# Cycling at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint

The men's cycling sprint at the 2012 Olympic Games in London took place at the London Velopark from 4 to 6 August. There were 17 competitors from 17 nations, with nations once again limited to one cyclist each (the limit had fluctuated between one and two since 1928). The event was won by Jason Kenny of Great Britain, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's sprint. Kenny was the eighth man to win multiple medals in the event. Kenny beat Grégory Baugé of France in the final. Australia's Shane Perkins took bronze.

## Background

This was the 25th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. Two of the quarterfinalists from 2008 returned: silver medalist Jason Kenny of Great Britain and eighth-place finisher Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia. The favorite was Grégory Baugé of France, the four-time world champion (2009–2012). The British team, which had both of the finalists at the 2008 Beijing Games (Kenny and champion Chris Hoy), had to choose one because of the rule change that limited nations to one cyclist; Kenny, who had taken silver in the 2011 and 2012 world championships, was selected over Hoy, who had taken bronze in those years. (Baugé's 2011 title was later stripped due to missed doping tests, retroactively elevating Kenny and Hoy to world champion and runner-up). Kenny had never beaten Baugé head-to-head.
No nations made their debut in the men's sprint. France made its 25th appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event.

## Qualification

There were 18 quota places available for the men's sprint, with a maximum of one cyclist per nation. The 10 nations qualified for the team sprint event could each enter one member of the team in the individual sprint. The other eight places went to the top eight remaining nations on the 2010–12 UCI rankings not yet qualified.

## Competition format

The event was a single-elimination tournament, with repechages after the first two rounds, after seeding via time trial. The time trial involved an 875-metre distance, but with only the last 200 metres timed. All other races were 750 metres (three laps of the track) with side-by-side starts, with time kept for the last 200 metres. The first two main rounds featured single head-to-head races, with winners advancing and losers competing in repechages. Repechage races were contested by up to 3 cyclists. Beginning with the quarterfinals, each match pitted two cyclists against each other in best-of-three races.

## Records

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 | Kevin Sireau (FRA) | 9.572 | Moscow, Russia | 30 May 2009 |
| Olympic record | Chris Hoy (GBR) | 9.815 | Beijing, China | 17 August 2008 |
Jason Kenny set a new Olympic record of 9.713 seconds in the qualifying round.

## Schedule

All times are (British Summer Time)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Saturday, 4 August 2012 | 10:00 11:01 16:00 16:35 17:34 18:30 | Qualifying round Round 1 First repechage 1/8 finals Second repechage Classification 9–12 |
| Sunday, 5 August 2012 | 16:34 18:47 | Quarterfinals Classification 5–8 |
| Monday, 6 August 2012 | 16:00 17:43 | Semifinals Bronze medal match Final |

## Results
### Qualifying round

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Jason Kenny | Great Britain | 9.713 | 74.127 | Q, OR |
| 2 | Grégory Baugé | France | 9.952 | 72.347 | Q |
| 3 | Shane Perkins | Australia | 9.987 | 72.093 | Q |
| 4 | Robert Förstemann | Germany | 10.072 | 71.485 | Q |
| 5 | Denis Dmitriev | Russia | 10.088 | 71.371 | Q |
| 6 | Hersony Canelón | Venezuela | 10.123 | 71.125 | Q |
| 7 | Seiichiro Nakagawa | Japan | 10.144 | 70.977 | Q |
| 8 | Zhang Miao | China | 10.155 | 70.901 | Q |
| 9 | Eddie Dawkins | New Zealand | 10.201 | 70.581 | Q |
| 10 | Njisane Phillip | Trinidad and Tobago | 10.202 | 70.574 | Q |
| 11 | Azizulhasni Awang | Malaysia | 10.226 | 70.408 | Q |
| 12 | Jimmy Watkins | United States | 10.247 | 70.264 | Q |
| 13 | Pavel Kelemen | Czech Republic | 10.311 | 69.828 | Q |
| 14 | Damian Zieliński | Poland | 10.323 | 69.747 | Q |
| 15 | Bernard Esterhuizen | South Africa | 10.350 | 69.565 | Q |
| 16 | Hodei Mazquiarán | Spain | 10.604 | 67.898 | Q |
| 17 | Zafeiris Volikakis | Greece | 10.663 | 67.523 | Q |

### Round 1
#### Heat 1

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Grégory Baugé | France | wo | | Q |
| — | Zafeiris Volikakis | Greece | DNS | | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Shane Perkins | Australia | 10.722 | 67.151 | Q |
| 2 | Hodei Mazquiarán | Spain | | | R |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Robert Förstemann | Germany | 11.100 | 64.864 | Q |
| 2 | Bernard Esterhuizen | South Africa | | | R |

#### Heat 4

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Denis Dmitriev | Russia | 10.690 | 67.352 | Q |
| 2 | Damian Zieliński | Poland | | | R |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Pavel Kelemen | Czech Republic | 10.840 | 66.420 | Q |
| 2 | Hersony Canelón | Venezuela | | | R |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Jimmy Watkins | United States | 10.399 | 69.237 | Q |
| 2 | Seiichiro Nakagawa | Japan | | | R |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Azizulhasni Awang | Malaysia | 10.473 | 68.748 | Q |
| 2 | Zhang Miao | China | | | R |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Njisane Phillip | Trinidad and Tobago | 10.221 | 70.443 | Q |
| 2 | Eddie Dawkins | New Zealand | | | R |

### First repechage
#### First repechage heat 1

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Hersony Canelón | Venezuela | 10.439 | 68.972 | Q |
| 2 | Eddie Dawkins | New Zealand | | | |

#### First repechage heat 2

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Seiichiro Nakagawa | Japan | 10.792 | 66.716 | Q |
| 2 | Damian Zieliński | Poland | | | |

#### First repechage heat 3

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Bernard Esterhuizen | South Africa | 10.762 | 66.902 | Q |
| 2 | Hodei Mazquiarán | Spain | | | |
| 3 | Zhang Miao | China | | | |

### 1/8 finals
#### 1/8 final 1

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Jason Kenny | Great Britain | 10.363 | 69.477 | Q |
| 2 | Bernard Esterhuizen | South Africa | | | R |

#### 1/8 final 2

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Grégory Baugé | France | 10.490 | 68.636 | Q |
| 2 | Seiichiro Nakagawa | Japan | | | R |

#### 1/8 final 3

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Shane Perkins | Australia | 10.978 | 65.585 | Q |
| 2 | Hersony Canelón | Venezuela | REL | | R |

#### 1/8 final 4

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Njisane Phillip | Trinidad and Tobago | 10.467 | | Q |
| 2 | Robert Förstemann | Germany | | | R |

#### 1/8 final 5

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Denis Dmitriev | Russia | 10.278 | 70.052 | Q |
| 2 | Azizulhasni Awang | Malaysia | | | R |

#### 1/8 final 6

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Jimmy Watkins | United States | 10.511 | 68.499 | Q |
| 2 | Pavel Kelemen | Czech Republic | | | R |

### Second repechage
#### Second repechage heat 1

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Robert Förstemann | Germany | 10.881 | 66.170 | Q |
| 2 | Pavel Kelemen | Czech Republic | | | C |
| 3 | Bernard Esterhuizen | South Africa | | | C |

#### Second repechage heat 2

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h | Notes |
| 1 | Azizulhasni Awang | Malaysia | 10.456 | 68.859 | Q |
| 2 | Hersony Canelón | Venezuela | | | C |
| 3 | Seiichiro Nakagawa | Japan | | | C |

### Quarterfinals
#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Notes |
| 1 | Jason Kenny | Great Britain | 10.433 | 10.030 | — | Q |
| 2 | Azizulhasni Awang | Malaysia | | | — | C |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Notes |
| 1 | Grégory Baugé | France | 10.472 | 10.300 | — | Q |
| 2 | Robert Förstemann | Germany | | | — | C |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Notes |
| 1 | Shane Perkins | Australia | 10.520 | 10.263 | — | Q |
| 2 | Jimmy Watkins | United States | | | — | C |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Notes |
| 1 | Njisane Phillip | Trinidad and Tobago | 10.545 | 10.300 | — | Q |
| 2 | Denis Dmitriev | Russia | | | — | C |

### Semifinals
#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Notes |
| 1 | Jason Kenny | Great Britain | 10.159 | 10.166 | — | Q |
| 2 | Njisane Phillip | Trinidad and Tobago | | | — | B |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Notes |
| 1 | Grégory Baugé | France | 10.358 | 10.268 | — | Q |
| 2 | Shane Perkins | Australia | | | — | B |

### Finals
#### Classification 9—12

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h |
| 9 | Seiichiro Nakagawa | Japan | 10.950 | 65.753 |
| 10 | Pavel Kelemen | Czech Republic | | |
| 11 | Bernard Esterhuizen | South Africa | | |
| 12 | Hersony Canelón | Venezuela | | |

#### Classification 5—8

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Time 200 m | Speed km/h |
| 5 | Denis Dmitriev | Russia | 10.340 | 69.632 |
| 6 | Jimmy Watkins | United States | | |
| 7 | Robert Förstemann | Germany | | |
| 8 | Azizulhasni Awang | Malaysia | | |

#### Bronze medal match

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 |
| | Shane Perkins | Australia | 10.489 | 10.297 | — |
| 4 | Njisane Phillip | Trinidad and Tobago | | | — |

#### Gold medal match

| Rank | Cyclist | Nation | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 |
| | Jason Kenny | Great Britain | 10.232 | 10.308 | — |
| | Grégory Baugé | France | | | — |