Cycling at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's track time trial

The men's track time trial event at the 1980 Summer Olympics took place on 22 July 1980 in Moscow Olympic Velodrome.^[1][2] There were 18 competitors from 18 nations, with one additional cyclist entered but not starting.^[3] The event was won by Lothar Thoms of East Germany, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's track time trial (tying Australia, Italy, and Denmark for second-most all-time). Aleksandr Panfilov of the Soviet Union took silver, the nation's first medal in the event since 1960. David Weller's bronze remains—through the 2020 Games—Jamaica's only medal outside of track and field athletics (86 athletics medals, 1 cycling medal). Denmark's three-Games medal streak (entirely the work of Niels Fredborg) ended.

Men's track time trial at the Games of the XXII Olympiad
Soviet stamp commemorating 1980 Olympic cycling
Venue	Krylatskoye Sports Complex Velodrome
Dates	22 July
Competitors	18 from 18 nations
Winning time	1:02.955 WR
Medalists
Lothar Thoms  East Germany Aleksandr Panfilov  Soviet Union David Weller  Jamaica
← 1976 1984 →

Background

This was the 13th appearance of the event, which had previously been held in 1896 and every Games since 1928. It would be held every Games until being dropped from the programme after 2004. The only returning cyclist from 1976 was eleventh-place finisher David Weller of Jamaica. There were few medal contenders among the boycotting nations. The favorite was East German Lothar Thoms, the 1978 and 1979 world champion.^[3]

Ecuador, Libya, and Zimbabwe each made their debut in the men's track time trial. France and Great Britain each made their 13th appearance, having competed at every appearance of the event.

Competition format

The event was a time trial on the track, with each cyclist competing separately to attempt to achieve the fastest time. Each cyclist raced one kilometre from a standing start.^[3][4]

Records

The following were the world and Olympic records prior to the competition.

World record	Pierre Trentin (FRA)	1:03.91	Mexico City, Mexico	17 October 1968
Olympic record	Pierre Trentin (FRA)	1:03.91	Mexico City, Mexico	17 October 1968

Lothar Thoms broke the world record by nearly a full second, recording a time of 1:02.955. No other cyclist came close to the old record time.

Schedule

All times are Moscow Time (UTC+3)

Date	Time	Round
Tuesday, 22 July 1980	19:00	Final

Results

Rank	Cyclist	Nation	Time	Notes
	Lothar Thoms	East Germany	1:02.955	WR
	Aleksandr Panfilov	Soviet Union	1:04.845
	David Weller	Jamaica	1:05.241
4	Guido Bontempi	Italy	1:05.478
5	Yavé Cahard	France	1:05.584
6	Heinz Isler	Switzerland	1:06.263
7	Petr Kocek	Czechoslovakia	1:06.368
8	Bjarne Sørensen	Denmark	1:07.422
9	Terrence Tinsley	Great Britain	1:07.542
10	Kenrick Tucker	Australia	1:07.709
11	Andrzej Michalak	Poland	1:07.891
12	Stoyan Petrov	Bulgaria	1:08.682
13	Jan Blomme	Belgium	1:09.015
14	Errol McLean	Guyana	1:09.991
15	Hans Fischer	Brazil	1:10.801
16	Esteban Espinosa	Ecuador	1:11.419
17	Khalid Shebani	Libya	1:11.627
18	John Musa	Zimbabwe	1:15.779
—	Patrick Wackström	Finland	DNS

References

1. "Cycling at the 1980 Summer Games: Men's 1000 m time trial". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
2. The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the Games of the XXII Olympiad Moscow 1980 Volume 3 (PDF). p. 203. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
3. "1,000 metres Time Trial, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
4. Official Report, vol. 3, p. 203.