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Cycling at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

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Men's sprint
at the Games of the XIV Olympiad
A quarterfinal race, with Reg Harris defeating Mario Masanés
VenueHerne Hill Velodrome, London
Dates7–9 August 1948
Competitors23 from 23 nations
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Mario Ghella
 Italy
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Reg Harris
 Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Axel Schandorff
 Denmark
← 1936
1952 →

The men's sprint cycling event at the 1948 Summer Olympics took place between 7 and 9 August and was one of six events at the 1948 Olympics.[1] There were 23 cyclists from 23 nations, with each nation limited to one competitor.[2] The event was won by Mario Ghella of Italy, the nation's first victory in the men's sprint. Reg Harris of Great Britain, heavily favored coming into the event, finished with silver, the first medal for a British cyclist in the sprint since 1920. Axel Schandorff's bronze was Denmark's first medal in the event since 1928. The podium streaks of the Netherlands (five Games) and France (four Games) both ended, with neither nation's cyclist able to advance to the quarterfinals.

Background

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This was the ninth appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. None of the semifinalists from 1936 returned, but Howard Wing of China competed again after the 12-year break occasioned by World War II. The heavy favorite and host nation hero was 1947 World Champion Reg Harris; his biggest rival, Cor Bijster of the Netherlands, had turned professional and could not compete in the Games.[2]

Cuba, Guyana, India, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela each made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its ninth appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format

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This track cycling event consisted of numerous rounds. Each race involved the riders starting simultaneously and next to each other, from a standing start. Because the early part of races tend to be slow-paced and highly tactical, only the time for the last 200 metres of the race is typically recorded (though the full time for these Games was recorded as well). The distance for the sprint in 1948 was actually 920 metres instead of the standard 1000 metres, to be exactly two laps of the track.

The first two rounds consisted of single races between pairs of cyclists. The berths in the second round were allocated to the winners from each of the races in the first round, and the winners from each race in the repechage round. Starting with the quarterfinals stage, cyclists were paired once again, this time racing against each other two times, with the winner advancing further in the competition. This was the first time that the best-of-three format was used for the quarterfinals and semifinals (having been introduced in 1932 for the final and expanded to the bronze medal match in 1936).[2][3]

Records

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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.

World record Unknown Unknown* Unknown Unknown
Olympic record  Thomas Johnson (GBR) 11.8 Antwerp, Belgium 9 August 1920

* World records were not tracked by the UCI until 1954.

No new Olympic record was set during the competition.

Schedule

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All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Saturday, 7 August 1948 10:30 Round 1
Repechage
Round 2
Quarterfinals 1–3
Monday, 9 August 1948 16:00 Round 2 heat 2 re-run
Quarterfinal 4
Semifinals
Finals

Results

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Round 1

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Round 1 heat 1

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Rocca won by two lengths.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Leonel Rocca  Uruguay 3:10.9 12.6 Q
2 Compton Gonsalves  Trinidad and Tobago R

Round 1 heat 2

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Van De Velde won by a wheel. Wing broke his collar bone after the race.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Emile Van De Velde  Belgium 2:48.2 13.6 Q
2 Howard Wing  Republic of China R

Round 1 heat 3

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Roth won by inches.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Jean Roth  Switzerland 2:31.5 13.0 Q
2 Mario Masanés  Chile R

Round 1 heat 4

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Harris won by a length.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Reg Harris  Great Britain 2:17.0 14.4 Q
2 Rusi Mulla Feroze  India R

Round 1 heat 5

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Hijzelendoorn won by half a length.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Jan Hijzelendoorn  Netherlands 1:42.7 13.3 Q
2 Reinaldo Paseiro  Cuba R

Round 1 heat 6

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Cortoni won by two lengths.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Clodomiro Cortoni  Argentina 1:58.0 12.4 Q
2 Julio César León  Venezuela R

Round 1 heat 7

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Schandorff won by a length.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Axel Schandorff  Denmark 1:49.8 12.5 Q
2 Charlie Bazzano  Australia R

Round 1 heat 8

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Bellenger won by two lengths.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Jacques Bellenger  France 2:09.1 12.5 Q
2 Laddie Lewis  Guyana R

Round 1 heat 9

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Welt won by half a length.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Erich Welt  Austria 3:13.9 17.2 Q
2 Adolfo Romero  Mexico R

Round 1 heat 10

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Heid won by two lengths.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Jack Heid  United States 1:57.4 13.0 Q
2 Muhammad Naqi Mallick  Pakistan R

Round 1 heat 11

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Ghella won easily.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Mario Ghella  Italy 1:54.4 12.9 Q
2 Bob Lacourse  Canada R

Repechage

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Howard Wing from China broke his collar bone after finishing his first round race. Manthos Kaloudis from Greece, who had arrived late and missed the first round, took his place.[3]

Repechage heat 1

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Lacourse won by two lengths.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Bob Lacourse  Canada 1:48.1 13.7 Q
2 Adolfo Romero  Mexico

Repechage heat 2

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Paseiro won by two lengths.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Reinaldo Paseiro  Cuba 3:15.3 14.5 Q
2 Rusi Mulla Feroze  India

Repechage heat 3

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Bazzano won by two lengths.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Charlie Bazzano  Australia 2:31.0 14.1 Q
2 Muhammad Naqi Mallick  Pakistan

Repechage heat 4

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León won by a length.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Julio César León  Venezuela 2:04.7 12.6 Q
2 Compton Gonsalves  Trinidad and Tobago

Repechage heat 5

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Masanés beat replacement rider Kaloudis by two lengths, with Lewis finishing third.[3]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Mario Masanés  Chile 1:55.3 13.3 Q
2 Manthos Kaloudis  Greece
3 Laddie Lewis  Guyana

Round 2

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The race between Jan Hijzelendoorn from the Netherlands and Leonel Rocca from Uruguay was repeated following a protest from Uruguay after the disqualification of Rocca.

Round 2 heat 1

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Ghella won by four lengths.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Mario Ghella  Italy 1:48.1 12.0 Q
2 Julio César León  Venezuela

Round 2 heat 2

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There was a crash at the very end of the race, with Hijzelendoorn unable to finish and Rocca disqualified. The Uruguayan team protested the result, however, and the protest was successful. The heat was ordered to be re-run on the next day of competition (two days later). The delay for the appeal led to 40 minutes of inactivity on the track, which the spectators did not appreciate. The result also delayed the start of the later rounds from Saturday to Monday.[5] In the re-run, Rocca won by two lengths.[4]

Original
Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Jan Hijzelendoorn  Netherlands DNF Re-run
2 Leonel Rocca  Uruguay DSQ 13.2 Re-run
Re-run
Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Leonel Rocca  Uruguay 1:35.9 13.5 Q
2 Jan Hijzelendoorn  Netherlands

Round 2 heat 3

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Masanés won by inches.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Mario Masanés  Chile 3:04.5 12.8 Q
2 Jacques Bellenger  France

Round 2 heat 4

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Schandorff won easily.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Axel Schandorff  Denmark 1:49.6 12.5 Q
2 Erich Welt  Austria

Round 2 heat 5

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Van De Velde won by half a wheel.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Emile Van De Velde  Belgium 3:46.5 13.0 Q
2 Reinaldo Paseiro  Cuba

Round 2 heat 6

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Heid won by an inch.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Jack Heid  United States 2:05.7 12.0 Q
2 Clodomiro Cortoni  Argentina

Round 2 heat 7

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Bazzano won by one and a half lengths.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Charlie Bazzano  Australia 3:51.6 14.3 Q
2 Jean Roth  Switzerland

Round 2 heat 8

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Harris won by a length.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Time
total
Time
200 m
Notes
1 Reg Harris  Great Britain 1:31.7 15.1 Q
2 Bob Lacourse  Canada

Quarterfinals

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Quarterfinal 1

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Ghella won the first race by a length and the second by two lengths.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Mario Ghella  Italy 1:47.7
12.1
2:37.4
12.6
Q
2 Emile Van De Velde  Belgium

Quarterfinal 2

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Schandorff won the first race by a length and the second by two lengths.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Axel Schandorff  Denmark 1:49.0
12.3
2:14.8
12.4
Q
2 Jack Heid  United States

Quarterfinal 3

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Harris won both races by a length.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Reg Harris  Great Britain 2:39.8
12.5
2:13.0
12.8
Q
2 Mario Masanés  Chile

Quarterfinal 4

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Bazzano won the first race by a wheel and the second by a length and a half.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Charlie Bazzano  Australia 3:09.4
12.8
2:26.6
13.2
Q
2 Leonel Rocca  Uruguay

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Ghella won the first race by three-quarters of a length and the second by three lengths.

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Mario Ghella  Italy 3:53.0
12.1
1:55.7
11.9
Q
2 Axel Schandorff  Denmark B

Semifinal 2

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Harris won the first race by a length and the second by three-quarters of a length.[4]

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Notes
1 Reg Harris  Great Britain 4:43.8
13.7
2:24.4
12.7
Q
2 Charlie Bazzano  Australia B

Finals

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Bronze medal match

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Schandorff won the first race by three-quarters of a length and the second by two lengths.[6]

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Axel Schandorff  Denmark 2:10.4
12.9
2:26.0
12.0
4 Charlie Bazzano  Australia

Final

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Ghella won the first race by three lengths and the second by one and a half lengths.[6] In the first, Ghella made his attack at the 300-yard mark, passing Harris on the inside (accorded a tactical error to leave space inside by the British cyclist). The final distance between the two was increased by Harris easing off to conserve energy for the second race. Doing so did him little good, however, as in the second race Ghella took the lead and fought off two challenges by Harris in the final two straights.[2][5]

Rank Cyclist Nation Race 1 Race 2 Race 3
1st place, gold medalist(s) Mario Ghella  Italy 4:01.2
12.2
4:13.4
12.0
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Reg Harris  Great Britain

Final standings

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Rank Cyclist Nation
1st place, gold medalist(s) Mario Ghella  Italy
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Reg Harris  Great Britain
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Axel Schandorff  Denmark
4 Charlie Bazzano  Australia
5 Jack Heid  United States
Mario Masanés  Chile
Leonel Rocca  Uruguay
Emile Van De Velde  Belgium
9 Julio César León  Venezuela
Jan Hijzelendoorn  Netherlands
Jacques Bellenger  France
Erich Welt  Austria
Reinaldo Paseiro  Cuba
Clodomiro Cortoni  Argentina
Jean Roth  Switzerland
Bob Lacourse  Canada
Adolfo Romero  Mexico
Rusi Mulla Feroze  India
Muhammad Naqi Mallick  Pakistan
Compton Gonsalves  Trinidad and Tobago
Manthos Kaloudis  Greece
Laddie Lewis  Guyana
Howard Wing  Republic of China

References

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  1. ^ "Cycling at the 1948 London Summer Games: Men's Sprint". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "Sprint, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Official Report, p. 322.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Official Report, p. 323.
  5. ^ a b Official Report, p. 317.
  6. ^ a b Official Report, p. 324.
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