|
| Event type

Team Pursuit, 4,000 metres, Men

Date2 – 4 September 1972
StatusOlympic
LocationRadstadion, Olympiapark, München
Participants90 from 22 countries

Italy had been the dominant pursuit team for decades, but in the late 1960s began to be surpassed by the West Germans. They had split the last two World Championships, West Germany winning in 1970 and Italy in 1971. Also considered a force was the East German team, which had placed third at the 1971 World Championships. The shocker in qualifying was Italy placing ninth, and not advancing to the quarter-finals. In the semis, West Germany faced Great Britain. The Brits rode strongly and were about even with the favorites at the halfway point, when Willi Moore blew his rear tire and had to retire. With only three riders, the British had no chance and were soon overtaken by the FRG team, who sat up and did not have to finish. In the other semi-final East Germany faced a surprisingly strong Polish team, but eventually pulled away to win by over three seconds. The final was not as close as expected. West Germany opened an early lead and was up by almost four seconds with a kilometer remaining, winning the gold medal with ease. The bronze medal match was extremely close for 10 laps, but Great Britain was stronger near the end to win. Britain had won a bronze medal in this event at six straight Olympics, from 1928-56, and added a seventh in München.

PosCompetitor(s)NOC
1West GermanyFRGGold
Jürgen ColomboGünter HaritzUdo HempelGünther SchumacherPeter Vonhof
2East GermanyGDRSilver
Thomas HuschkeHeinz RichterHerbert RichterUwe Unterwalder
3Great BritainGBRBronze
Mick BennettIan HallamRon KeebleWilli Moore
4PolandPOL
Bernard KręczyńskiPaweł KaczorowskiJanusz KierzkowskiMieczysław NowickiJerzy Głowacki
=5BulgariaBUL
Nikifor Petrov MinchevPlamen TimchevDimo Angelov TonchevIvan Tsvetkov
=5NetherlandsNED
Ad DekkersGerard KamperHerman PonsteenRoy Schuiten
=5Soviet UnionURS
Viktor BykovVladimir KuznetsovAnatoly StepanenkoAleksandr Yudin
=5SwitzerlandSUI
Martin StegerXaver KurmannRené SavaryChristian Brunner
9 r1/4ItalyITA
Pietro AlgeriGiacomo BazzanGiorgio MorbiatoLuciano Borgognoni
10 r1/4AustraliaAUS
Steele BishopDanny ClarkRemo SansonettiPhilip Sawyer
11 r1/4CzechoslovakiaTCH
Zdeněk DohnalJiří MikšíkAnton TkáčMilan Zyka
12 r1/4BelgiumBEL
Leon DaelemansRoger De BeukelaerAlex Van LindenWilfried Wesemael
13 r1/4DenmarkDEN
Gunnar AsmussenSvend Erik BjergReno OlsenBent Pedersen
14 r1/4New ZealandNZL
Paul BrydonNeil LysterJohn DeanBlair Stockwell
15 r1/4FranceFRA
Bernard BocquetJacques BossisMichel ZucarelliJean-Jacques Fussien
16 r1/4ArgentinaARG
Carlos Miguel ÁlvarezRaúl GómezRaúl HalketIsmael Torres
17 r1/4United StatesUSA
David ChaunerJohn Vande VeldeDavid MulicaJim Ochowicz
18 r1/4CubaCUB
Gregorio Aldo ArencibiaRoberto HerederoRoberto MenéndezRaúl Marcelo Vázquez
19 r1/4CanadaCAN
Jocelyn LovellBrian KeastRon HaymanEd McRae
20 r1/4Trinidad and TobagoTTO
Pat GellineauClive SaneyAnthony SellierVernon Stauble
21 r1/4JamaicaJAM
Radcliffe LawrenceHoward FentonMaurice Hugh-SamMichael Lecky
22 r1/4IranIRI
Khosro HaghgoshaMohamed KhodavandGholam Hossein KoohiBehrouz Rahbar

Qualifying Round (2 September 1972 — 17:15)

Top eight advanced to the quarter-finals.

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1West GermanyFRG4:23.54Q
Jürgen ColomboGünter HaritzUdo HempelGünther Schumacher
2East GermanyGDR4:25.48Q
Thomas HuschkeHeinz RichterHerbert RichterUwe Unterwalder
3Soviet UnionURS4:26.53Q
Viktor BykovVladimir KuznetsovAnatoly StepanenkoAleksandr Yudin
4NetherlandsNED4:27.30Q
Ad DekkersGerard KamperHerman PonsteenRoy Schuiten
5Great BritainGBR4:28.92Q
Mick BennettIan HallamRon KeebleWilli Moore
6PolandPOL4:29.00Q
Jerzy GłowackiPaweł KaczorowskiJanusz KierzkowskiMieczysław Nowicki
7SwitzerlandSUI4:30.56Q
Martin StegerXaver KurmannRené SavaryChristian Brunner
8BulgariaBUL4:31.43Q
Nikifor Petrov MinchevPlamen TimchevDimo Angelov TonchevIvan Tsvetkov
9ItalyITA4:31.64
Pietro AlgeriGiacomo BazzanGiorgio MorbiatoLuciano Borgognoni
10AustraliaAUS4:31.85
Steele BishopDanny ClarkRemo SansonettiPhilip Sawyer
11CzechoslovakiaTCH4:33.39
Zdeněk DohnalJiří MikšíkAnton TkáčMilan Zyka
12BelgiumBEL4:34.26
Leon DaelemansRoger De BeukelaerAlex Van LindenWilfried Wesemael
13DenmarkDEN4:34.78
Gunnar AsmussenSvend Erik BjergReno OlsenBent Pedersen
14New ZealandNZL4:35.11
Paul BrydonNeil LysterJohn DeanBlair Stockwell
15FranceFRA4:35.48
Bernard BocquetJacques BossisMichel ZucarelliJean-Jacques Fussien
16ArgentinaARG4:37.89
Carlos Miguel ÁlvarezRaúl GómezRaúl HalketIsmael Torres
17United StatesUSA4:38.19
David ChaunerJohn Vande VeldeDavid MulicaJim Ochowicz
18CubaCUB4:44.43
Gregorio Aldo ArencibiaRoberto HerederoRoberto MenéndezRaúl Marcelo Vázquez
19CanadaCAN4:48.90
Jocelyn LovellBrian KeastRon HaymanEd McRae
20Trinidad and TobagoTTO4:56.59
Pat GellineauClive SaneyAnthony SellierVernon Stauble
21JamaicaJAM4:59.48
Radcliffe LawrenceHoward FentonMaurice Hugh-SamMichael Lecky
22IranIRI5:10.80
Khosro HaghgoshaMohamed KhodavandGholam Hossein KoohiBehrouz Rahbar

Quarter-Finals (2 September 1972 — 21:09)

Winner of each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1Great BritainGBR4:25.23Q
Mick BennettIan HallamRon KeebleWilli Moore
2NetherlandsNED4:26.11
Ad DekkersGerard KamperHerman PonsteenRoy Schuiten

Heat Two

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1PolandPOL4:25.72Q
Bernard KręczyńskiPaweł KaczorowskiJanusz KierzkowskiMieczysław Nowicki
2Soviet UnionURS4:26.75
Viktor BykovVladimir KuznetsovAnatoly StepanenkoAleksandr Yudin

Heat Three

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1East GermanyGDR4:23.26Q
Thomas HuschkeHeinz RichterHerbert RichterUwe Unterwalder
2SwitzerlandSUI4:26.44
Martin StegerXaver KurmannRené SavaryChristian Brunner

Heat Four

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1West GermanyFRG4:24.49Q
Jürgen ColomboGünter HaritzUdo HempelGünther Schumacher
2BulgariaBUL4:31.55
Nikifor Petrov MinchevPlamen TimchevDimo Angelov TonchevIvan Tsvetkov

Semi-Finals (3 September 1972 — 22:16)

Winner of each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1West GermanyFRGno timeQ
Jürgen ColomboGünter HaritzPeter VonhofGünther Schumacher
DNFGreat BritainGBRovertaken
Mick BennettIan HallamRon KeebleWilli Moore

Heat Two

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1East GermanyGDR4:23.14Q
Thomas HuschkeHeinz RichterHerbert RichterUwe Unterwalder
2PolandPOL4:26.39
Bernard KręczyńskiPaweł KaczorowskiJanusz KierzkowskiMieczysław Nowicki

Final Round (4 September 1972 — 21:13)

Match 1/2 (21:13)

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1West GermanyFRG4:22.14
Jürgen ColomboGünter HaritzUdo HempelGünther Schumacher
2East GermanyGDR4:25.25
Thomas HuschkeHeinz RichterHerbert RichterUwe Unterwalder

Match 3/4 (21:13)

PosCompetitor(s)NOCTime
1Great BritainGBR4:23.78
Mick BennettIan HallamRon KeebleWilli Moore
2PolandPOL4:26.06
Bernard KręczyńskiPaweł KaczorowskiJanusz KierzkowskiMieczysław Nowicki