Individual Pursuit, 4,000 metres, Men

At the 1975 World Championships, Thomas Huschke (GDR) had defeated Soviet Vladimir Osokin in the final. In the Montréal qualifying, Osokin had the fastest time, followed by Huschke. For the first time in this event at the Olympics, 16 riders advanced to the match racing. Osokin and Huschke made it thru to the semis easily, where they were joined by West Germany’s 20-year-old phenom, Gregor Braun and the Netherlands’ Herman Ponsteen. Braun faced Osokin in the first semi and there was almost nothing to choose between them throughout the race, but the youthful German prevailed by 0.17 seconds. In the other semi, Ponsteen outrode Huschke quite easily to advance to the final. The final was close for eight laps, but Braun was too strong in the second half of the race and won the gold medal with a 2+ second margin. Braun turned professional shortly after the 1976 Olympics and won the professional world title in 1977 and 1978. He competed as a professional thru 1989.