Team Pursuit (4,000 metres), Men

The only question in this event was not who would win, but by how much. Italy was a huge favorite, especially racing in front of the Italian tifiosi. They had won six of the last eight gold medals in the team pursuit. In the semi-finals, the Soviet Union led Italy for seven laps, but Italy rode steadily and eventually won going away, with a 40-metre margin, in an Olympic record 4:28.88. In the other semi-final, Germany outrode France with little challenge. The final saw Italy start very poorly as their four riders separated into two groups of two, four lengths apart, on an early lap. Few teams could recover from such a setback but they regrouped. They stayed within three lengths of the Germans for the first half of the race, and then put on the pressure, pulling away in the eighth lap, and eventually won by almost five seconds. The Soviets won a close bronze medal race over the France. Great Britain had won the bronze medal in this event at every Olympics from 1928-56, but this time did not qualify for the quarter-finals. Though this was Italy’s seventh gold medal in this event, of the last nine, it was to be their last one for at least 50 years.