Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint
The men's sprint at the 2004 Summer Olympics (Cycling) was an event that consisted of cyclists making three laps around the track. Only the time for the last 200 metres of the 750 metres covered was counted as official time. There were 19 competitors from 13 nations, with each nation limited to two cyclists. The event was won by Ryan Bayley of Australia, the nation's first victory in the men's sprint after three times coming in second (most recently in 1992). Theo Bos of the Netherlands took silver , the Dutch team's first medal in the event since 1936. René Wolff earned bronze, stretching Germany's podium streak to four Games (five if East Germany is included; cyclists from eastern Germany had been on the podium in the event every Games since 1976 except the boycotted 1984 Games). Australian Ryan Bayley defeated current world champion, Theo Bos from the Netherlands, when the sprinting gold medal was taken to a third decider race. In the race for the bronze René Wolff from Germany defeated Laurent Gané from France. Background. This was the 23rd appearance of the event, which has  been held at every Summer Olympics except 1904 and 1912. Three of the quarterfinalists from 2000 returned: fourth-place finisher Laurent Gané of France, sixth-place finisher José Antonio Villanueva of Spain, and seventh-place finisher Sean Eadie of Australia. Three recent world champions were competing: Gané (2003, also runner-up in 2000, 2001, and 2004), Eadie (2002), and Theo Bos of the Netherlands (2004). René Wolff of Germany and Ryan Bayley of Australia were also significant contenders, each having reached the podium at world championships. For the second consecutive Games, no nations made their debut in the men's  sprint. France made its 23rd appearance, the only nation to have competed at every appearance of the event. Competition format. This sprint competition involved a series of head-to-head matches along with the new qualifying round of time trials. There were five main match rounds, with two one-round repechages. 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. No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. Results. Qualifying round. Times and average speeds are listed . Q denotes qualification for the next round. After Tomohiro Nagatsuka dropped out of competition following the round, all of the cyclists following him advanced one position. This allowed Stefan Nimke to compete in the first round despite having originally placed 19th. Round 1. The first round consisted of nine heats of two riders each. Winners advanced to the next round, losers competed in the 1/16 repechage. First repechage. The nine defeated cyclists from the 1/16 round took part in the 1/16 repechage. They raced in three heats of three riders each. The winner of each heat rejoined the nine victors  of the 1/16 round in advancing to the 1/8 round 1/8 finals. The 1/8 round consisted of six matches, each pitting two of the twelve remaining cyclists against each other. The winners advanced to the quarterfinals, with the losers getting another chance in the 1/8 repechage. Second repechage. The six cyclists defeated in the 1/8 round competed in the 1/8 repechage. Two heats of three riders were held. Winners rejoined the victors from the 1/8 round and advanced to the quarterfinals. The four other riders competed in the 9th through 12th place classification. Quarterfinals. The eight riders that had advanced  to the quarterfinals competed pairwise in four matches. Each match consisted of two races, with a potential third race being used as a tie-breaker if each cyclist won one of the first two races. All four quarterfinals matches were decided without a third race. Winners advanced to the semifinals, losers competed in a 5th to 8th place classification. Semifinals. The four riders that had advanced to the semifinals competed pairwise in two matches. Each match consisted of two races, with a potential third race being used as a tie-breaker if each cyclist won one of the first two  races. Both semifinals matches were decided without a third race. Winners advanced to the finals, losers competed in the bronze medal match. Finals. Classification 9-12. The 9-12 classification was a single race with all four riders that had lost in the 1/8 repechage taking place. The winner of the race received 9th place, with the others taking the three following places in order. Classification 5-8. The 5-8 classification was a single race with all four riders that had lost in the quarterfinals taking place. The winner of the race received 5th place, with the others taking  the three following places in order. Bronze medal match. The bronze medal match was contested in a set of three races, with the winner of two races declared the winner. Since René Wolff won both of the first two races, the third was not run. Final. The final was a best-of-three match. Bos took a lead in the series when he won the first race, but Bayley defeated him in the second race. The third race was decisive and Bayley came out on top again.