Ryan Bayley awarded Australia its first men's sprint Olympic cycling gold medal, defeating Theo Bos of the Netherlands 2-1 in a thrilling tussle at the Athens Games on August 24.

Gold medallist Australian Bayley (C), silver medallist Bos (L) and bronze medallist Wolff (R) pose at the award ceremony of the men's sprint cycling competition at the Athens Olympics Games August 24, 2004.

"It's unbelievable," Bayley told reporters. "Everything came together at the right moment on the right day."

"I am a little bit faster than Bos," he added. "But he is a clever guy. He knows what he wants."

Bayley, the 2004 World Championships bronze medallist, lost the first race despite leading by a two-bike length when Bos overpowered him in a photo finish.

In the second race, the roles were reversed. The Australian gave a start but came back to pip Bos on the line.

The third race saw the young western Australian give the Dutchman a two length lead at the start of the last 200 meters, yet Bayley pulled aside Bos on the final bend before scorching past the 2004 world champion on the line to win his first Olympic gold.

This result reversed the 2004 World Championships semifinal when Bos beat Bayley in three races by the slimmest of margins.

"I was very close to gold," Bos said. "But I needed to win one more race. Unfortunately I didn't have the good legs any more to beat Bayley. He was better than me today."

In the bronze medal ride off, Rene Wolff of Germany beat French legend Laurent Gane 2-0 to win his second medal after being a part of the victorious German team's sprint on the second day of the program.

Gane, the 1999 and 2003 world champion, repeated his fourth place performance of the Sydney Games. He said he would retire after the Athens Games.

Ross Edgar of Britain won the fifth to eighth place ride off, followed by Barry Forde of Barbados in sixth, Damian Zielinski of Poland in seventh and Mickael Bourgain of France in eighth.