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In races around the oval-shaped wooden track, cyclists usually jockey for position until an opportune moment occurs to seize the lead and outsprint one's opponent to the finish. East Germany's Christa Rothenburger Luding, a speed-skating gold medalist in Calgary, depended upon legs made strong on ice to surge to another medal last week, a silver in the 1,000-meter match sprint. That made the 28-year-old physical-education student the first athlete ever to win a winter and summer medal in the same Olympic year. Luding missed achieving a pure gold winter-summer double by a split second as she was nipped by the Soviet Union's Erika Salumae in the final heat of their best-of-three face-off. "It would have been fantastic to win the gold medal," said Luding philosophically, "but it was not possible." An Estonian, Salumae, 26, has spent two years in close rivalry with the East German: in the 1986 world championships, she lost to Luding in the sprint final; last year she reversed the order.

The men's competition also produced some memorable moments. In the 1-km time trial, Soviet Alexander Kirichenko clinched a gold medal even though his rear tire began to deflate during his final lap. In the 100-km time trial, an East German team that had trouble breaking two hours in training clocked 1:57.47 to take the gold. In the qualification round of the 4,000-meter pursuit, Australia set a new world record of 4 min. 16.32 sec., only to see the Soviets break it again by 0.22 sec.