Willy Hansen

Willy Falck Hansen ( born April 4, 1906 in Helsingør, † 18 March 1978 in Rome) was a Danish cyclist. In 1928, he was Olympic champion in 1000 -meter time trial.

Falck Hansen took in Paris in 1924 for the first time in the Olympic Games in part and started there in all four track events. About 50 km he gave up in the sprint and team pursuit ( with Erik Kjeldsen, Oscar Guldager and Edmund Hansen) he came each quarter finals. Along with Hansen, he reached the final of the tandem - driving; the two Danes finished second behind the Frenchman Lucien Choury and Jean Cugnot.

Four years later, Falck Hansen competed in the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam in the sprint and time trial. In the time trial, he won in 1:14,2 minutes the gold medal, two days later he won the bronze medal in the sprint. Also in 1928 won Falck Hansen the world title of the amateurs in the sprint. The end of 1928 Falck Hansen moved to the professionals.

Until 1946, he won 15 times Danish Champion title in the sprint. At the World Championships he reached the pros from 1929 to 1939 every year the quarter-finals in the sprint. In 1930 he finished fourth in 1931 he became world champion in the other years, he retired in the quarterfinals of each. His professional career ended 1950.

Falck Hansen's World Cup victory in 1931 was controversial: In the final race of the Sprint race between him and the Frenchman Lucien Michard the goal judge Alban Collignon chose Falck Hansen as the winner and called him to be a world champion. Although both the driver and he himself realized shortly afterwards that this was a miscarriage of justice, the former rules did not allow for review of its decision. Since Collignon was the only goal judge, it was decided, as a consequence, the future use several objective judge.