Cycling at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's sprint


The men's sprint cycling event at the 1936 Summer Olympics took place on 6 and 7 August and was one of six events at the 1936 Olympics. When van Vliet began to overtake Merkens in the first race of the final, Merkens swerved to the right and blatantly interfered with Van Vliet. No penalty was called, and a disconcerted van Vliet lost the second race. The Dutch team protested, but instead of being disqualified, Merkens was fined 100 marks instead.

Results

Round 1

The winner in each heat qualified for the second round. The loser was relegated to the repechage for another chance at qualifying.
; Heat 1
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Henri Collard13.2
2Dunc Gray

; Heat 2
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Louis Chaillot12.8
2Nedyu Rachev

; Heat 3
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Ray Hicks13.6
2Manuel Riquelme

; Heat 4
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Arie van Vliet12.6
2Doug Peace

; Heat 5
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Benedetto Pola14.0
2Howard Wing

; Heat 6
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Werner Wägelin12.4
2Haakon Sandtorp

; Heat 7
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1George Giles12.6
2Imre Győrffy

; Heat 8
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Toni Merkens12.8
2Al Sellinger

; Heat 9
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Franz Dusika15.0
2Ted Clayton

; Heat 10
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Karl Magnussen13.2
2José Mazzini

Repechage

The last place finisher in each repechage was eliminated. The winner of each heat advanced to the second round, along with the second place finisher in heats where there were three cyclists.
; Repechage 1
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Dunc Gray13.0
2Ted Clayton
3José Mazzini

; Repechage 2
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Al Sellinger13.4
2Imre Győrffy
3Nedyu Rachev

; Repechage 3
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Haakon Sandtorp13.0
2Manuel Riquelme

; Repechage 4
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Doug Peace15.2
2Howard Wing

Round 2

The winner of each heat advanced; the loser was eliminated.
; Heat 1
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Karl Magnussen13.4
2Imre Győrffy

; Heat 2
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Toni Merkens13.0
2Haakon Sandtorp

; Heat 3
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Werner Wägelin13.4
2Ted Clayton

; Heat 4
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Benedetto Pola12.6
2George Giles

; Heat 5
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Arie van Vliet12.0
2Franz Dusika

; Heat 6
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Dunc Gray12.2
2Ray Hicks

; Heat 7
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Louis Chaillot12.0
2Doug Peace

; Heat 8
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Henri Collard13.2
2Al Sellinger

Round 3

The winners qualified for the semifinals; the losers were eliminated.
; Heat 1
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Louis Chaillot12.6
2Karl Magnussen

; Heat 2
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Arie van Vliet13.0
2Dunc Gray

; Heat 3
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Benedetto Pola12.6
2Werner Wägelin

; Heat 4
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Toni Merkens13.0
2Henri Collard

Semifinals

The semifinal winners advanced to the gold medal final, while the losers competed in the bronze medal final.
; Semifinal 1
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Toni Merkens12.4
2Benedetto Pola

; Semifinal 2
RankNameNationTimeNotes
1Arie van Vliet12.0
2Louis Chaillot

Finals

Both the gold and bronze medal finals were conducted as best-of-three competitions. In each case, the same team won both of the first two races, making a third race unnecessary. Merkens was fined for "deviating from the racing lane" in the first race of the final, though was allowed to finish the competition.
; Gold medal final
RankNameNationRace 1Race 2Race 3WL
Toni Merkens11.811.8–20
Arie van Vliet–02

; Bronze medal final
RankNameNationRace 1Race 2Race 3WL
Louis Chaillot12.212.0–20
4Benedetto Pola–02