The men's

points race A points race is a mass start track cycling event involving large numbers of riders simultaneously on track. It was an Olympic event for men from 1984 to 2008 and for women from 1996 to 2008. Since 2012, the points race has been one of the omniu ...

was an event at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul, South Korea Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, for which the final was held on 24 September 1988. There were 34 participants from 34 nations, with 24 cyclists competing in the final. Each nation was limited to 1 cyclist in the event. The event was won by Dan Frost of Denmark, with

Leo Peelen Leopoldus Eduardus Theoduris "Leo" Peelen (16 July 1968 – 24 March 2017) was a Dutch track cyclist. He won the silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, c ...

of the Netherlands taking silver and

Marat Ganeyev Marat Ganeyev (born 6 December 1964) is a retired track cyclist from Russia, who won the bronze medal for the Soviet Union in the men's points race at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He was a professional road cyclist from 1989 t ...

of the Soviet Union bronze. It was the first medal in the men's points race for each of the three nations.

Background

This was the third appearance of the event. It was first held in 1900 and not again until 1984; after that, it was held every Summer Games until 2008 when it was removed from the programme. The women's version was held from 1996 through 2008. Three of the 24 finalists from the 1984 Games returned: silver medalist Uwe Messerschmidt of West Germany, bronze medalist

José Youshimatz José Manuel Youshimatz (born 10 May 1962) is a Mexican former track cyclist and road bicycle racer who represented his national country at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. There he won the bronze medal in the men's points r ...

of Mexico, and fifth-place finisher

Juan Curuchet Juan Esteban Curuchet (born 4 February 1965 in Mar del Plata) is an Argentine road bicycle racer and track cyclist. Curuchet represented Argentina at the Summer Olympics in 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. He won the madison at the 19 ...

of Argentina. The reigning World Champion (1987) was

of the Soviet Union; Messerschmidt had been runner-up. Dan Frost of Denmark had won the World Championship in 1986. Ganeyev and Frost were favored in Seoul. Barbados, Bolivia, Chinese Taipei, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Iran, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Poland, South Korea, the Soviet Union, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela each made their debut in the event. France and Italy both competed for the third time, the only nations to have competed in all three Olympic men's points races.

Competition format

The contest consisted of two rounds: semifinals and a final. The distance varied by round, with 30 kilometres in the semifinals and 50 kilometres in the final. The top 12 in each of the two semifinals advanced to the 24-man final. Placement in each race was determined first by how many laps behind the leader the cyclist was and second by how many sprint points the cyclist accumulated. That is, a cyclist with more sprint points but who was lapped once would be ranked behind a cyclist with fewer points but who had not been lapped. Sprint points could be gained only by cyclists who had not been lapped. In the semifinals, there were 20 sprints—one every 1.5 kilometres. Points were awarded based on the position of the cyclists at the end of the sprint. Most of the sprints were worth five points for the leader, three to the second-place cyclist, two to third, and one to fourth. The 10th (halfway) and 20th (final) sprint were worth double: ten points, six, four, and two. The final featured 30 sprints—one every 1.67 kilometres. As in the semifinals, most sprints were worth 5/3/2/1 points, with the halfway (15th) and final (30th) sprints worth 10/6/4/2.

Schedule

All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (

UTC+10 UTC+10:00 is an identifier for a UTC offset, time offset from UTC of +10:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) Principal cities: Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Saipan, Dededo, Port Moresby, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold C ...

)

Results

Semifinals

Semifinal 1

Semifinal 2

Final

Ganeyev led the scoreboard for most of the race, but near the end was lapped by Frost and Peelen. He took bronze despite having the most points. Frost had scored more between the lead pair, so took gold.

Results summary

References

External links

Official Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cycling At The 1988 Summer Olympics - Men's Points Race Track cycling at the 1988 Summer Olympics Cycling at the Summer Olympics – Men's points race Men's events at the 1988 Summer Olympics