1956 Summer Olympics / Cycling - Track Team Pursuit (Men)

sport	Cycling
discipline	4000 m team pursuit
gender	Men
Attendees	64 athletes from 16 countries
Competition location	Olympic Park Velodrome
Competition phase	December 3-4, 1956
Winning time	5:41:44 h
Medalist  Italy  France  Great Britain

Cycling competitions at the 1956 Olympic Games
Road cycling
Road racing	Men
Team driving	Men
Track cycling
sprint	Men
tandem	Men
Team pursuit	Men
Time trial	Men

At the Olympic Games in 1956 in the Australian metropolis of Melbourne , the 4,000 m team pursuit in cycling for men was held on December 3rd and 4th .

16 teams, each with four athletes from 16 nations, determined the Olympic champion in the Melbourne Olympic Park Velodrome : The Italian team won with a new Olympic record . The French team took second place ahead of the UK team .

Time schedule

date	run	Hints
3 Dec	Prelims	The eight fastest times (Q) of the eight prelims qualified for the quarter-finals.
3 Dec	Quarter finals	The winners (Q) of the four quarter-finals qualified for the semi-finals.
Dec 4	Semifinals	The winners (Q) of the two semi-finals qualified for the final. The losers qualified for the race for 3rd and 4th place.
Dec 4	final

Prelims

The eight fastest times (Q) of the eight prelims qualified for the quarter-finals.

Run 1

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	Colombia	Octavio Echeverry Honorio Rua Ramón Hoyos Héctor Monsalve	5: 09.4 min
2	Pakistan	Shazada Muhammad Shah-Rukh Saleem Farooqi Muhammad Naqi Mallick Din Meraj

Run 2

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	Italy	Leandro Faggin Virginio Pizzali Antonio Domenicali Franco Gandini	4: 44.8 min	Q
2	South African Union	Jimmy Swift Bobby Fowler Abe Jonker Jan Hettema	4: 51.6 min	Q

Run 3

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	Great Britain	Donald Burgess Mike Gambrill John Geddes Tom Simpson	4: 52.0 min	Q
2	Germany	Werner Malitz Siegfried Köhler Rolf Nitzsche Manfred Gieseler	4: 59.4 min

Run 4

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	New Zealand	Warwick Dalton Donald Eagle Lionel Kent Neil Ritchie	4: 56.6 min	Q
2	Uruguay	René Deceja Eduardo Puertollano Luis Serra Alberto Velázquez	5: 02.4 min

Run 5

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	Austria	Franz Wimmer Walter Bortel Rudolf Maresch Kurt Schein	5: 01.6 min
2	Venezuela	Franco Cacioni Domingo Rivas Arsenio Chirinos Antonio Montilla	5: 14.6 min

Run 6

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	France	Michel Vermeulin Jean-Claude Lecante René Bianchi Jean Graczyk	4: 48.0 min	Q
2	Australia	Roy Moore Warren Scarfe Frank Brazier Cliff Burvill

Run 7

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	Soviet Union	Viktor Ilyin Volodymyr Mitin Rostislav Chizhikov Eduard Gusew	4: 54.4 min	Q
2	Belgium	André Bar Gustaaf De Smet François De Wagheneire Guillaume Van Tongerloo	4: 55.6 min	Q

Run 8

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	Czechoslovakia	Jaroslav Cihlář Jiří Opavský Jiří Nouza František Jursa	4: 58.0 min	Q
2	United States	Allen Bell Richard Cortright David Rhoads Art Longsjo	5: 02.4 min

Quarter finals

The winners (Q) of the four quarter-finals qualified for the semi-finals.

Run 1

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	Great Britain	Donald Burgess Mike Gambrill John Geddes Tom Simpson	4: 48.4 min	Q
2	Soviet Union	Viktor Ilyin Volodymyr Mitin Rostislav Chizhikov Eduard Gusew	4: 53.4 min

Run 2

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	South African Union	Jimmy Swift Bobby Fowler Abe Jonker Jan Hettema	4: 47.8 min	Q
2	Belgium	André Bar Gustaaf De Smet François De Wagheneire Guillaume Van Tongerloo	4: 54.6 min

Run 3

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	France	Michel Vermeulin Jean-Claude Lecante René Bianchi Jean Graczyk	4: 44.0 min	Q
2	New Zealand	Warwick Dalton Donald Eagle Lionel Kent Neil Ritchie	4: 56.4 min

Run 4

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	Italy	Leandro Faggin Virginio Pizzali Antonio Domenicali Franco Gandini		Q
2	Czechoslovakia	Jaroslav Cihlář Jiří Opavský Jiří Nouza František Jursa

Semifinals

The winners (Q) of the two semi-finals qualified for the final, the losers qualified for the race for 3rd place.

Run 1

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	Italy	Leandro Faggin Virginio Pizzali Antonio Domenicali Franco Gandini	4: 38.4 min	Q
2	Great Britain	Donald Burgess Mike Gambrill John Geddes Tom Simpson	4: 40.6 min

Run 2

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
1	France	Michel Vermeulin Jean-Claude Lecante René Bianchi Jean Graczyk	4: 39.0 min	Q
2	South African Union	Jimmy Swift Bobby Fowler Abe Jonker Jan Hettema	4: 41.0 min

Final round

Race for 3rd place

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
	Great Britain	Donald Burgess Mike Gambrill John Geddes Tom Simpson	4: 42.2 min
4th	South African Union	Jimmy Swift Bobby Fowler Abe Jonker Jan Hettema	4: 43.8 min

final

The Italian team won with a new Olympic record: They improved the previous best time from 1936 by 7.6 seconds to 4: 37.4 minutes.

rank	nation	Names	time	Note
	Italy	Leandro Faggin Virginio Pizzali Antonio Domenicali Franco Gandini	4: 37.4 min	OR
	France	Michel Vermeulin Jean-Claude Lecante René Bianchi Jean Graczyk	4: 39.4 min

Web links

• Results at www.olympic.org ( English )