The official website of Japanese keirin lists a total of 131 ‘foreign’ riders, invited to race in Japan by the JKA. Four have no results showing – so we’ll call it 127. None are listed as currently ‘active’.
There are 111 men, starting with Theo Smit and Gary Sutton making their debut appearances in 1990, neither of whom managed to win a single race; and 16 women, starting in 2013.
One of the women in that first 2013 cohort, Great Britain’s Rebecca (Becky) James has the remarkable distinction of a 100% record, with 9 wins from 9. Stephen Pate, Nicky Degrendele, Lee Wai Sze and Kristina Vogel only recorded a single loss.
It’s notable that female riders have generally found the level of competition much easier: 12 of the 16 won the majority of their races, perhaps indicative of a lower overall standard, and reflecting the more familiar racing rules of Girls Keirin which does not allow collaboration in ‘lines’.
| Rider | Country | Debut | Races | Wins | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaarle McCulloch | AUS | 2013 | 9 | 6 | 66.67% |
| Paige Paterson | NZL | 2013 | 18 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Rebecca James | GBR | 2013 | 9 | 9 | 100.00% |
| Miriam Welte | GER | 2014 | 9 | 5 | 55.56% |
| Helena Casas Roige | ESP | 2014 | 9 | 3 | 33.33% |
| Lee Wai Sze | HKG | 2016 | 12 | 11 | 91.67% |
| Katy Marchant | GBR | 2016 | 12 | 10 | 83.33% |
| Kristina Vogel | GER | 2016 | 9 | 8 | 88.89% |
| Monique Sullivan | CAN | 2016 | 12 | 5 | 41.67% |
| Laurine van Riessen | NED | 2017 | 38 | 27 | 71.05% |
| Natasha Hansen | NZL | 2017 | 42 | 26 | 61.90% |
| Stephanie Morton | AUS | 2017 | 25 | 22 | 88.00% |
| Anastasiia Voinova | RUS | 2017 | 12 | 8 | 66.67% |
| Nicky Degrendele | BEL | 2018 | 13 | 12 | 92.31% |
| Mathilde Gros | FRA | 2018 | 28 | 21 | 75.00% |
| Madalyn Godby | USA | 2019 | 15 | 7 | 46.67% |
Korea is the foreign country with most representation: this is largely a result of the Nikkan Keirin Series, the first competition pitting Japanese riders against their Korean counterparts. But as Justin McCurry explains in his book War On Wheels, gamblers complained that they did not know enough about the other country’s riders to place an informed bet, and the event died out.
Australia leads among other nations with 15 riders listed, followed by Germany with 13, and Great Britain with 12.
Shane Perkins is the individual rider with the most races and wins to his name. From his debut in 2009, he contested 277 races, winning 195 – a win % of 70.4. The combined efforts of Theo Bos and Matthijs Büchli make the Netherlands the most successful country overall.
| Rider | Country | Debut | Races | Wins | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theo Smit | NED | 1990 | 17 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Gary Sutton | AUS | 1990 | 16 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Stephen Pate | AUS | 1991 | 17 | 16 | 94.12% |
| Gilbert Hatton | USA | 1991 | 17 | 2 | 11.76% |
| Patrick da Rocha | FRA | 1991 | 17 | 1 | 5.88% |
| Hans Hindetang | GER | 1991 | 17 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Kelly Hall | ITA | 1991 | 17 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Michael Hübner | GER | 1992 | 37 | 13 | 35.14% |
| Michel Vartan | BEL | 1992 | 37 | 10 | 27.03% |
| Claudio Golinelli | ITA | 1992 | 37 | 6 | 16.22% |
| Vincenzo Ceci | ITA | 1992 | 37 | 5 | 13.51% |
| Dieter Giebken | GER | 1992 | 37 | 2 | 5.41% |
| Nelson Vails | USA | 1992 | 36 | 1 | 2.78% |
| Fabrice Colas | FRA | 1992 | 20 | 3 | 15.00% |
| Shaun Wallace | GBR | 1992 | 20 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Frédéric Magné | FRA | 1993 | 90 | 31 | 34.44% |
| Erik Schoefs | BEL | 1993 | 54 | 11 | 20.37% |
| Ken Carpenter | USA | 1993 | 36 | 4 | 11.11% |
| Paul McHugh | GBR | 1993 | 18 | 3 | 16.67% |
| Juan Cruchet | ARG | 1993 | 18 | 2 | 11.11% |
| Marcelo Alexandre | ARG | 1993 | 18 | 2 | 11.11% |
| Brian Dandanell | DEN | 1993 | 18 | 1 | 5.56% |
| Dominik Dujose | BEL | 1993 | 18 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Jens Fiedler | GER | 1994 | 123 | 27 | 21.95% |
| Gary Neiwand | AUS | 1994 | 54 | 18 | 33.33% |
| Federico Paris | ITA | 1994 | 54 | 14 | 25.93% |
| Curt Harnett | CAN | 1994 | 36 | 3 | 8.33% |
| Bill Huck | GER | 1994 | 18 | 2 | 11.11% |
| Darryn Hill | AUS | 1995 | 36 | 14 | 38.89% |
| Laurent Gané | FRA | 1997 | 85 | 16 | 18.82% |
| Roberto Chiappa | ITA | 1997 | 56 | 17 | 30.36% |
| Shane Kelly | AUS | 1997 | 55 | 11 | 20.00% |
| Florian Rousseau | FRA | 1997 | 39 | 8 | 20.51% |
| Christian Alou | USA | 1997 | 39 | 4 | 10.26% |
| Eyk Pokorny | GER | 1998 | 38 | 7 | 18.42% |
| Jean Pierre van Zyl | RSA | 1998 | 34 | 4 | 11.76% |
| Viesturs Bērziņš | LAT | 1998 | 21 | 5 | 23.81% |
| Soren Lausberg | GER | 1998 | 21 | 2 | 9.52% |
| Ainar Kiksis | LAT | 1999 | 72 | 20 | 27.78% |
| Sean Eadie | AUS | 1999 | 18 | 4 | 22.22% |
| John González | COL | 1999 | 18 | 0 | 0.00% |
| David Cabrero | ESP | 1999 | 18 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Peter Jacques | GBR | 1999 | 18 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Pavel Buráň | CZE | 2000 | 69 | 6 | 8.70% |
| Craig Percival | GBR | 2000 | 18 | 1 | 5.56% |
| Jan Van Eijden | GER | 2001 | 25 | 6 | 24.00% |
| Grzegorz Krejner | POL | 2001 | 19 | 2 | 10.53% |
| Jason Queally | GBR | 2001 | 19 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Lambros Vasilopoulos | GRE | 2001 | 17 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Craig McLean | GBR | 2002 | 48 | 20 | 41.67% |
| Jobie Dajka | AUS | 2002 | 48 | 13 | 27.08% |
| Jose Antonio Villanueva | ESP | 2002 | 48 | 12 | 25.00% |
| Theo Bos | NED | 2003 | 190 | 128 | 67.37% |
| René Wolff | GER | 2003 | 30 | 7 | 23.33% |
| Andriy Vynokurov | UKR | 2004 | 153 | 65 | 42.48% |
| Ryan Bayley | AUS | 2004 | 39 | 13 | 33.33% |
| Łukasz Kwiatkowski | POL | 2004 | 25 | 10 | 40.00% |
| Barry Forde | BAR | 2004 | 13 | 2 | 15.38% |
| Ross Edgar | GBR | 2004 | 63 | 13 | 20.63% |
| Mark French | AUS | 2004 | 13 | 3 | 23.08% |
| Josiah Ng | MAS | 2005 | 95 | 22 | 23.16% |
| Ivan Bulba | CZE | 2005 | 26 | 2 | 7.69% |
| Jose Antonio Escuredo | ESP | 2005 | 40 | 22 | 55.00% |
| Chris Hoy | GBR | 2005 | 14 | 4 | 28.57% |
| Michael Burgan | FRA | 2006 | 28 | 18 | 64.29% |
| Damian Zieliński | POL | 2006 | 28 | 16 | 57.14% |
| Teun Mulder | NED | 2007 | 106 | 44 | 41.51% |
| Ben Kersten | AUS | 2007 | 14 | 2 | 14.29% |
| Stefan Nimke | GER | 2007 | 15 | 5 | 33.33% |
| Shane Perkins | RUS | 2009 | 277 | 195 | 70.40% |
| Matthew Crampton | GBR | 2009 | 59 | 31 | 52.54% |
| François Pervis | FRA | 2010 | 143 | 81 | 56.64% |
| Simon van Velthooven | NZL | 2010 | 110 | 32 | 29.09% |
| Jason Niblett | AUS | 2010 | 56 | 8 | 14.29% |
| Michael D’Almeida | FRA | 2010 | 54 | 16 | 29.63% |
| No Tae Kyung | KOR | 2012 | 6 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Bae Ming | KOR | 2012 | 6 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Lee Young Hee | KOR | 2012 | 6 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Lee Uk Tong | KOR | 2012 | 5 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Lee Myung Hyun | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 1 | 33.33% |
| Lee Soo Won | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 1 | 33.33% |
| Song Kyung Bang | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Choi Seung Young | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Yang Heechun | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Kim Hyun Kyung | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Park Byung Ha | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Kim Chi-beom | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Cho Bong Chul | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Moon Hee Deok | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Kim Bayoung | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Kim Young-seop | KOR | 2012 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Scott Sunderland | AUS | 2012 | 55 | 11 | 20.00% |
| Denis Dmitriev | RUS | 2014 | 158 | 92 | 58.23% |
| Stefan Bötticher | GER | 2014 | 59 | 44 | 74.58% |
| Matthijs Büchli | NED | 2015 | 154 | 122 | 79.22% |
| Kang Jin Nam | KOR | 2015 | 3 | 1 | 33.33% |
| Yoo Tae-bok | KOR | 2015 | 3 | 1 | 33.33% |
| Kim Min Chul | KOR | 2015 | 3 | 1 | 33.33% |
| Won Shin Jae | KOR | 2015 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Jung Jeongjin | KOR | 2015 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Park duo | KOR | 2015 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Ryu Jae Yeol | KOR | 2015 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Hwang Seung Ho | KOR | 2015 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Kim Jong Ryuk | KOR | 2015 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Gong Minwoo | KOR | 2015 | 3 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Kim Hyun Wan | KOR | 2015 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Park Young-beom | KOR | 2015 | 2 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Sam Webster | NZL | 2017 | 40 | 25 | 62.50% |
| Tomáš Bábek | CZE | 2017 | 64 | 28 | 43.75% |
| Joseph Truman | GBR | 2018 | 57 | 34 | 59.65% |
| Matthew Glaetzer | AUS | 2018 | 60 | 51 | 85.00% |
Editor’s note: We have done our best to turn European riders’ names from phonetic Japanese back into the original Latin script: we apologise in advance for any we overlooked or got wrong. Korean names have been taken directly from machine translation. Additionally, most of the data has been extracted by hand, so errors are entirely possible. Please get in touch if you can help with corrections.