In 1963 (August 31 and September 1), cycling competitions took place at the “Daugava” velodrome (formerly known as “Marss”).
Information from newspapers.
On the first day, the men’s sprint event was held. The semifinals featured Rostislav Vargashkins (from Leningrad), Imants Bodnieks, Ernests Pūce, V. Krasko and V. Paija. The four best riders competed against each other in two heats each.
A surprise was delivered by E. Pūce, who launched a sudden sprint, broke away from Bodnieks and defeated him at the finish by a tire’s width. In the second heat, I. Bodnieks was more cautious and took revenge, while in the third decisive heat he defeated E. Pūce by the length of a bicycle.
R. Vargashkins initially felt uneasy on the unfamiliar “Daugava” track, yet he also “gave in” to I. Bodnieks only after the third heat. It was a beautiful contest in which I. Bodnieks claimed victory 2:1. Meanwhile, Vargashkins only narrowly managed to achieve the same result against the young Riga rider E. Pūce. In the final standings, A. Rudzītis lost to all three competitors, finishing in fourth place.
In the youth sprint competition, first place was claimed by Imants Stradiņš, while R. Briedis, considered one of the favorites, finished in fifth place.
In the 3 km individual time trial for men, the best result was achieved by Ventspils rider J. Sakne – 4:07.4. He was surpassed by the young rider I. Stradiņš, who, after the exhausting sprint races, recorded a time of 4:05.6.
Youth girls and women competed in the 200 m flying start event. The best performance came from young rider K. Eniņa, who defeated Ventspils competitors D. Ciekale and S. Ozola by 0.2 seconds. In the handicap race, victory went to M. Dimza (receiving an 80 m advantage), while the elimination race was won by D. Ciekale.
Velodrome records (200 m):
In 1928 at the “Marss” velodrome –
Vitolds Sāvičs – 12.8 sec
In 1957 – R. Vargashkins – 12.4 sec
In 1960 the record was matched by I. Eiduks
In 1963 Imants Bodnieks set a new velodrome record –
11.9 sec