Cycling Track at the 1988 Summer Olympics

The 1988 Olympic cycling program saw another event added for women, the match sprint on the track, which was added to the road race that had its Olympic début in 1984. All the track events were conducted at the Olympic Velodrome. The men’s program was the same as in 1984 with five events – kilometre time trial, match sprint, individual pursuit, team pursuit, and points race. The Olympic Velodrome was outdoors, with a wooden track of 333.33 metres, with 38° banked curves, and 10° banked straights.

Soviet Estonian Erika Salumäe won the first women’s track cycling gold medal, taking the match sprint. The favorite in the event, she would repeat as champion in 1992, and won 10 gold medals at the World Championships during her career. The Soviets won four of the six track cycling events, although Denmark’s Dan Frost won the points race, and East German Lutz Heßlich won the match sprint, repeating as champion after his 1980 gold. Heßlich did not compete in 1984 because of the Soviet-led boycott though he would likely have been favored.