Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's sprint

Infobox Olympic event
event = Men's Sprint
games = 2008 Summer


caption =
venue = Laoshan Velodrome
dates = August 17 (preliminaries—2nd round) August 18 (quarterfinals—final)
competitors = 21
nations = 15
win_value = 10.228/10.216
gold = Chris Hoy
goldNOC = GBR
silver = Jason Kenny
silverNOC = GBR
bronze = Mickaël Bourgain
bronzeNOC = FRA
prev = 2004
next =

The men's sprint at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 19 at the Laoshan Velodrome.

This track cycling event consisted of numerous rounds. The competition began with a time trial over 200 metres. The top 18 cyclists in that qualifying round were seeded into the 1/16 finals. There, they raced one-on-one. The nine winners advanced to the 1/8 finals, while the nine losers were sent to the first repechage. In the repechage, the cyclists were placed in heats of three cyclists apiece; winners moved back into the main competition by advancing into the 1/8 finals.

The twelve cyclists in the 1/8 finals again competed one-on-one. The six winners advanced to the quarterfinals, with the six losers getting another chance at the second repechage. This repechage also consisted of three-cyclist heats, with the two winners moving on to the quarterfinals.

Beginning with the quarterfinals, the head-to-head competitions switched to a best-of-three format. That format was also used for the semifinals and final. In addition, the bronze medal competition was a best-of-three match between the semifinal losers. The classification race for 5th to 8th places was a single race with all four cyclists competing. [http://en.beijing2008.cn/sports/cyclingtrack/n214431064.shtml]

Preliminaries

[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/CT/C73E1/CTM001900.shtml#CTM001900] 200 metre time trial, with the top 18 riders advancing.

;Match 3;Match 6;Match 9;Match 3;Match 3;Match 6

Quarterfinals

[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/CT/C73E4/CTM001300.shtml#CTM001300] The eight cyclists qualified this far were paired for a best two-out-of-three series of 200 metre races. None of the pairings required a third race.

;Match 1;Match 4

9th—12th place classification race

[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/CT/C73E5/CTM001104.shtml#CTM001104] During the same session as the semifinals, the four cyclists who were eliminated in the second round repechage were put into a single four-man 200 metre race to determine exact placings from ninth to twelfth.

;Classification race

5th—8th place classification race

[http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/CT/C73E5/CTM001103.shtml#CTM001103] In the same session as the finals, the four cyclists who lost in the quarterfinals were put into one four-man 200 metre race to determine exact placings from fifth to eighth.

;Classification race

References