Cycling Track at the 1972 Summer Olympics

The 1972 Olympic cycling program was exactly the same as in 1968. There were five track events – kilometre time trial, match sprint, tandem match sprint, individual pursuit, and team pursuit, all raced at the Olympic Velodrome, which had a wooden track with the unusual dimension of 285.714 metres, or 3½ laps to the kilometre. It was also the first Olympic velodrome that had a partially covered track, although indoor tracks would later become standard.

The five events were split among five nations. France’s Daniel Morelon defended his title in the match sprint, the first Olympic cyclist to do so, while Denmark (kilometre - Niels Fredborg), Germany (West) (team pursuit), Norway (individual pursuit – Knut Knudsen), and the Soviet Union (tandem sprint) won the other gold medals.