Sprint, Men

As in 2004, the event was not held over 1,000 metres, but rather the qualifying was 3½ laps of the track, or 875 metres, and the match races were 3 laps, or 750 metres. The event was expected to be contested between Chris Hoy of Great Britain and Theo Bos of the Netherlands. Hoy, nicknamed as “The Real McHoy” and “The Flying Scotsman”, was the 2008 World Champion and had already won gold medals in Beijing in the keirin and team sprint. He was somewhat new to the event, coming from the kilo time trial. Bos had been World Champion in 2004 (and Olympic silver medalist), 2006, and 2007, but had disappointed at the 2008 Worlds. Hoy set an Olympic record in qualifying with 9.815 on the fast Beijing track. His teammate, Jason Kenny, placed second with 9.857, while Bos trailed back in ninth place. Hoy and Kenny went thru to the semis, but Bos lost his quarter-final in straight races to France’s Mickael Bourgain. Bourgain had no chance in the semi against Hoy, who recorded 10.260 in the first race of the semi, a very fast time in match racing. The final came down to Hoy against Kenny, with Hoy winning easily in two races. Kenny was a surprise as he was young and was being groomed with an eye towards 2012. Bourgain won the bronze medal by defeating Germany’s Max Levy in the belle race – the deciding race of three.