200_Results_2016_08_13_034cf2f0_ac7b_4c99_ba92_93ebd87e06de.pdf . 2016-10-10 . live .
Web site: Race for 9th-12th Places . 8 October 2016 . Rio 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010155350/https://assetrio2016.azureedge.net/_odf-documents/c/t/CTM001104_Results_2016_08_13_1a21fe40_e566_428e_b098_641b2fa8d96d.pdf . 2016-10-10 . live .
Web site: Race for 5th-8th places . 8 October 2016 . Rio 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010152509/https://assetrio2016.azureedge.net/_odf-documents/c/t/CTM001103_Results_2016_08_13_be259a53_b0c8_49ce_ad2f_53921a61384a.pdf . 2016-10-10 . live .
Web site: Results and Final Classification . 8 October 2016 . Rio 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161010153000/https://assetrio2016.azureedge.net/_odf-documents/c/t/CTM001100_Results_2016_08_14_d45b89d6_8063_461a_84f5_9e225c130ea3.pdf . 2016-10-10 . live .