Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres sprint event at the 1936 Olympic Games took place between August 4 and August 5. There were 44 athletes from 22 nations competing.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by 0.4 seconds by American Jesse Owens, with silver going to Mack Robinson (brother of baseball's Jackie Robinson).[2] Owens thus reached 3 gold medals in 1936 (along with the 100 metres and long jump), with the sprint relay still to come. The Netherlands earned its first medal in the men's 200 metres with Tinus Osendarp's bronze.

Men's 200 metres
at the Games of the XI Olympiad
Jesse Owens
VenueOlympiastadion: Berlin, Germany
DatesAugust 4 (heats and quarterfinals)
August 5 (semifinals and final)
Competitors44 from 23 nations
Winning time20.7 WR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Jesse Owens
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Mack Robinson
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Tinus Osendarp
 Netherlands
← 1932
1948 →

Background

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This was the ninth appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Olympics in 1896 but has been on the program ever since. None of the six finalists from the 1932 Games returned. Jesse Owens was the favorite coming into the Games. He had already won both the 100 metres and the long jump in Berlin.[1]

Liechtenstein made its debut in the event. The United States made its ninth appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the 200 metres to date.

Competition format

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The competition used the four round format introduced in 1920: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 8 heats of between 4 and 6 runners each, with the top 3 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals consisted of 4 heats of 6 athletes each; the 3 fastest men in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were 2 semifinals, each with 6 runners. Again, the top 3 athletes advanced. The final had 6 runners. The races were run on a now-standard 400 metre track.[1]

Records

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Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:

World record 20.6*
Olympic record   Eddie Tolan (USA) 21.2 Los Angeles, United States 3 August 1932

*On straightaway. No world record existed for running on a curve.[3][1]

Jesse Owens set a new Olympic record in the third heat, running in 21.1 seconds. He repeated that performance in the third quarterfinal. Mack Robinson matched Owens' new record in the first semifinal, and again in the final—but Owens finished with a time of 20.7 seconds in the final to lower the Olympic record and set an unofficial world record for curved-track running.[1]

Schedule

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Date Time Round
Tuesday, 4 August 1936 10:30
15:30
Heats
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 5 August 1936 15:00
18:00
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Heats

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The fastest three runners in each of the eight heats advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Wil van Beveren   Netherlands 21.4 Q
2 Tomás Beswick   Argentina 22.1 Q
3 Mutsuo Taniguchi   Japan 22.2 Q
4 Antonio Salcedo   Philippines Unknown
5 José de Almeida   Brazil Unknown
6 Aristidis Sakellariou   Greece Unknown

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Tinus Osendarp   Netherlands 21.7 Q
2 Egon Schein   Germany 22.0 Q
3 Alan Pennington   Great Britain 22.1 Q
4 Masao Yazawa   Japan 22.4
5 Pierre Dondelinger   France Unknown
6 Xaver Frick   Liechtenstein Unknown

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jesse Owens   United States 21.1 Q, OR
2 Lee Orr   Canada 21.6 Q
3 Karl Neckermann   Germany 21.8 Q
4 Arthur Sweeney   Great Britain 22.1
5 Nemesio de Guzman   Philippines 22.9
6 Gunnar Christensen   Denmark 23.1

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bruce Humber   Canada 22.1 Q
2 Gyula Gyenes   Hungary 22.1 Q
3 Felix Rinner   Austria 22.4 Q
4 Paul Bronner   France 22.6
5 Chen Kingkwan   Republic of China Unknown

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Paul Hänni   Switzerland 21.9 Q
2 Renos Frangoudis   Greece 22.1 Q
3 József Sir   Hungary 22.2 Q
4 Poh Kimseng   Republic of China Unknown
5 Pat Dannaher   South Africa Unknown

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Marthinus Theunissen   South Africa 21.7 Q
2 Howard McPhee   Canada 21.8 Q
3 Börje Strandvall   Finland 22.6 Q
4 George Fahoum   Egypt Unknown
5 Liu Changchun   Republic of China Unknown
6 Antonio Fondevilla   Argentina Unknown

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bob Packard   United States 21.2 Q
2 Eric Grimbeek   South Africa 21.8 Q
3 Albert Steinmetz   Germany 21.9 Q
4 Eric Whiteside   India Unknown

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mack Robinson   United States 21.6 Q
2 Aki Tammisto   Finland 22.2 Q
3 Carlos Hofmeister   Argentina 22.3 Q
4 Dieudonné Devrindt   Belgium Unknown
5 Mario Minai   Hungary Unknown
6 Alfred König   Austria Unknown

Quarterfinals

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The fastest three runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Lee Orr   Canada 21.2 Q
2 Paul Hänni   Switzerland 21.3 Q
3 Bob Packard   United States 21.3 Q
4 József Sir   Hungary 21.6
5 Egon Schein   Germany 21.7
6 Tomás Beswick   Argentina Unknown

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Wil van Beveren   Netherlands 21.7 Q
2 Marthinus Theunissen   South Africa 21.9 Q
3 Bruce Humber   Canada 22.1 Q
4 Renos Frangoudis   Greece Unknown
5 Mutsuo Taniguchi   Japan Unknown
6 Carlos Hofmeister   Argentina Unknown

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jesse Owens   United States 21.1 Q, =OR
2 Howard McPhee   Canada 21.8 Q
3 Eric Grimbeek   South Africa 21.9 Q
4 Aki Tammisto   Finland 22.0
5 Felix Rinner   Austria Unknown
Albert Steinmetz   Germany DSQ

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mack Robinson   United States 21.2 Q
2 Tinus Osendarp   Netherlands 21.3 Q
3 Karl Neckermann   Germany 21.6 Q
4 Gyula Gyenes   Hungary Unknown
5 Börje Strandvall   Finland Unknown
Alan Pennington   Great Britain DNS

Semifinals

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The fastest three runners in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mack Robinson   United States 21.1 Q, =OR
2 Lee Orr   Canada 21.3 Q
3 Wil van Beveren   Netherlands 21.5 Q
4 Bob Packard   United States 21.6
5 Karl Neckermann   Germany 21.8
6 Eric Grimbeek   South Africa 22.2

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jesse Owens   United States 21.3 Q
2 Tinus Osendarp   Netherlands 21.5 Q
3 Paul Hänni   Switzerland 21.6 Q
4 Marthinus Theunissen   South Africa 21.8
5 Bruce Humber   Canada 22.0
6 Howard McPhee   Canada 22.0

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Jesse Owens   United States 20.7 WR
  Mack Robinson   United States 21.1
  Tinus Osendarp   Netherlands 21.3
4 Paul Hänni   Switzerland 21.6
5 Lee Orr   Canada 21.6
6 Wil van Beveren   Netherlands 21.9

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 621.