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.[1]

Men's sprint
at the Games of the IV Olympiad
VenueWhite City Stadium
DateJuly 16
Competitors42 from 10 nations
Cycling at the
1908 Summer Olympics
Track cycling
660 yardsmen
5000 metresmen
20 kilometresmen
100 kilometresmen
Sprintmen
Tandemmen
Team pursuitmen

Competition format

The 1000 metre sprint race consisted of approximately 1 ​2⁄3 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 (heats, semifinals, and a final). 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 Johnson Great Britain1:33.8Q
2Gerard Bosch van Drakenstein NetherlandsUnknown
3Guglielmo Malatesta ItalyUnknown

Heat 2
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Floris Venter South Africa1:33.2Q
2André Poulain FranceUnknown
3Thomas Matthews Great BritainUnknown

Heat 3
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Maurice Schilles France1:38.4Q
2Andrew Hansson SwedenUnknown

Heat 4
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Daniel Flynn Great Britain1:30.2Q
2Pierre Seginaud FranceUnknown
3Paul Schulze GermanyUnknown
4Frederick McCarthy CanadaUnknown

Heat 5
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Ernest Payne Great Britain1:32.0Q
2Dorus Nijland NetherlandsUnknown

Heat 6
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
—W. F. Magee Great BritainTime limit exceeded
Hermann Martens Germany
Johannes van Spengen Netherlands

Heat 7
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Karl Neumer Germany1:33.2Q
2Richard Villepontoux FranceUnknown
3William Bailey Great BritainUnknown

Heat 8
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1George Cameron United States1:29.4Q
2Philipus Frylink South AfricaUnknown
3Herbert Crowther Great BritainUnknown
4G. Dreyfus FranceUnknown

Heat 9
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Émile Demangel France1:35.2Q
2William Morton CanadaUnknown

Heat 10

Auffray was the only starter in the heat.

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1André Auffray France1:23.6Q

Heat 11

Morisetti was the only starter in the heat.

PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Guglielmo Morisetti Italy1:21.4Q

Heat 12
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Benjamin Jones Great Britain1:35.0Q
2Émile Marechal FranceUnknown
3Bruno Götze GermanyUnknown

Heat 13
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Pierre Texier France1:31.0Q
2George Summers Great BritainUnknown
3Louis Weintz United StatesUnknown

Heat 14
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1J. L. Lavery Great Britain1:41.0Q
2Antonie Gerrits NetherlandsUnknown

Heat 15
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Clarence Kingsbury Great Britain1:27.4Q
2Gaston Delaplane FranceUnknown

Heat 16
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
—Georges Perrin FranceTime limit exceeded
Frank Shore South Africa

Semifinals

Semifinal 1
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Victor Johnson Great Britain1:27.4Q
2Karl Neumer GermanyUnknown
3Floris Venter South AfricaUnknown
4Pierre Texier FranceUnknown

Semifinal 2
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Maurice Schilles France1:38.8Q
2-4George Cameron United StatesUnknown
Daniel Flynn Great BritainUnknown
Ernest Payne Great BritainUnknown

Semifinal 3
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Benjamin Jones Great Britain1:40.8Q
2Émile Demangel FranceUnknown
3J. L. Lavery Great BritainUnknown

Semifinal 4
PlaceCyclistNationTimeNotes
1Clarence Kingsbury Great Britain1:35.6Q
2Guglielmo Morisetti ItalyUnknown
3André Auffray FranceUnknown

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.[2] According to the Official Report, "the Frenchman apparently won by inches, but the Judge did not officially place the riders.[3]"

RankCyclistNationTime
–Victor Johnson Great BritainNMR
Benjamin Jones Great Britain
Clarence Kingsbury Great Britain
Maurice Schilles France

Notes
  1. Official Report, p. 33.
  2. Wallechinsky, David (1984). The Complete Book of the Olympics. England: Penguin Books. p. 199. ISBN 978-0140066326.
  3. Cook, p. 116

Sources
  • Cook, Theodore Andrea (1908). The Fourth Olympiad, Being the Official Report. London: British Olympic Association.
  • De Wael, Herman. Herman's Full Olympians: "Cycling 1908". Accessed 7 April 2006. Available electronically at .
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