Keirin or Bicycle Racing in japan

Keirin is the most extreme sport you've never heard of. Competitors circle a track on fixed-gear bicycles with no brakes, pacing themselves behind a motorbike before making a mad sprint at the end as betting fans cheer like mad. Keirin races are usually 1.5 kilometres long. Riders determine their starting position by drawing lots. Since the race is motor-paced, riders must stay behind the pacer for three laps on a 250-metre track. The pacer will eventually leave the track before the end of the race to allow the riders to sprint to the finish line.

Like a lot of other activities in Japan, keirin is very formalized. Each of the nine riders in the heat wears a number and a matching jersey and helmet cover. Traditionally, numbers 1, 2 and 3 are white, black and red, respectively, and are reserved for the favourites. Other numbers and colour combinations tell the spectators which racers are new or long-shot bets.

The nine racers, who ride brakeless fixed-gear bicycles, gather in numerical order outside the warming building, bow to the instructor, get on their bikes, and roll around the infield exactly two bike lengths apart, to allow the bettors to evaluate them before wagering. The racers then bow again, this time to the starter, before getting on their bikes and then they wait while the pacer, a cyclist in an unnumbered purple jersey and helmet covered in orange stripes, mounts his bike.

When the electronic gun is fired, the bikes are released from their holding devices and the pacer takes off as well. Within a lap, the racers are on the pacer’s wheel, jockeying for position. The race is over 2,000 m long (or five laps of a 400-m oval). For half this distance, the racers must stay behind the pacer. 스포츠토토 The object is to secure a good position going into the final two and a half laps without exhausting yourself before the final sprint.

The History of Keirin

Keirin racing originated in Kokura City in November 1948. It has since become a Japanese social institution attended by around 57 million spectators every year. It is also Japan’s most popular sanctioned betting sport. Japanese Keirin fans place bets amounting to 1.15 trillion Yen annually. In regard to public perception, Keirin compares most closely with greyhound or horse racing in the West. Races are held nearly every weekend at 50 tracks throughout Japan. The entry costs only 100 yen (one whole US dollar) and there are 11 races per night. There are seven different types of bets, combinations of the placing of two or three racers. The background of each rider, his blood type, astrological sign, thigh measurements in addition to starting position and seasonal form are a few factors taken into account when placing a bet. In 1957, the Japanese Keirin Association was founded to establish a uniform system of standards for the sport in Japan. The racers typically do not compete as international medal contenders for this event, largely due to the fact that the Japanese Keirin circuit is much more lucrative and prestigious for the Japanese than world championships and even the Olympics. Koichi Nakano was one of the first Japanese Keirin riders to compete outside Japan.