# Will we see world records broken at the Paris velodrome?

*By Simon | August 5, 2024*

![Will we see world records broken at the Paris velodrome?](https://globalkeirin.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/08/turnbull.jpeg)

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## 󠀁[Will we see world records broken at the Paris velodrome?](https://globalkeirin.com/2024/08/will-we-see-world-records-broken-at-the-paris-velodrome/)󠁿

5 August 2024

There are rumours in track cycling circles that sprinters have been laying down
some spectacular times during practice sessions at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines
velodrome, ahead of this week’s Olympic events.

_Global Keirin_ has heard suggestions of several men getting close to the 9.100
flying 200 metre world record, set by Nicholas Paul at 2019’s Pan American
Championships in Bolivia.

The women’s record – 10.154, set by Kelsey Mitchell at the same event – could
also be under threat.

So, could we see the first man to set a 9.0, or maybe even a sub-9? Will a woman
break 10 seconds for the first time?

### Better prepared

There’s no doubt that riders go into the Olympics better prepared than for any
other event. Many will have been planning specifically for these races for the
past four years, or even longer.

Bicycles, clothing and other equipment will have been designed with this week
specifically in mind. Nations have been proudly presenting their new gear: the
Japanese Toray bike, with its wide front forks and left-side drivetrain has
caught many people’s attention.

But there shouldn’t be any entirely new equipment on show in Paris. UCI rule
11.1.010 states:

any equipment used at the Olympic Games must have been commercially available …
at the latest on January 1st of the year of the Olympic Games. In addition, the
equipment must have been previously used in the year preceding the Olympic Games
in an event included in the list as defined in the UCI Track Equipment
Registration Procedure.

### Wider track

Cycling Weekly
[reminds us](https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/well-see-quite-a-few-world-records-fall-why-the-paris-olympics-velodrome-is-one-of-the-fastest-in-the-world)
that the Paris track is a metre wider than most similar arenas. So when
sprinters begin their charge for a flying 200 effort, plunging from the
perimeter wall to the bottom of the track, they have more of a ‘downhill’ in
which to build up speed.

But the track geometry wasn’t enough to produce new records when Paris hosted
the UCI World Championships in 2022. Harrie Lavreysen did 9.224 to top the
[men’s ranking](https://www.tissottiming.com/2022/ctrwch/event-9/phase-1/results)
; Lea Sophie Friedrich was fastest among
[the women](https://www.tissottiming.com/2022/ctrwch/event-20/phase-1/results),
with 10.357.

The capacity for historic times is also dependent on factors outside the teams’
control, including the weather – yes, even indoors. With high temperatures and
low air pressure, last week’s super-fast practice sessions were said to be ‘some
of the fastest conditions pretty much ever at a sea-level track.’ The forecast
isn’t quite so favourable for this week’s race-days.

Lewis Stewart and Jonny Mitchell from
[the Piste Take podcast](https://www.instagram.com/thepistetake/) both believe
the women’s record will be broken, although they think it will remain above 10
seconds. Neither one believes the men’s record will go.

The men go on Wednesday at 12.45, _heure de Paris_. The women go on Friday, at
14.00.

**Categories:** Original
**Tags:** paris2024