Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint


The men's 1000 metre sprint was one of seven track cycling events on the Cycling at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Its distance was the second shortest of the individual event distances. Each nation could enter up to 12 cyclists.

Competition format

The 1000 metre sprint race consisted of approximately 1 laps of the 660 yard track. The time limit for the race was 1 minute and 45 seconds. The competition was conducted in three rounds. The first round featured 16 heats, with up to 4 cyclists each. The winning cyclist in each heat advanced to the semifinals, provided that the time limit was not exceeded. The semifinal round comprised 4 semifinals, each with 4 cyclists except that 2 were reduced to 3 cyclists because two of the heats had resulted in no winner under the time limit. Again, the winning cyclist in each semifinal advanced to the final.

Results

First round

Heat 1

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Victor Johnson1:33.8
2Gerard Bosch van DrakensteinUnknown
3Guglielmo MalatestaUnknown

Heat 2

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Floris Venter1:33.2
2André PoulainUnknown
3Thomas MatthewsUnknown

Heat 3

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Maurice Schilles1:38.4
2Andrew HanssonUnknown

Heat 4

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Daniel Flynn1:30.2
2Pierre SeginaudUnknown
3Paul SchulzeUnknown
4Frederick McCarthyUnknown

Heat 5

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Ernest Payne1:32.0
2Dorus NijlandUnknown

Heat 6

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
—W. F. MageeTime limit exceeded
—Hermann MartensTime limit exceeded
—Johannes van SpengenTime limit exceeded

Heat 7

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Karl Neumer1:33.2
2Richard VillepontouxUnknown
3William BaileyUnknown

Heat 8

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1George Cameron1:29.4
2Philipus FrylinkUnknown
3Herbert CrowtherUnknown
4G. DreyfusUnknown

Heat 9

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Émile Demangel1:35.2
2William MortonUnknown

Heat 10

Auffray was the only starter in the heat.
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1André Auffray1:23.6

Heat 11

Morisetti was the only starter in the heat.
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Guglielmo Morisetti1:21.4

Heat 12

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Benjamin Jones1:35.0
2Émile MarechalUnknown
3Bruno GötzeUnknown

Heat 13

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Pierre Texier1:31.0
2George SummersUnknown
3Louis WeintzUnknown

Heat 14

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1J. L. Lavery1:41.0
2Antonie GerritsUnknown

Heat 15

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Clarence Kingsbury1:27.4
2Gaston DelaplaneUnknown

Heat 16

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
—Georges PerrinTime limit exceeded
—Frank ShoreTime limit exceeded

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Victor Johnson1:27.4
2Karl NeumerUnknown
3Floris VenterUnknown
4Pierre TexierUnknown

Semifinal 2

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Maurice Schilles1:38.8
2-4George CameronUnknown
2-4Daniel FlynnUnknown
2-4Ernest PayneUnknown

Semifinal 3

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Benjamin Jones1:40.8
2Émile DemangelUnknown
3J. L. LaveryUnknown

Semifinal 4

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Clarence Kingsbury1:35.6
2Guglielmo MorisettiUnknown
3André AuffrayUnknown

Final

Johnson suffered a punctured wheel shortly after the start, and retired. The other three riders crawled around the track, jockeying for position. When the final sprint occurred on the last lap, Kingsbury also punctured a tyre when entering the main straight. Jones and Schilles raced to the finish line, with Schilles winning by a couple of inches. However the race took longer than the 1 minute 45 second time limit, and was declared void. Much to the surprise of spectators and the competitors, the National Cyclists Union refused to allow the race to be rerun. According to the Official Report, "the Frenchman apparently won by inches, but the Judge did not officially place the riders."
RankCyclistNationTime
–Victor Johnson
–Benjamin Jones
–Clarence Kingsbury
–Maurice Schilles