Last time, I wrote an article about an Austrian mathematician who won a gold medal in a road race.

At that time, I wrote "Japan has zero medals in cycling," but on the final day (after the article's deadline), a Japanese athlete delivered!

While it was close to the deadline, I was pleasantly surprised because I never imagined a Japanese person could win a medal in cycling.

In honor of silver medalist Yumi Kajihara, this time I'd like to share information about Ms. Kajihara, who performed brilliantly at the Tokyo Olympics, with a focus on her bicycle.

Yumi Kajihara's Profile

Yumi Kajihara was born on April 10, 1997, making her 24 years old.

She is from Wako City, Saitama Prefecture.

From elementary school, she studied calligraphy, piano, ballet, and swimming, and in high school, she started cycling while continuing swimming.

Considering this, it means she's only been cycling for about eight years at most.

In 2014, she made a brilliant debut, placing 2nd in the Junior World Cycling Championships - Points Race, and winning the All Japan Road Race - Junior Women's + U-17, and has been consistently active ever since.

What is Omnium?

The "Omnium" in which Ms. Kajihara won a medal this time is a multi-discipline track cycling event where four different races are held on a single day, and the results are converted into points to determine the final ranking.

In English, it might mean something like "omnibus" or "overall."

By the way, those four events are "Scratch," "Tempo Race," "Elimination," and "Points Race."

Honestly, I didn't know what kind of race any of them were, so I looked them up too.

Scratch

All races take place on the track.

Like keirin, the curves are banked, and they look like "hills" on TV, but when you stand on the course, they look like "walls."

The maximum bank angle is 45 degrees.

Athletes run on those banked sections.

By the way, it's said that it's difficult for amateurs to go up the top of the slope.

It's not a "ready, set, go" start; like keirin, they start casually, and then the starting gun signals the official start.

It's a race to compete for finish order over a distance of 10 km for men and 7.5 km for women.

Since one lap of the track is fixed at 250m, men will run 40 laps and women 30 laps.

There's a strict rule that riders who are lapped must exit the track.

Tempo Race

This is also a race where the fastest person wins, but it's 10 km for men and 7.5 km for women, and only the leading rider is awarded 1 point on each lap.

You don't get points unless you're in the lead.

And, if you catch up to a lapped rider, you get 20 points.

This race is also tough on lapped riders.

Elimination

Like the Scratch race, after one neutral lap, the starter's gun fires to begin the race.

The last-place rider is eliminated every two laps, and when only two riders remain, they go head-to-head.

It's a race where the winner is decided in a match race on the final lap.

Points Race

After one neutral lap, the starter fires the gun, and from there, men ride 25 km and women ride 20 km.

Points are awarded every 10 laps: 5 points for 1st place, 3 points for 2nd, 2 points for 3rd, 1 point for 4th, and 0 points for 5th or lower.

Points at the finish line are doubled.

If a rider gains a lap and catches the back of the peloton, 20 points are added.

If a rider is lapped and caught by the front, 20 points are lost.

Even for men, with 40 laps, even if you were always in 1st place, you'd only get 20 points, so losing 20 points means a definite loss.

Kajihara's score at this Tokyo Olympics

Once you understand the rules, it becomes more interesting.

Looking at Kajihara's performance this time, focusing on points, it's as follows:

The first event, the scratch race, is a competition where the fastest person gets points.

She placed 2nd, so she reportedly earned 38 points.

In the second event, the tempo race, she earned 32 points.

Mid-race, she collided with another rider and fell.

It was reported in the news and newspapers that she returned to the race with a torn jersey.

With a total of 40 laps, a maximum of 40 points was possible, so earning 32 points, especially considering her fall, is a truly remarkable achievement.

By the way, if a rider falls within 5 laps of other riders and can return to the position of the fall, they are not considered lapped.

If she couldn't return, it would have been a dangerous situation resulting in a withdrawal.

In the third event, the elimination race, she placed 2nd with 38 points.

This was the result of surviving until the very end in a race where slower riders are eliminated from the course.

Although there were no news sites reporting the points for the fourth event, the points race, it seems she was only 2 points behind the 1st place rider.

A 2-point difference for 2nd place and a silver medal.

Omnium Bicycle

If you look closely at the Omnium bicycle, it's basically similar to a road bike.

When Ms. Kajihara lifted her bicycle in joy at the end, the bicycle was clearly visible: no brakes, no gears, and naturally no mudguards—it's a bicycle built purely for speed.

And the familiar pattern on the rim must be carbon.

The gear on the pedal side appears unusually large, while the gear on the tire side seems relatively small.

If you consider always riding at the highest gear ratio (the heaviest one), anyone who rides a road bike can easily imagine how heavy the pedals would feel when starting off.

Since they ride at a fixed gear from starting off to maximum speed, they must match the gear for maximum speed.

It makes sense that Ms. Kajihara's thighs are almost as thick as her waist.

In her post-race interview, she said something like, "I hope the sport becomes more popular, attracts more participants, and Japanese cycling gets stronger." So, despite my limited knowledge, I wanted to share information about the rules and this result.

I'd be happy if I've managed to spark even a little interest.

The author also wants to get a road bike.

Among those I know, the A22's handlebars resemble those on Ms. Kajihara's bicycle, which has piqued my interest.