[2] Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Sweden each made their debut in the men's sprint.

France and Germany made their third appearance, having competed in both previous editions of the event.

The 1000 metre sprint race consisted of approximately 1 2⁄3 laps of the 660 yard track.

The winning cyclist in each heat advanced to the semifinals, provided that the time limit was not exceeded.

The 200 metre sprint splits were not tracked for this Games, so no new records were set.

When the final sprint occurred on the last lap, Kingsbury also punctured a tyre when entering the main straight.

However the race took longer than the 1 minute 45 second time limit, and was declared void.

Much to the surprise of spectators and the competitors, the National Cyclists Union refused to allow the race to be rerun.