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| Event type

Team Pursuit, 4,000 metres, Men

Date27 – 29 August 1960
StatusOlympic
LocationVelodrome Olimpico, Roma
Participants76 from 19 countries

The only question in this event was not who would win, but by how much. Italy was a huge favorite, especially racing in front of the Italian tifiosi. They had won six of the last eight gold medals in the team pursuit. In the semi-finals, the Soviet Union led Italy for seven laps, but Italy rode steadily and eventually won going away, with a 40-metre margin, in an Olympic record 4:28.88. In the other semi-final, Germany outrode France with little challenge. The final saw Italy start very poorly as their four riders separated into two groups of two, four lengths apart, on an early lap. Few teams could recover from such a setback but they regrouped. They stayed within three lengths of the Germans for the first half of the race, and then put on the pressure, pulling away in the eighth lap, and eventually won by almost five seconds. The Soviets won a close bronze medal race over the France. Great Britain had won the bronze medal in this event at every Olympics from 1928-56, but this time did not qualify for the quarter-finals. Though this was Italy’s seventh gold medal in this event, of the last nine, it was to be their last one for at least 50 years.

PosCompetitor(s)NOC
1ItalyITAGold
Luigi ArientiFranco TestaMario VallottoMarino Vigna
2Unified Team of GermanyGERSilver
Siegfried KöhlerPeter GröningManfred KliemeBernd Barleben
3Soviet UnionURSBronze
Stanislav MoskvinViktor RomanovLeonid KolumbetArnold Belgardt
4FranceFRA
Marcel DelattreJacques SuireGuy ClaudMichel Nédélec
=5ArgentinaARG
Alberto TrilloErnesto ContrerasHéctor AcostaJuan Brotto
=5CzechoslovakiaTCH
Slavoj ČernýFerdinand DuchoňJan ChlístovskýJosef Volf
=5DenmarkDEN
John LundgrenLeif LarsenJens SørensenKurt vid Stein
=5NetherlandsNED
Jaap OudkerkTheo NikkessenHenk NijdamPiet van der Lans
1 h8 r1/4AustriaAUT
Günther KrizPeter DeimböckKurt GarschalKurt Schein
1 h9 r1/4United StatesUSA
Dick CortrightCharlie HewettRobert PfarrJim Rossi
1 h10 r1/4UruguayURU
Alberto VelázquezJuan José TimónRubén EtchebarneRodolfo Rodino
1 h11 r1/4SpainESP
José María ErrandoneaFrancisco TortelláMiguel MartorellMiguel Mora
2 h1 r1/4JapanJPN
Tetsuo OsawaKanji KubomuraNobuhira TakanukiKatsuya Saito
2 h2 r1/4AustraliaAUS
Warren ScarfeGarry JonesRobert WhettersFrank Brazier
2 h4 r1/4South AfricaRSA
Syd ByrnesBobby FowlerAbe JonkerRowan Peacock
2 h5 r1/4Great BritainGBR
Barry HobanMike GambrillCharlie McCoyJoseph McClean
2 h6 r1/4SwitzerlandSUI
Walter SignerWerner WeckertHans HeinemannEgon Scheiwiller
2 h8 r1/4MexicoMEX
Mauricio MataJavier TaboadaJacinto BritoMiguel Pérez
2 h10 r1/4BelgiumBEL
Romain De LoofBarthélemy GillardFrans MelckenbeeckCharles Rabaey

Round One (27 August 1960)

Fastest eight times advanced to the quarter-finals.

Heat One

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1ArgentinaARG4:44.44Q
Alberto TrilloErnesto ContrerasHéctor AcostaJuan Brotto
2JapanJPN4:45.871
Tetsuo OsawaKanji KubomuraNobuhira TakanukiKatsuya Saito

Heat Two

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1CzechoslovakiaTCH4:42.60Q
Slavoj ČernýFerdinand DuchoňJan ChlístovskýJosef Volf
2AustraliaAUS4:48.55
Warren ScarfeGarry JonesRobert WhettersFrank Brazier

Heat Three

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1Soviet UnionURS4:40.48Q
Stanislav MoskvinViktor RomanovLeonid KolumbetArnold Belgardt

Heat Four

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1NetherlandsNED4:40.64Q
Jaap OudkerkTheo NikkessenHenk NijdamPiet van der Lans
2South AfricaRSA4:50.26
Syd ByrnesBobby FowlerAbe JonkerRowan Peacock

Heat Five

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1DenmarkDEN4:40.80Q
John LundgrenLeif LarsenJens SørensenKurt vid Stein
2Great BritainGBR4:45.23
Barry HobanMike GambrillCharlie McCoyJoseph McClean

Heat Six

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1FranceFRA4:38.46Q
Marcel DelattreJacques SuireGuy ClaudMichel Nédélec
2SwitzerlandSUI4:50.00
Walter SignerWerner WeckertHans HeinemannEgon Scheiwiller

Heat Seven

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1ItalyITA4:38.41Q
Luigi ArientiFranco TestaMario VallottoMarino Vigna
2Unified Team of GermanyGER4:40.33Q
Siegfried KöhlerPeter GröningManfred KliemeBernd Barleben

Heat Eight

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1AustriaAUT4:47.70
Günther KrizPeter DeimböckKurt GarschalKurt Schein
2MexicoMEX4:52.55
Mauricio MataJavier TaboadaJacinto BritoMiguel Pérez

Heat Nine

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1United StatesUSA4:49.92
Dick CortrightCharlie HewettRobert PfarrJim Rossi

Heat Ten

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1UruguayURU4:47.83
Alberto VelázquezJuan José TimónRubén EtchebarneRodolfo Rodino
2BelgiumBEL4:49.46
Romain De LoofBarthélemy GillardFrans MelckenbeeckCharles Rabaey

Heat Eleven

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1SpainESP4:44.87
José María ErrandoneaFrancisco TortelláMiguel MartorellMiguel Mora

Quarter-Finals (27 August 1960)

Winner of each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1ItalyITA4:29.98QOR
Luigi ArientiFranco TestaMario VallottoMarino Vigna
2ArgentinaARG4:38.17
Alberto TrilloErnesto ContrerasHéctor AcostaJuan Brotto

Heat Two

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1FranceFRA4:30.82Q
Marcel DelattreJacques SuireGuy ClaudMichel Nédélec
2CzechoslovakiaTCH4:38.73
Slavoj ČernýFerdinand DuchoňJan ChlístovskýJosef Volf

Heat Three

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1Unified Team of GermanyGER4:29.32QOR
Siegfried KöhlerPeter GröningManfred KliemeBernd Barleben
2DenmarkDEN4:37.44
John LundgrenLeif LarsenJens SørensenKurt vid Stein

Heat Four

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1Soviet UnionURS4:29.97Q
Stanislav MoskvinViktor RomanovLeonid KolumbetArnold Belgardt
2NetherlandsNED4:29.98
Jaap OudkerkTheo NikkessenHenk NijdamPiet van der Lans

Semi-Finals (29 August 1960)

Winner of each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1Unified Team of GermanyGER4:33.46Q
Siegfried KöhlerPeter GröningManfred KliemeBernd Barleben
2FranceFRA4:37.17
Marcel DelattreJacques SuireGuy ClaudMichel Nédélec

Heat Two

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1ItalyITA4:28.88QOR
Luigi ArientiFranco TestaMario VallottoMarino Vigna
2Soviet UnionURS4:33.01
Stanislav MoskvinViktor RomanovLeonid KolumbetArnold Belgardt

Final Round (29 August 1960)

Match 1/2 ()

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1ItalyITA4:30.90
Luigi ArientiFranco TestaMario VallottoMarino Vigna
2Unified Team of GermanyGER4:35.78
Siegfried KöhlerPeter GröningManfred KliemeBernd Barleben

Match 3/4 ()

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1Soviet UnionURS4:34.05
Stanislav MoskvinViktor RomanovLeonid KolumbetArnold Belgardt
2FranceFRA4:35.72
Marcel DelattreJacques SuireGuy ClaudMichel Nédélec