Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's individual pursuit

The men's individual pursuit at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 16 at the Laoshan Velodrome. The pre-event favorite to win the gold medal was the defending Olympic champion Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain, who managed to retain the title, setting a new Olympic record in the preliminary round.[1]

Men's individual pursuit
at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
VenueLaoshan Velodrome
DatesAugust 15 (opening rounds)
August 16 (final)
Competitors18 from 11 nations
Winning time4:15.977
Medalists
Bradley Wiggins  Great Britain
Hayden Roulston  New Zealand
Steven Burke  Great Britain

Qualification

Eighteen cyclists qualified for this event. Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain), the defending Olympic champion, qualified for winning the individual pursuit at the 2008 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. Volodymyr Dyudya (Ukraine) qualified at the late 2007 UCI World Cup event in Sydney, winning the individual pursuit there. The qualifier by way of the UCI B World Championship was Alexandr Pliuschin (Moldova). Jenning Huizenga (Netherlands), Taylor Phinney (United States), Phillip Thuaux (Australia), Sergi Escobar Roure (Spain), Alexander Serov (Russia), and David O'Loughlin (Ireland) qualified based on UCI rankings. The rest of the field was formed by berths given to the ten nations that qualified in the team pursuit. This resulted in Great Britain, Australia, Netherlands, Spain, Ukraine, and Russia each having two competitors in this event.

Competition format

The eighteen cyclists were matched into nine two-man heats. The riders start on opposite sides of the track from one another, held in place by a starting gate until the race begins. While the objective is ostensibly to catch the other rider on the track, victory is most commonly determined by the faster time to cover 4,000 meters. The winners of each individual heat did not matter in the preliminaries - it was instead the overall eight fastest times which would advance to the match round.

In the match round, the top eight riders from the preliminaries were matched together, 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6, and 4 vs. 5, for the semifinals. In the semifinals, the winner of each match advanced to race for a medal; the two fastest raced for gold and silver, while the two slower winners faced each other for the bronze.

Schedule

All times are China standard time (UTC+8)

Date Time Round
Friday, 15 August 200816:55Qualification
Saturday, 16 August 200816:30Match round
Saturday, 16 August 200818:50Final

Results

Qualification

[2]

Rank Heat Cyclist Nation Result Notes
19Bradley Wiggins Great Britain4:15.031Q, OR
28Hayden Roulston New Zealand4:18.990Q
39Alexei Markov Russia4:21.498Q
46Volodymyr Dyudya Ukraine4:21.530Q
52Steven Burke Great Britain4:22.260Q
63Antonio Tauler Spain4:22.462Q
76Taylor Phinney United States4:22.860Q
85Alexander Serov Russia4:23.732Q
97Bradley McGee Australia4:26.084
105Sergi Escobar Spain4:26.102
117David O'Loughlin Ireland4:26.102
121Brett Lancaster Australia4:26.139
133Jens Mouris Netherlands4:27.445
144Vitaliy Popkov Ukraine4:30.321
151Fabien Sanchez France4:33.100
162Carlos Alzate Colombia4:35.154
174Alexandr Pliuschin Moldova4:35.438
188Jenning Huizenga Netherlands4:37.097

Semifinals

Qualification rule: Two fastest cyclists advance to the gold medal match (Q), while the next two to the bronze medal match (q).[3]

Rank Heat Cyclist Nation Result Notes
14Bradley Wiggins Great Britain4:16.571Q
23Hayden Roulston New Zealand4:19.232Q
31Steven Burke Great Britain4:21.558q
42Alexei Markov Russia4:22.308q
51Volodymyr Dyudya Ukraine4:22.471
62Antonio Tauler Spain4:24.974
74Alexander Serov Russia4:25.391
83Taylor Phinney United States4:26.644

Medal round

Bronze medal match[4]
Rank Cyclist Nation Result Notes
Steven Burke Great Britain4:20.947
4Alexei Markov Russia4:24.149
Gold medal match[4]
Rank Cyclist Nation Result Notes
Bradley Wiggins Great Britain4:16.977
Hayden Roulston New Zealand4:19.611

References

  1. "Men's Individual Pursuit". 2008GamesBeijing.com. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
  2. "Beijing 2008: Cycling - Men's Individual Pursuit Qualification" (PDF). Beijing 2008. LA84 Foundation. 15 August 2008. p. 1307. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  3. "Beijing 2008: Cycling - Men's Individual Pursuit Semifinals" (PDF). Beijing 2008. LA84 Foundation. 15 August 2008. p. 1308. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  4. "Beijing 2008: Cycling - Men's Individual Pursuit Finals" (PDF). Beijing 2008. LA84 Foundation. 15 August 2008. p. 1309. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
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