Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres was the second-shortest of the men's track races in the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. 63 athletes from 48 nations entered, with 6 not starting in the first round. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The first two rounds were held on 16 October, with the semifinals and the final on 17 October.[1] The event was won by 0.2 seconds by Henry Carr of the United States, the nation's 11th victory in the event. Fellow American Paul Drayton took silver; it was the fifth time in six Games that the United States had the top two finishers. Edwin Roberts gave Trinidad and Tobago its first medal in the men's 200 metres with his bronze.

Men's 200 metres
at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Paul Drayton, Henry Carr and Edwin Roberts
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates16–17 October
Competitors57 from 42 nations
Winning time20.3 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Henry Carr
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Paul Drayton
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Edwin Roberts
 Trinidad and Tobago
← 1960
1968 →

Background

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This was the 14th appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Olympics in 1896 but has been on the program ever since. Two of the six finalists from the 1960 Games returned: gold medalist Livio Berruti of Italy and fourth-place finisher Marian Foik of Poland. The American team, however, was favored: Henry Carr had won the AAU championship in 1964, Paul Drayton had won in 1961 and 1962, and the two had tied in 1963. Carr held the world record of 20.2 seconds (set in a 220 yards race).[2]

Cameroon, Colombia, Hong Kong, Iran, Madagascar, Northern Rhodesia, Rhodesia, and Senegal each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 14th 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. The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1960 was not used, with the number of heats in each round make it unnecessary. The 1964 competition made the 8 person heat standard.

There were 8 heats of between 7 and 8 runners each (before withdrawals), with the top 4 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals consisted of 4 heats of 8 athletes each; the 4 fastest men in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were 2 semifinals, each with 8 runners. Again, the top 4 athletes advanced. The final had 8 runners. The races were run on a 400 metre track.[2]

Records

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

World record   Henry Carr (USA) 20.2y Tempe, United States 4 April 1964
Olympic record   Livio Berruti (ITA) 20.5 Rome, Italy 3 September 1960

Paul Drayton matched the Olympic record of 20.5 seconds in the first semifinal. He ran the same time in the final, but Henry Carr won in 20.3 seconds to set a new Olympic record.

Schedule

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All times are Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)

Date Time Round
Friday, 16 October 1964 10:30
14:30
Heats
Quarterfinals
Saturday, 17 October 1964 14:30
16:00
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Heats

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The top four runners in each of the 8 heats advanced.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Paul Drayton   United States 20.7 Q
2 Andrzej Zieliński   Poland 21.2 Q
3 Clifton Bertrand   Trinidad and Tobago 21.3 Q
4 Johan du Preez   Rhodesia 21.4 Q
5 Jean-Louis Descloux   Switzerland 21.5
6 F. J. Gutierrez Hernandez   Colombia 21.8
7 Gerardo di Tolla   Peru 22.1
8 Somsak Thongsuk   Thailand 22.6

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Roger Bambuck   France 21.2 Q
2 Arquímedes Herrera   Venezuela 21.3 Q
3 Boris Zubov   Soviet Union 21.4 Q
4 Peter Radford   Great Britain 21.5 Q
5 Erasmus Amukun   Uganda 21.5
6 Carlos Lorenzo Manueco   Mexico 21.6
Levy Psawkin   Israel DNS
Iijima Hideo   Japan DNS

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Menzies Campbell   Great Britain 21.3 Q
2 Serafino Antao   Kenya 21.5 Q
3 Csaba Csutoras   Hungary 21.5 Q
4 B. El Maachi Bouchaib   Morocco 21.5 Q
5 David Njitock   Cameroon 22.5
6 Wesley Johnson   Liberia 22.5
Eric James Bigby   Australia DNS
Pablo McNeil   Jamaica DNS

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Marian Foik   Poland 21.1 Q
2 Sergio Ottolina   Italy 21.2 Q
3 Edvin Ozolin   Soviet Union 21.3 Q
4 Jeffery Smith   Northern Rhodesia 21.7 Q
5 Jassim Karim Kuraishi   Iraq 22.6
6 Lee Ar Tu   Taiwan 23.0
Enrique Figuerola   Cuba DNS

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Harry Jerome   Canada 20.9 Q
2 M. Jegathesan   Malaysia 20.9 Q
3 Paul Genevay   France 21.0 Q
4 Franciscus Luitjes   Netherlands 21.1 Q
5 Heinz Erbstosser   United Team of Germany 21.4
6 Tegegn Bezabih   Ethiopia 22.0
7 Abdolvahab Shahkhoreh   Iran 22.3
Borys Savchuk   Soviet Union DSQ

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Edwin Roberts   Trinidad and Tobago 20.8 Q
2 Bob Lay   Australia 21.3 Q
3 Pedro Grajales   Colombia 21.4 Q
4 David Ejoke   Nigeria 21.4 Q
5 George Reginald Collie   Bahamas 21.9
6 Kenneth Lawrence Powell   India 21.9
7 Aggrey Sheroy Awori   Uganda 22.2
8 William Hill   Hong Kong 22.5

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Heinz Schumann   United Team of Germany 21.0 Q
2 Henry Carr   United States 21.1 Q
3 Jocelyn Delecour   France 21.3 Q
4 Ivan Moreno   Chile 21.5 Q
5 Alioune Sow   Senegal 21.9
6 Michael Okantey   Ghana 21.9
7 Rogelio Onofre   Philippines 22.1
Tom Robinson   Bahamas DNS

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Livio Berruti   Italy 21.1 Q
2 Richard Stebbins   United States 21.1 Q
3 Fritz Roderfeld   United Team of Germany 21.5 Q
4 Gary Holdsworth   Australia 21.6 Q
5 Jose Fernandes da Rocha   Portugal 21.7
6 Valeriu Jurcă   Romania 21.8
7 Chung Ki Sun   South Korea 22.3
8 Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa   Madagascar 22.4

Quarterfinals

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The four fastest runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinals.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Paul Drayton   United States 20.9 Q
2 Livio Berruti   Italy 21.2 Q
3 M. Jegathesan   Malaysia 21.4 Q
4 Jocelyn Delecour   France 21.5 Q
5 Andrzej Zieliński   Poland 21.5
6 Boris Zubov   Soviet Union 21.8
7 Jeffery Smith   Northern Rhodesia 22.0
8 Serafino Antao   Kenya 22.1

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Henry Carr   United States 21.0 Q
2 Sergio Ottolina   Italy 21.1 Q
3 Heinz Schumann   United Team of Germany 21.2 Q
4 Arquimedes Herrera   Venezuela 21.2 Q
5 Bob Lay   Australia 21.4
6 Csaba Csutoras   Hungary 21.4
7 Ivan Moreno   Chile 21.7
8 Johan du Preez   Rhodesia 21.8

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Harry Jerome   Canada 21.2 Q
2 Richard Stebbins   United States 21.2 Q
3 Roger Bambuck   France 21.4 Q
4 B. El Maachi Boushaib   Morocco 21.6 Q
5 Clifton Bertrand   Trinidad and Tobago 21.6
6 Menzies Campbell   Great Britain 21.7
7 P. A. Grajales Escobar   Colombia 21.7
8 Friedrich Roderfeld   United Team of Germany 22.2

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Edwin Roberts   Trinidad and Tobago 20.9 Q
2 Marian Foik   Poland 21.0 Q
3 Paul Genevay   France 21.3 Q
4 Franciscus Luitjes   Netherlands 21.4 Q
5 Edvin Ozolin   Soviet Union 21.4
6 Peter Radford   Great Britain 21.5
7 Gary Holdsworth   Australia 22.1
David Ejoke   Nigeria DNS

Semifinals

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The top four runners in each of the two semifinals qualified for the final.

Semifinal 1

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Drayton tied the Olympic record in this semifinal, three-tenths of a second short of the world record.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Paul Drayton   United States 20.5 Q, =OR
2 Sergio Ottolina   Italy 20.7 Q
3 Richard Stebbins   United States 20.8 Q
4 Marian Foik   Poland 20.9 Q
5 Paul Genevay   France 20.9
6 Arquimedes Herrera   Venezuela 21.0
7 Franciscus Luitjes   Netherlands 21.1
8 B. El Maachi Bouchaib   Morocco 21.6

Semifinal 2

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The second semifinal was the fourth race of the 200 metres in which an American won and an Italian took second place.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Henry Carr   United States 20.6 Q
2 Livio Berruti   Italy 20.7 Q
3 Edwin Roberts   Trinidad and Tobago 20.8 Q
4 Harry Jerome   Canada 21.0 Q
5 Roger Bambuck   France 21.0
6 Heinz Schumann   United Team of Germany 21.1
7 Jocelyn Delecour   France 21.2
8 M. Jegathesan   Malaysia 21.2

Final

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Drayton matched his semifinal time, which had tied the Olympic record at 20.5 seconds, but Carr did even better, setting a new Olympic record of 20.3 seconds to bump Drayton to the silver medal. Carr's time was only one-tenth of a second off the world record.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Henry Carr   United States 20.3 OR
  Paul Drayton   United States 20.5
  Edwin Roberts   Trinidad and Tobago 20.6
4 Harry Jerome   Canada 20.7
5 Livio Berruti   Italy 20.8
6 Marian Foik   Poland 20.8
7 Richard Stebbins   United States 20.8
8 Sergio Ottolina   Italy 20.9

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1964 Tokyo Summer Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 30 December 2020.