Keirin
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Keirin is a track cycling event in which racing cyclists sprint for victory.
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[edit] Description
The keirin is a mass start Track cycling event in which 6 to 9 sprinters compete at one time in a race with a paced-start. Riders draw lots to determine starting positions and start as the pacer (which could be a motorcycle, a derny, or a tandem bicycle, for example) approaches. The riders are required to remain behind the pacer, which starts at the deliberately slow speed of about 25 km/h, gradually increasing in speed and leaves the track approximately 600-700 meters before the end, at a speed of about 50 km/h. The first cyclist to finish the race is the winner (sometimes finishing at 70 km/h). Keirin races are about 2 kilometers in length (8 laps on a 250m track, 6 laps on a 333m track, and 5 laps on a 400m track).
In competitions, this event is often conducted in several rounds in order to reduce the number of competitors to one "final" round of 6-9 riders. Eliminated cyclists may get the opportunity try again in the repechages.
Keirin began in 1948 in Japan, and has become very popular there as a betting sport. In 1957, the Japanese Keirin Association was founded to establish a uniform system of standards for the sport in Japan. Japanese cyclists do not usually feature in the medal contenders for this event at international championships, largely due to the fact that the Japanese keirin circuit is more lucrative and prestigious for the Japanese than are competitions such as the world championships and the Olympic Games. Koichi Nakano was one of the first Japanese keirin riders to compete outside Japan.
Aspiring professional keirin riders in Japan compete for entrance into the Japan Keirin School. The 10 per cent of applicants who are accepted then undergo a strict, 15-hours per day, training regime. Those who pass the graduation exams, and are approved by the Japan Keirin Association become eligible for professional keirin races in Japan.
Keirin racing became an event at the 2000 Summer Olympics in 2000 at Sydney, Australia.
[edit] Standards in Japan
As a unique result of the parimutuel gambling that surrounds Keirin racing in Japan, a strict system of standards was developed for bicycles and repair tools. There are currently 50 velodromes in operation that hold races where annually over 20 million people attend and place bets amounting to over ¥1.5 trillion. Since so much money is at stake, Nihon Jitensha Shinkokai (the Japanese Bicycling Association, a.k.a. NJS) requires that all Keirin racers in Japan ride and use equipment that meets their standards. All riders use very similar bicycles, so that no rider will have any advantage or disadvantage based on equipment. In addition, all riders must pass strict licensing requirements.
All bicycles and equipment must be built within strict guidelines set by the NJS, by a certified builder using NJS approved materials. The products are then stamped by NJS and only equipment bearing this stamp may be used. However, it should be noted that the NJS standard is to ensure that no rider will have any advantage or disadvantage based on equipment, and does not necessarily relate to quality or standard of manufacture; e.g. 36 spoke wheels are allowed but not 32, and frames must be built by a very limited number of approved builders.
Because of its popularity in Japan, NJS approved equipment often sells for triple the price of comparable equipment. NJS equipment can, for the most part, be obtained more cheaply outside of Japan. NJS equipment can usually be obtained for a better price in places like the US, Germany, France, or Italy, where advanced technologies such as carbon fiber are more popular and more commonly used in racing than the steel required of Keirin. However, NJS frames are still much more expensive than their advanced-material counterparts.
NJS approved equipment are not required for keirin races outside of Japan.
[edit] Champions
As of 2005, Koichi Nakano is the all-time winning cyclist on the Japan Professional Keirin circuit, and also holds the best record as a track cyclist at the UCI Track World Championships with a record of ten consecutive professional Sprint World Track Cycling Championship wins from 1977-86, although he never won the Keirin World Championship. At that time, many leading sprint riders were from from the Eastern bloc countries and had to compete in separate "amateur" events.
The Keirin has been a World Championship event since 1980 with Danny Clarke being the first Keirin World Champion. The current World Champion (2006) is Theo Bos. See UCI Track World Championships, Men for a list of Keirin World Champions.
