The men's individual sprint will start Day 3 of track cycling at the 2024 Paris Games. The men's qualifying round will start at 6:45 a.m. ET. The men's 1/8 repechage race will be the final track cycling event on Wednesday. The gold medal for the men will be handed out on Friday at 12 noon. The women's individual sprint begins racing on earlier in the day on Friday.

How many riders will compete in the individual sprint event at the Paris Olympics?

The fields for men's and women's sprint will each have a maximum of 30 riders.

How does the individual sprint work at the Olympics?

The individual sprint is a timed event. Riders will take the track either alone (in the case of the qualification round) or side-by-side (in the case of head-to-head races). Each race will encompass three laps and take about two minutes.

What is the competition format for the individual sprint at the Olympics?

The competition starts with all 30 riders participating in the qualification round. Riders complete three laps, but only the final 200 meters are timed. The 24 riders with the fastest times advance to the elimination rounds and are seeded according to their times.

In the first elimination round, the 24 remaining riders race in 12 head-to-head matchups (based on seeding). The winning rider in each heat advances directly to the second round, while the losers enter a repechage round. In the repechage, there are four heats of three riders, and the winner of each heat moves on to the second round.

In the second elimination round, the 16 remaining riders race in eight head-to-head matchups. The winning rider in each heat advances directly to the third round, while the losers enter a repechage round. In the repechage, there are four heats of two riders, and the winner of each heat moves on to the third round.

In the third elimination round, the 12 remaining riders race in six head-to-head matchups. The winning rider in each heat advances directly to the quarterfinals, while the losers enter a repechage round. In the repechage, there are two heats of three riders, and the winner of each heat moves on to the quarterfinals.

From the quarterfinals onward, there are no more repechage rounds, and each matchup is decided by a best-of-three series.

The winners of the four quarterfinal heats advance to the semifinals. The winners of the two semifinal heats advance to the gold medal final, while the two losers go to the bronze medal final.

Dutch rider Harrie Lavreysen will try to become the fourth cyclist to defend an Olympic gold medal in the men's sprint. Great Britain's Jason Kenny was the last sprinter to accomplish the feat in the 2012 and 2016 Games. Lavreysen has won five consecutive world titles in the men's sprint from 2019 to 2023. 

Compatriot Jeffrey Hoogland will look to challenge his teammate from the men's team sprint. The duo was part of the Netherlands team with Roy van den Berg that dominated Great Britain in the gold medal match to set a new world record of 40.949. Hoogland was the silver medalist in Tokyo and lost to Lavreysen in the world championships from 2019 to 2021. Hoogland has won 17 medals at the world championships in sprint, team sprint, keirin and time trial, including nine gold medals. The 2020 Games is the only time the Netherlands has had two cyclists on the podium in the same track cycling event at a single Olympic Games. 

Australia's duo of Matthew Richardson and Matthew Glaetzer could challenge the Dutch sprinters. Australia claimed bronze in the men's team sprint to end a 24-year medal drought in the event. The bronze was Glaetzer's first medal in his fourth Olympics.

Poland's Mateusz Rudyk will look to break up the Dutch/Australia strong hold on the track cycling events. Nicholas Paul of Trinidad and Tobago will look for the nation's first medal of any color in cycling. He finished 6th in the event in Tokyo and as the runner-up at the 2023 World Championships.

Expect to see familiar names in the women's individual sprint, which will begin competition on Friday August 9 at 8:00a.m. ET.

The 2024 Track Nations Cup saw the winner change in the first three races of the season. Germany's Emma Hinze won the first race, Great Britain's Emma Finucane won the second and 2022 world champion Mathilde Gros won the third. Great Britain won the women's team sprint behind Finucane's fast final lap. Germany won the bronze medal after a disappointing qualifying race. Hinze and teammate Lea Sophie Friedrich helped anchor that team, Friedrich is also a strong competitor in the individual sprint. 

Reigning Olympic champion Kelsey Mitchell hasn't placed on the podium of late and seems likely that she will retire after the Paris Games after a post on Instagram.