Cycling at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's track time trial

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Men's track time trial
at the Games of the XXII Olympiad
Soviet stamp commemorating 1980 Olympic cycling
VenueKrylatskoye Sports Complex Velodrome
Dates22 July
Competitors18 from 18 nations
Winning time1:02.955 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Lothar Thoms
 East Germany
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Aleksandr Panfilov
 Soviet Union
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) David Weller
 Jamaica
← 1976
1984 →

The men's track time trial event at the 1980 Summer Olympics took place on 22 July 1980 in Moscow Olympic Velodrome.[1][2] There were 18 competitors from 18 nations, with one additional cyclist entered but not starting.[3] The event was won by Lothar Thoms of East Germany, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's track time trial (tying Australia, Italy, and Denmark for second-most all-time). Aleksandr Panfilov of the Soviet Union took silver, the nation's first medal in the event since 1960. David Weller's bronze remains—through the 2020 Games—Jamaica's only medal outside of track and field athletics (86 athletics medals, 1 cycling medal). Denmark's three-Games medal streak (entirely the work of Niels Fredborg) ended.

Background

This was the 13th appearance of the event, which had previously been held in 1896 and every Games since 1928. It would be held every Games until being dropped from the programme after 2004. The only returning cyclist from 1976 was eleventh-place finisher David Weller of Jamaica. There were few medal contenders among the boycotting nations. The favorite was East German Lothar Thoms, the 1978 and 1979 world champion.[3]

Ecuador, Libya, and Zimbabwe each made their debut in the men's track time trial. France and Great Britain each made their 13th appearance, having competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format

The event was a time trial on the track, with each cyclist competing separately to attempt to achieve the fastest time. Each cyclist raced one kilometre from a standing start.[3][4]

Records

The following were the world and Olympic records prior to the competition.

World record  Pierre Trentin (FRA) 1:03.91 Mexico City, Mexico 17 October 1968
Olympic record  Pierre Trentin (FRA) 1:03.91 Mexico City, Mexico 17 October 1968

Lothar Thoms broke the world record by nearly a full second, recording a time of 1:02.955. No other cyclist came close to the old record time.

Schedule

All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 22 July 1980 19:00 Final

Results

Rank Cyclist Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Lothar Thoms  East Germany 1:02.955 WR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Aleksandr Panfilov  Soviet Union 1:04.845
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) David Weller  Jamaica 1:05.241
4 Guido Bontempi  Italy 1:05.478
5 Yavé Cahard  France 1:05.584
6 Heinz Isler  Switzerland 1:06.263
7 Petr Kocek  Czechoslovakia 1:06.368
8 Bjarne Sørensen  Denmark 1:07.422
9 Terrence Tinsley  Great Britain 1:07.542
10 Kenrick Tucker  Australia 1:07.709
11 Andrzej Michalak  Poland 1:07.891
12 Stoyan Petrov  Bulgaria 1:08.682
13 Jan Blomme  Belgium 1:09.015
14 Errol McLean  Guyana 1:09.991
15 Hans Fischer  Brazil 1:10.801
16 Esteban Espinosa  Ecuador 1:11.419
17 Khalid Shebani  Libya 1:11.627
18 John Musa  Zimbabwe 1:15.779
Patrick Wackström  Finland DNS

References

  1. ^ "Cycling at the 1980 Summer Games: Men's 1000 m time trial". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  2. ^ The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the Games of the XXII Olympiad Moscow 1980 Volume 3 (PDF). p. 203. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "1,000 metres Time Trial, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  4. ^ Official Report, vol. 3, p. 203.