Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres sprint event at the 1952 Olympic Games took place between July 22 and July 23. There were 71 competitors from 35 nations.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by 0.16 seconds by American Andy Stanfield.[2] Americans also took silver (Thane Baker) and bronze (Jim Gathers) as the United States swept the medals in the event for the third time (1904, 1932).

Men's 200 metres
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
Helsinki Olympic Stadium (1930s)
VenueHelsinki Olympic Stadium
DatesJuly 22 (heats and quarterfinals)
July 23 (semifinals and final)
Competitors71 from 35 nations
Winning time20.7 =OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Andy Stanfield
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Thane Baker
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jim Gathers
 United States
← 1948
1956 →

Background

edit

This was the 11th appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Olympics in 1896 but has been on the program ever since. One of the six finalists from the 1948 Games returned: sixth-place finisher Leslie Laing of Jamaica. Andy Stanfield, the inaugural world record setter for 200 metres around a curve and winner of three AAU titles, was the favorite.[1]

Bulgaria, Guatemala, Israel, Nigeria, South Korea, the Soviet Union, Thailand, and Venezuela each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 11th appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the 200 metres to date.

Competition format

edit

The competition used the four round format introduced in 1920: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 18 heats of between 2 and 5 runners each, with the top 2 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals consisted of 6 heats of 6 athletes each; the 2 fastest men in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were 2 semifinals, each with 6 runners. In that round, the top 3 athletes advanced. The final had 6 runners. The races were run on a 400 metre track.[1]

Records

edit

Prior to the competition, the existing world (curved track) and Olympic records were as follows. The world record (straight) was 20.2 seconds.[3]

World record   Andy Stanfield (USA) 20.6 Los Angeles, United States 28 June 1952
Olympic record   Jesse Owens (USA) 20.7 Berlin, Germany 5 August 1936

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. Andy Stanfield's hand-timed final run of 20.7 seconds was equal to the Olympic record.

Schedule

edit

All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3)

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 22 July 1952 15:00
18:50
Heats
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 23 July 1952 15:45
17:55
Semifinals
Final

Results

edit

Heats

edit

The fastest two runners in each of the eighteen heats advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gerardo Bönnhoff   Argentina 21.72 Q
2 Étienne Bally   France 22.03 Q
3 Adolf Turakainen   Finland 22.55
4 Hörður Haraldsson   Iceland 22.56

Heat 2

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thane Baker   United States 21.62 Q
2 Levan Sanadze   Soviet Union 22.26 Q
3 Stefanos Petrakis   Greece 22.64
4 Willy Eichenberger   Switzerland 22.98

Heat 3

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Don McFarlane   Canada 22.94 Q
2 Roman Budzyński   Poland 23.37 Q

Heat 4

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rafael Fortún   Cuba 21.98 Q
2 Nick Stacey   Great Britain 22.07 Q
3 Fernand Linssen   Belgium 22.37
4 Edward Ajado   Nigeria 22.92

Heat 5

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Theo Saat   Netherlands 22.17 Q
2 Werner Zandt   Germany 22.23 Q
3 Juan Leiva   Venezuela 22.38
4 Fawzi Chaaban   Egypt 22.90
5 Eugénio Eleutério   Portugal 23.37

Heat 6

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 David Tabak   Israel 22.60 Q
2 Marcel Gerdil   France 22.71 Q

Heat 7

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Andy Stanfield   United States 22.00 Q
2 Zdobysław Stawczyk   Poland 22.22 Q
3 Enrique Beckles   Argentina 22.73
4 Youssef Ali Omar   Egypt 23.26
5 Adul Wanasatith   Thailand 23.50

Heat 8

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Vladimir Sukharev   Soviet Union 22.08 Q
2 Angel García   Cuba 22.14 Q
3 Hans Wehrli   Switzerland 22.35
4 Pauli Tavisalo   Finland 22.45
5 Abdul Aziz   Pakistan 23.02

Heat 9

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Václav Janeček   Czechoslovakia 21.99 Q
2 Peter Kraus   Germany 22.06 Q
3 Muhammad Aslam   Pakistan 22.14
4 Fred Hammer   Luxembourg 22.63

Heat 10

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Brian Shenton   Great Britain 22.12 Q
2 Voitto Hellstén   Finland 22.41 Q
3 Roby Schaeffer   Luxembourg 22.76
4 Vasilios Sillis   Greece 22.88

Heat 11

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Schalk Booysen   South Africa 22.03 Q
2 Gerard Mach   Poland 22.16 Q
3 Muhammad Sharif Butt   Pakistan 22.34
4 Ásmundur Bjarnason   Iceland 22.51
5 Walter Sutton   Canada 22.53

Heat 12

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jim Gathers   United States 21.42 Q
2 Tomio Hosoda   Japan 22.36 Q
3 Henry Brault   France 22.48
4 Luigi Grossi   Italy 22.49
5 Muslim Arogundade   Nigeria 22.71

Heat 13

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 McDonald Bailey   Great Britain 21.66 Q
2 Miroslav Horčic   Czechoslovakia 22.52 Q
3 Giorgio Sobrero   Italy 22.66
4 Ernst Mühlethaler   Switzerland 23.26
5 Eom Par-yong   South Korea 23.41

Heat 14

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rafiu Oluwa   Nigeria 22.89 Q
2 Boonterm Pakpuang   Thailand 24.15 Q

Heat 15

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Les Laing   Jamaica 21.97 Q
2 Paul Dolan   Ireland 22.04 Q
3 František Brož   Czechoslovakia 22.35
4 Fernando Casimiro   Portugal 22.72
5 José Julio Barillas   Guatemala 22.88

Heat 16

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Raúl Mazorra   Cuba 22.52 Q
2 Robert Hutchinson   Canada 22.66 Q
3 Emad El-Din Shafei   Egypt 22.75
4 Aroon Sankosik   Thailand 23.64

Heat 17

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Edwin Carr, Jr.   Australia 22.19
2 Angel Kolev   Bulgaria 22.24

Heat 18

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Treloar   Australia 21.75 Q
2 Lavy Pinto   India 21.83 Q
3 Péter Karádi   Hungary 22.24
4 Lucio Sangermano   Italy 22.38

Quarterfinals

edit

The fastest two runners in each of the six heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jim Gathers   United States 21.64 Q
2 Lavy Pinto   India 21.80 Q
3 Theo Saat   Netherlands 21.87
4 Zdobysław Stawczyk   Poland 22.12
5 Miroslav Horčic   Czechoslovakia 22.44
6 Raúl Mazorra   Cuba 31.00

Quarterfinal 2

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thane Baker   United States 21.64 Q
2 Rafael Fortún   Cuba 21.98 Q
3 Paul Dolan   Ireland 22.15
4 Peter Kraus   Germany 22.19
5 Voitto Hellstén   Finland 22.61
6 Rafiu Oluwa   Nigeria 22.69

Quarterfinal 3

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 McDonald Bailey   Great Britain 21.27 Q
2 Václav Janeček   Czechoslovakia 21.93 Q
3 Edwin Carr, Jr.   Australia 21.98
4 Schalk Booysen   South Africa 22.09
5 Marcel Gerdil   France 22.37
6 Robert Hutchinson   Canada 22.55

Quarterfinal 4

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gerardo Bönnhoff   Argentina 21.67 Q
2 Nick Stacey   Great Britain 21.79 Q
3 Angel Kolev   Bulgaria 22.07
4 Angel García   Cuba 22.11
5 David Tabak   Israel 22.34
6 Roman Budzyński   Poland 22.51

Quarterfinal 5

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Andy Stanfield   United States 21.21 Q
2 Les Laing   Jamaica 21.74 Q
3 Étienne Bally   France 22.02
4 Levan Sanadze   Soviet Union 22.26
5 Don McFarlane   Canada 22.33
Boonterm Pakpuang   Thailand DNS

Quarterfinal 6

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Treloar   Australia 21.86 Q
2 Werner Zandt   Germany 21.87 Q
3 Vladimir Sukharev   Soviet Union 21.88
4 Gerard Mach   Poland 22.12
5 Brian Shenton   Great Britain 22.24
6 Tomio Hosoda   Japan 22.49

Semifinals

edit

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

Semifinal 1

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Andy Stanfield   United States 21.23 Q
2 Jim Gathers   United States 21.58 Q
3 Les Laing   Jamaica 21.80 Q
4 Werner Zandt   Germany 21.92
5 Nick Stacey   Great Britain 21.95
6 Václav Janeček   Czechoslovakia 22.12

Semifinal 2

edit
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 McDonald Bailey   Great Britain 21.46 Q
2 Thane Baker   United States 21.50 Q
3 Gerardo Bönnhoff   Argentina 21.75 Q
4 Rafael Fortún   Cuba 21.93
5 Lavy Pinto   India 22.01
- John Treloar   Australia DNF

Final

edit

Standfield's hand-timed results of 20.7 seconds was equal to the Olympic record.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Andy Stanfield   United States 20.81 =OR
  Thane Baker   United States 20.97
  James Gathers   United States 21.08
4 McDonald Bailey   Great Britain 21.14
5 Les Laing   Jamaica 21.45
6 Gerardo Bönnhoff   Argentina 21.59

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 272.