Individual Pursuit, 4,000 metres, Men

The two best pursuiters in the world were Soviets Vyacheslav Yekimov and Gintautus Umaras. They had finished 1-2 at the Worlds in 1985-87, Yekimov winning in 1985 and 1987 and Umaras winning in 1986. Because each nation could have only one competitor in this event, Yekimov was odd man out, leaving Umaras as a heavy favorite without him. But he was not the fastest qualifier, that going to East Germany’s Bernd Dittert. In the semi-finals Dittert lost to Australian Dean Woods, third at the 1986 Worlds, while Umaras easily handled Britain’s Colin Sturgess. In the final, Woods started quickly and led thru two kilometers. But Umaras caught him at 2,500 metres and pulled away to a three-second victory. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Yekimov would be allowed to turn professional and he became a top racer in the pro peleton, serving as a domestique for Lance Armstrong in several of his Tour de France victories (later voided when doping revealed). Yekimov would finally get an individual Olympic gold medal in 2000, winning the individual road time trial, although he had won gold in 1988 as a member of the Soviet pursuit team, and he would also repeat as gold medalist in the individual time trial in 2004.