Braspennincx from The Netherlands. Men Women Keirin in Japan Track cycling began as one of four allowed betting sports in Japan in 1948, and has since become very popular there. In 1957, the Nihon Jitensha Shinkōkai (NJS; Japan Bicycle Association) was founded to establish a uniform system of standards for the sport in Japan. Today keirin racing is regulated by the JKA Foundation. In 2011, the sum of bets placed on keirin races exceeded ¥600 billion (approximately US$5 billion), and the number of attendees in the races was approximately 4.9 million people. Aspiring professional keirin riders in Japan compete for entrance into the Japan Keirin School. The 10 percent of applicants who are accepted then undergo a strict 15-hours-per-day training regimen. Those who pass the graduation exams and are approved by the NJS become eligible for professional keirin races in Japan. Japanese races for women were reintroduced in July 2012, under the title of Girl's Keirin (ガールズケイリン). Women were previously permitted to participate from 1949 until 1964. Like the men, the women must also undergo a strict training regimen at the Keirin School. Champions from Japan was one of the first Japanese keirin athletes to compete outside of his native country, Nakano holds the best matched sprint record as a track cyclist at the UCI Track World Championships with a record of ten consecutive professional Sprint World Track Cycling Championship wins from 1977 to 1986 against mostly western European pro track cyclists, although he never won the Keirin World Championship. At that time, many leading sprint riders were from the Eastern bloc countries and competed in separate "amateur" events. Katsuaki Matsumoto (1928-2021) is the all-time professional keirin athlete with the most wins - 1341 - over his career (he retired in 1981 at the age of 53). Typical race Keirin races in Japan begin with the cyclists parading to the starting blocks, bowing as they enter the track and again as they position their bikes for the start of the race. Every participant is assigned a number and a colour for identification and betting purposes. At the sound of the gun, the cyclists leave their starting blocks and settle into a position behind the pacer, who is another keirin bicyclist wearing purple with orange stripes. Cyclists initially settle into different groups, referred to as "lines", where they try to work together with others to maximize their chance of winning. As