Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Men's keirin

The men's Keirin event at the 2020 Summer Olympics took place on 7 and 8 August 2021 at the Izu Velodrome.^[1] 30 cyclists from 18 nations competed.^[2]

Men's Keirin at the Games of the XXXII Olympiad
Olympic track cycling
Venues	Izu Velodrome
Dates	7–8 August 2021
Competitors	30 from 18 nations
Medalists
Jason Kenny  Great Britain Azizulhasni Awang  Malaysia Harrie Lavreysen  Netherlands
← 2016 2024 →

The medals were presented by Yasuhiro Yamashita, IOC member, Olympian, 1 Gold Medal, Japan; and the medalists' bouquets were presented by Dato' Amarjit Singh Gill, UCI Management Committee Member, Malaysia.

Background

This was the 6th appearance of the event, which has been held at every Summer Olympics since its introduction in 2000.

The reigning Olympic champion was Jason Kenny of Great Britain; Great Britain had won three consecutive titles in the event (Chris Hoy was the winner in 2008 and 2012). The reigning (2020) World Champion was Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands.

Russia, Germany, China, Great Britain, Australia, and the Netherlands were traditionally strong track cycling nations. A preview at Olympics.com also identified Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist and 2017 World Champion, as a significant contender.^[3]

Qualification

Main article: Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 2 qualified cyclists in the men's Keirin. Quota places are allocated to the NOC, which selects the cyclists. Qualification is entirely through the 2018–20 UCI nation rankings. The eight nations that qualify for the team sprint event may enter two cyclists each in the Keirin (as well as the individual sprint). The nations that qualify a cyclist through the individual sprint rankings may also enter that cyclist in the Keirin. Finally, seven places are allocated through the Keirin rankings.^[2] Because qualification was complete by the end of the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships on 1 March 2020 (the last event that contributed to the 2018–20 rankings), qualification was unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Competition format

Keirin races involve up to 7 cyclists each (though the 2020 format has no races with more than 6). The cyclists follow a pace motorcycle for 3 laps (750 m); the motorcycle then pulls away and the cyclists race for another 3 laps. These distances are changed from the 2016 Games, shortening the paced section from 5.5 laps and lengthening the unpaced sprint from 2.5 laps. The motorcycle starts at 30 km/h and increases speed to 50 km/h before it pulls off.

The tournament consists of four main rounds (up from three in 2016) and a repechage:^[4][5]

• First round: Five heats of 6 cyclists each. The top 2 cyclists in each heat (10 total) advance to the second round; all others (20 cyclists) go to the repechage.
• Repechage: Four heats of 5 cyclists each. The top 2 cyclists in each heat (8 total) rejoin the first-round winners in the second round. The other 12 cyclists are eliminated.
• Second round: Three heats of 6 cyclists each. The top 4 cyclists in each heat (12 total) advance to the semifinals. The remaining 6 cyclists are eliminated.
• Semifinals: Two heats of 6 cyclists each. The top 3 cyclists in each semifinal (6 total) advance to Final A; the bottom 3 cyclists from each semifinal go to Final B, out of medal contention.
• Finals: Two finals. Final A consists of the top 6 cyclists, awarding medals and 4th through 6th place. Final B ranks the next 6 cyclists from 7th to 12th.

Schedule

All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)^[6]

Date	Time	Round
7 August 2021	15:48 16:19	First round Repechages
8 August 2021	10:24 11:09 11:51	Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals

Results

First round

Heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap^[7] Notes 1 Rayan Helal   France QF 2 Maximilian Levy   Germany +0.010 QF 3 Kwesi Browne   Trinidad and Tobago +0.248 R 4 Jason Kenny   Great Britain +0.462 R 5 Sam Webster   New Zealand +0.546 R 6 Ivan Gladyshev   ROC +3.173 R Heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Jack Carlin   Great Britain QF 2 Matthew Richardson   Australia +0.070 QF 3 Matthijs Büchli   Netherlands REL R Hugo Barrette   Canada DNF R Sergey Ponomaryov   Kazakhstan DNF R Shah Firdaus Sahrom   Malaysia DNF R Heat 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Azizulhasni Awang   Malaysia QF 2 Nicholas Paul   Trinidad and Tobago +0.075 QF 3 Patryk Rajkowski   Poland +0.104 R 4 Stefan Bötticher   Germany +0.115 R 5 Jean Spies   South Africa +0.739 R 6 Sébastien Vigier   France +0.884 R

Heat 4 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Yudai Nitta   Japan QF 2 Denis Dmitriev   ROC +0.004 QF 3 Matthew Glaetzer   Australia +0.093 R 4 Xu Chao   China +0.240 R 5 Harrie Lavreysen   Netherlands +0.256 R 6 Mateusz Rudyk   Poland +0.974 R Heat 5 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Yuta Wakimoto   Japan QF 2 Callum Saunders   New Zealand +0.089 QF 3 Kevin Quintero   Colombia +0.096 R 4 Tomáš Bábek   Czech Republic +0.228 R 5 Nick Wammes   Canada +0.292 R 6 Jair Tjon En Fa   Suriname +0.396 R

Repechages

Heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap^[8] Notes 1 Kwesi Browne   Trinidad and Tobago QF 2 Shah Firdaus Sahrom   Malaysia +0.010 QF 3 Sébastien Vigier   France +0.037 4 Tomáš Bábek   Czech Republic +0.638 5 Xu Chao   China +0.979 Heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Jason Kenny   Great Britain QF 2 Stefan Bötticher   Germany +0.363 QF 3 Matthijs Büchli   Netherlands +0.441 4 Mateusz Rudyk   Poland +0.480 5 Nick Wammes   Canada +0.564

Heat 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Harrie Lavreysen   Netherlands QF 2 Jair Tjon En Fa   Suriname +0.578 QF 3 Sam Webster   New Zealand +0.580 4 Hugo Barrette   Canada +0.738 5 Patryk Rajkowski   Poland +1.616 Heat 4 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Matthew Glaetzer   Australia QF 2 Kevin Quintero   Colombia +0.069 QF 3 Sergey Ponomaryov   Kazakhstan +0.124 4 Ivan Gladyshev   ROC +0.675 5 Jean Spies   South Africa +0.760

Quarterfinals

Heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap^[9] Notes 1 Kevin Quintero   Colombia SF 2 Jason Kenny   Great Britain +0.045 SF 3 Rayan Helal   France +0.105 SF 4 Harrie Lavreysen   Netherlands +0.122 SF 5 Matthew Richardson   Australia +0.212 6 Yudai Nitta   Japan +0.331 Heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Nicholas Paul   Trinidad and Tobago SF 2 Jack Carlin   Great Britain +0.503 SF 3 Jair Tjon En Fa   Suriname +0.602 SF 4 Maximilian Levy   Germany +0.667 SF 5 Callum Saunders   New Zealand +0.723 6 Shah Firdaus Sahrom   Malaysia +1.204

Heat 3 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Yuta Wakimoto   Japan SF 2 Azizulhasni Awang   Malaysia +0.039 SF 3 Kwesi Browne   Trinidad and Tobago +0.098 SF 4 Matthew Glaetzer   Australia +0.104 SF 5 Stefan Bötticher   Germany +0.192 6 Denis Dmitriev   ROC +0.236

Semifinals

Heat 1 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap^[10] Notes 1 Jason Kenny   Great Britain FA 2 Matthew Glaetzer   Australia +0.003 FA 3 Jair Tjon En Fa   Suriname +0.089 FA 4 Jack Carlin   Great Britain +0.240 FB 5 Kwesi Browne   Trinidad and Tobago +0.357 FB 6 Kevin Quintero   Colombia +0.397 FB

Heat 2 Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 1 Azizulhasni Awang   Malaysia FA 2 Maximilian Levy   Germany +0.035 FA 3 Harrie Lavreysen   Netherlands +0.073 FA 4 Rayan Helal   France +0.497 FB 5 Yuta Wakimoto   Japan +0.775 FB Nicholas Paul   Trinidad and Tobago DSQ

Finals

Final A The Keirin final was won by Jason Kenny in what would be his last race, riding in position one behind the derny, and taking advantage of the nervous Matthew Glaetzer in second wheel to create a gap of a few bike lengths over the field as the derny prepared to pull off. As Glaetzer held the field up very marginally with his attention on the riders behind him, Kenny then launched a highly unusual and ferocious breakaway attack immediately as the derny left the track, putting half a lap into his rivals before they were fully aware what had happened. Despite a frenzied chase led by Dutch sprint and team sprint gold medalist Harrie Lavreysen, seeking to replicate the sprint 'triple crown' previously won by Kenny in 2016 and Chris Hoy in 2008, Kenny was able to hold off the field, winning the event by the length of a straight. The gold medal made Kenny the most successful British Olympian, and the most successful Olympic cyclist, in history.^[11] It also made Kenny one of the elite number of Olympians to have successfully defended an Olympic gold medal in three different events (in Kenny's case, team sprint between 2008 and 2016, sprint between 2012 and 2016 and keirin between 2016 and 2020), the others being Michael Phelps, Ray Ewry, Larisa Latynina, Jenny Thompson and Sawao Kato. Rank Cyclist Nation Gap^[12] Notes   Jason Kenny   Great Britain   Azizulhasni Awang   Malaysia +0.763   Harrie Lavreysen   Netherlands +0.773 4 Jair Tjon En Fa   Suriname +1.264 5 Matthew Glaetzer   Australia +1.344 6 Maximilian Levy   Germany +2.344

Final B Rank Cyclist Nation Gap Notes 7 Yuta Wakimoto   Japan 8 Jack Carlin   Great Britain +0.097 9 Kwesi Browne   Trinidad and Tobago +0.203 10 Rayan Helal   France +0.251 11 Kevin Quintero   Colombia +0.314

See also

• Cycling at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Women's keirin
• Keirin

References

1. . Tokyo 2020. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
2. "Qualification System – Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Road Cycling" (PDF). Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
3. "Olympic Track Cycling at Tokyo 2020: Top Five Things to Know". Retrieved 28 June 2021.
4. "UCI CYCLING REGULATIONS PART 3 TRACK RACES" (PDF). UCI. 6 December 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
5. Liam Nee (26 March 2021). "Cycling 101: Competition format". NBC. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
6. (PDF). olympics.com. TOCOG. 12 July 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
7. (PDF). olympics.com. TOCOG. 7 August 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
8. (PDF). olympics.com. TOCOG. 7 August 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
9. (PDF). olympics.com. TOCOG. 8 August 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
10. (PDF). olympics.com. TOCOG. 8 August 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
11. "Kenny becomes most decorated British Olympian with seventh gold". 8 August 2021.
12. (PDF). olympics.com. TOCOG. 8 August 2021. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 August 2021. Retrieved 8 August 2021.