Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's keirin explained

Event:	Women's Keirin
Games:	2020 Summer
Venues:	Izu Velodrome
Dates:	4–5 August 2021
Competitors:	29
Nations:	18
Gold:	Shanne Braspennincx
Goldnoc:	NED
Silver:	Ellesse Andrews
Silvernoc:	NZL
Bronze:	Lauriane Genest
Bronzenoc:	CAN
Prev:	2016
Next:	2024

The women's Keirin event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 4 and 5 August 2021 at the Izu Velodrome.^[1] 29 cyclists from 18 nations competed.^[2]

Background

This will be the 3rd appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics since its introduction in 2012.

The reigning Olympic champion is Elis Ligtlee of the Netherlands. The reigning (2020) World Champion is Emma Hinze of Germany.

Russia, Germany, China, Great Britain, Australia, and the Netherlands are traditionally strong track cycling nations.^[3]

Qualification

See main article: Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification.

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 2 qualified cyclists in the women's Keirin. Quota places are allocated to the NOC, which selects the cyclists. Qualification is entirely through the 2018–20 UCI nation rankings. The eight nations that qualify for the team sprint event may enter two cyclists each in the Keirin (as well as the individual sprint). The nations that qualify a cyclist through the individual sprint rankings may also enter that cyclist in the Keirin. Finally, seven places are allocated through the Keirin rankings.^[2] Because qualification was complete by the end of the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships on 1 March 2020 (the last event that contributed to the 2018–20 rankings), qualification was unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Competition format

Keirin races involve up to seven cyclists each, though the 2020 format has no races with more than six.

The cyclists follow a pace motorcycle for three laps (750 m) before the motorcycle pulls away and the cyclists race for another three laps.

These distances are changed from the 2016 Games, shortening the paced section from 5½ laps and lengthening the unpaced sprint from 2½ laps. The motorcycle starts at 30 km/h and increases speed to 50 km/h before it pulls away.

The tournament consists of four main rounds, up from three in 2016, and a repechage:^{[4] [5]}

• First round: Four heats of six cyclists and one of five, with the top two in each heat (10 total) advancing to the second round; all others (19 cyclists) go to the repechage.
• Repechage: Three heats of five cyclists and one of four, with the top two in each heat (8 total) rejoining the first-round winners in the second round; the remaining 11 cyclists are eliminated.
• Second round: Three heats of six cyclists each. The top four cyclists in each heat (12 total) advance to the semifinals; the remaining six cyclists are eliminated.
• Semifinals: Two heats of six cyclists each; the top three in each semifinal (six total) advance to Final A and medal contention; the bottom three cyclists from each semifinal go to Final B.
• Finals: Two finals. Final A consists of the top six cyclists, awarding medals and 4th through 6th place. Final B ranks the next six cyclists from 7th to 12th place.

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)^[6]

Date	Time	Round
4 August 2021	16:10 17:11	First round Repechages
5 August 2021	16:06 16:57 17:37	Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals

Results

First round

Heat 1

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap^[7]	Notes
1
2			+0.174
3			+0.371
4			+0.445
5

Heat 2

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap	Notes
1
2			+0.102
3			+0.188
4			+0.309
5			+0.425
6			+1.364

Heat 3

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap	Notes
1
2			+0.100
3			+0.119
4			+0.206
5			+0.310
6			+0.554

Heat 4

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap	Notes
1
2			+0.070
3			+0.105
4			+0.182
5			+0.400
6			+1.093

Heat 5

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap	Notes
1
2			+0.075
3			+0.159
4			+0.365
5			+0.440
6			+1.126

Repechages

Heat 1

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap^[8]	Notes
1
2			+0.074
3			+0.133
4			+1.005
5			+1.241

Heat 2

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap	Notes
1
2			+0.146
3			+0.554
4			+0.601
5			+0.620

Heat 3

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap	Notes
1
2			+0.137
3			+0.143
4			+0.243
5			+0.351

Heat 4

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap	Notes
1
2			+0.005
3			+0.119
4			+0.603

Quarterfinals

Heat 1

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap^[9]	Notes
1
2			+0.029
3			+0.086
4			+0.490
5			+41.527
6

Heat 2

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap	Notes
1
2			+0.052
3			+0.084
4			+0.094
5			+0.312
6			+0.313

Heat 3

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap	Notes
1
2			+0.136
3			+0.152
4			+0.354
5			+0.434
6			+0.447

Semifinals

Heat 1

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap^[10]	Notes
1
2			+0.017
3			+0.071
4			+0.097
5			+0.153
6			+0.322

Heat 2

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap	Notes
1
2			+0.277
3			+0.315
4			+0.320
5			+0.400
6			+0.814

Finals

Final B

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap	Notes
7
8			+0.043
9			+0.097
10			+0.163
11			+0.617
12			+0.729

Final A

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Gap^[11]	Notes
			+0.061
			+0.148
4			+0.396
5			+0.566
6			+0.580

See also

• Keirin
• Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics
• Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's keirin
• Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's BMX racing

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cycling Track Competition Schedule . Tokyo 2020 . 18 November 2020 . 9 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210709041230/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/schedule/cycling-track-schedule . dead .
2. Web site: Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Road Cycling . . . 14 February 2015.
3. Web site: Olympic Track Cycling at Tokyo 2020: Top Five Things to Know . 28 June 2021.
4. Web site: UCI CYCLING REGULATIONS PART 3 TRACK RACES . 2020-12-06 . 2020-11-18 . UCI.
5. News: Cycling 101: Competition format . NBC . Liam Nee . 26 March 2021 . 28 June 2021.
6. Web site: Cycling Track – Competition Schedule. olympics.com. TOCOG. 12 July 2021. 1 August 2021. 6 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210806093431/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/CTR/OG2020-_CTR_C73H_CTRWMADISON-----------FNL-000100--.pdf. dead.
7. Web site: Cycling Track – Women's Keirin – First Round Results. olympics.com. TOCOG. 4 August 2021. 4 August 2021. 4 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210804074858/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/CTR/OG2020-_CTR_C73G_CTRWKEIRIN------------RND1--------.pdf. dead.
8. Web site: Cycling Track – Women's Keirin – Repechages Results. olympics.com. TOCOG. 4 August 2021. 4 August 2021. 26 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210826104022/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/CTR/OG2020-_CTR_C73G_CTRWKEIRIN------------REP---------.pdf. dead.
9. Web site: Cycling Track – Women's Keirin – Quarterfinals Results. olympics.com. TOCOG. 5 August 2021. 5 August 2021. 26 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210826181446/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/CTR/OG2020-_CTR_C73G_CTRWKEIRIN------------QFNL--------.pdf. dead.
10. Web site: Cycling Track – Women's Keirin – Semifinals Results. olympics.com. TOCOG. 4 August 2021. 4 August 2021. 26 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210826155714/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/CTR/OG2020-_CTR_C73G_CTRWKEIRIN------------SFNL--------.pdf. dead.
11. Web site: Cycling Track – Women's Keirin – Final Classification. TOCOG. 5 August 2021. 5 August 2021. 5 August 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210805095431/https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/olympic-games/resOG2020-/pdf/OG2020-/CTR/OG2020-_CTR_C74G_CTRWKEIRIN------------------------.pdf. dead.