Track sprinting, sometimes called "match sprinting", on a velodrome can involve two to four riders racing, (at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for example) 3 laps totaling 750 meters.

The qualifying round is a timed flying 200 meter time trial. From there the riders are seeded for the next round where the fastest rider races the slowest, the second fastest against the second slowest.

The first two laps of a match sprint are usually ridden slowly, the riders even coming to a complete halt, as they jockey for position or try to catch the other stopped with his crank arms vertical, depriving him momentarily of pedaling force. Some riders prefer to come from behind, other like to take the front. When the riders do dash for the line, it is an exciting all-out race.

Year, City	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1896, Athens	Paul Masson	Stamatios Nikopoulos	Leon Flameng
1900, Paris	Georges Taillandier	Fernand Sanz	John Lake
1920, Antwerp	Maurice Peeters	Horace Johnson	Harry Ryan
1924, Paris	Lucien Michard	Jacob Meijer	Jean Cugnot
1928, Amsterdam	Roger Beaufrand	Antoine Mazairac	Willy Falck-Hansen
1932, Los Angeles	Jacobus Van Egmond	Louis Chaillot	Bruno Pellizzari
1936, Berlin	Toni Merkens	Arie Van Vliet	Louis Chaillot
1948, London	Mario Ghella	Reg Harris	Axel Schandorff
1952, Helsinki	Enzo Sacchi	Lionel Cox	Werner Potzernheim
1956, Melbourne	Michel Rousseau	Guglielmo Pesenti	Richard Ploog
1960, Rome	Sante Gaiardoni	Leo Sterckx	Valentino Gasparella
1964, Tokyo	Giovanni Pettenella	Sergio Bianchetto	Daniel Morelon
1968, Mexico City	Daniel Morelon	Giordano Turrini	Pierre Trentin
1972, Munich	Daniel Morelon	John Nicholson	Omar Phakadze
1976, Montreal	Anton Tkac	Daniel Morelon	Hans Jurgen Geschke
1980, Moscow	Lutz Hesslich	Yave Cahard	Sergei Kopylov
1984, Los Angeles	Mark Gorski	Nelson Vails	Tsutomu Sakamoto
1988, Seoul	Lutz Hesslich	Nikolai Kovche	Gary Neiwand
1992, Barcelona	Jens Fiedler	Gary Neiwand	Curtis Harnett
1996, Atlanta	Jens Fiedler	Marty Nothstein	Curtis Harnett
2000, Sidney	Marty Nothstein	Florian Rousseau	Jens Fiedler
2004, Athens	Ryan Bayley Australia	Theo Bos Holland	Rene Wolff Germany
2008, Beijing	Chris Hoy Great Britain	Jason Kenny Great Britain	Mickael Bourgain France
2012, London