The men's sprint at the 1996 Summer Olympics (Cycling) was an event that consisted of cyclists making three laps around the track.

The event was won by Jens Fiedler of Germany, the second man to successfully defend an Olympic sprint title (and third to win two gold medals overall).

Curt Harnett of Canada also repeated as bronze medalist; he and Fiedler were the fifth and sixth men to win multiple medals of any color in the event.

Marty Nothstein of the United States took silver, the nation's first medal in the event since 1984.

Five of the quarterfinalists from 1992 returned: gold medalist Jens Fiedler of Germany, silver medalist Gary Neiwand of Australia, bronze medalist Curt Harnett of Canada, fourth-place finisher Roberto Chiappa of Italy, and eighth-place finisher José Manuel Moreno of Spain.

This sprint competition involved a series of head-to-head matches along with the new qualifying round of time trials.

The winner of each heat rejoined the nine victors of the second round in advancing to the 1/8 finals.

The 1/8 round consisted of six matches, each pitting two of the twelve remaining cyclists against each other.

Winners advanced to the finals, losers competed in the bronze medal match.