Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

Men's 200 metres
at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Valeriy Borzov
VenueOlympic Stadium, Munich
Dates3–4 September 1972
Competitors57 from 42 nations
Winning time20.00
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Valeriy Borzov
 Soviet Union
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Larry Black
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Pietro Mennea
 Italy
← 1968
1976 →

The men's 200 metres was an event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 3–4 September.[1] There were 57 competitors from 42 nations.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.19 seconds by Valeriy Borzov of the Soviet Union, the nation's first medal in the event. Larry Black took silver, extending the United States' podium streak in the men's 200 metres to nine Games. Italy earned its first medal in the event since 1960 with Pietro Mennea's bronze.

Background

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This was the 16th 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 eight finalists from the 1968 Games returned: fourth-place finisher (and 1964 bronze medalist) Edwin Roberts of Trinidad and Tobago. Larry Black was the top American and one of the favorites, along with 1971 Pan American Games winner Don Quarrie of Jamaica. European champion Valeriy Borzov of the Soviet Union was also a contender.[2]

Chad, the Republic of the Congo, East Germany, Lesotho, Malawi, Saudi Arabia, and Suriname each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 16th appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the men's 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 used again in the heats and, for the first time, in the quarterfinals.

There were 9 heats of between 7 and 8 runners each (before withdrawals), with the top 4 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals along with the next 4 fastest overall. The quarterfinals consisted of 5 heats of 8 athletes each; the 3 fastest men in each heat as well as the next fastest runner overall 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  Tommie Smith (USA) 19.83 Mexico City, Mexico 16 October 1968
Olympic record  Tommie Smith (USA) 19.83 Mexico City, Mexico 16 October 1968

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

Schedule

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All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Sunday, 3 September 1972 11:00
15:40
Heats
Quarterfinals
Monday, 4 September 1972 15:25
18:10
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Heats

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The top four runners in each of the nine heats and the next fastest four advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Siegfried Schenke  East Germany 20.66 Q
2 Bruno Cherrier  France 20.79 Q
3 Jiří Kynos  Czechoslovakia 20.95 Q
4 Audun Garshol  Norway 21.16 Q
5 Pasqualino Abeti  Italy 21.17 q
6 Solomon Belay  Ethiopia 21.73
Zenon Nowosz  Poland DNS

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Don Quarrie  Jamaica 21.04 Q
2 Martin Jellinghaus  West Germany 21.10 Q
3 Andrés Calonge  Argentina 21.39 Q
4 Ladislav Kříž  Czechoslovakia 21.58 Q
5 Mike Sands  Bahamas 21.61 q
6 Yeo Kian Chye  Singapore 21.89
Amadou Meïté  Ivory Coast DNS
Rodolfo Rieder  Paraguay DNS

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Valeriy Borzov  Soviet Union 20.64 Q
2 Edwin Roberts  Trinidad and Tobago 20.95 Q
3 Richard Hardware  Jamaica 21.09 Q
4 Motsapi Moorosi  Lesotho 21.15 Q
5 Su Wen-Ho  Republic of China 21.55 q
6 Jean-Pierre Bassegela  Republic of the Congo 21.72
7 Hamad Ndee  Tanzania 21.74

Heat 4

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Wind assisted.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Pietro Mennea  Italy 20.53 Q
2 Markku Juhola  Finland 20.98 Q
3 Ainsley Armstrong  Trinidad and Tobago 21.12 Q
4 Guillermo González  Puerto Rico 21.22 Q
5 Sammy Monsels  Suriname 21.26 q
6 Gaston Malam  Cameroon 21.71
7 Gary Georges  Haiti 22.97

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Larry Black  United States 20.79 Q
2 René Metz  France 21.08 Q
3 Brian Green  Great Britain 21.26 Q
4 Omar Chokhmane  Morocco 21.29 Q
5 Luiz de Silva  Brazil 21.81
6 Eston Kaonga  Malawi 22.18
Benedict Majekodumni  Nigeria DNS

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Chuck Smith  United States 20.79 Q
2 Vladimir Lovetskiy  Soviet Union 20.99 Q
3 Sunil Gunawardene  Ceylon 21.60 Q
4 Trevor James  Trinidad and Tobago 21.83 Q
5 Zainuddin Wahab  Malaysia 21.87
6 Dominic Saidu  Liberia 22.48
7 Saad Khalil Al-Dosari  Saudi Arabia 22.56
Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa  Madagascar DNS

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jaroslav Matoušek  Czechoslovakia 20.70 Q
2 Francisco García  Spain 20.89 Q
3 George Daniels  Ghana 21.05 Q
4 Jimmy Sierra  Colombia 21.10 Q
5 Kevin Johnson  Bahamas 21.70
6 Ibrahim Saad Abdel Galil  Sudan 22.41
Mao Samphon  Khmer Republic DNS
Abdulazeez Abdulkareem  Kuwait DNS

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Manfred Ommer  West Germany 20.80 Q
2 Hans-Joachim Zenk  East Germany 20.93 Q
3 James Addy  Ghana 21.06 Q
4 Dan Amuke  Kenya 21.53 Q
5 Nusrat Iqbal Sahi  Pakistan 22.07
Saleh Alah-Djaba  Chad DNF
Charlie Francis  Canada DNS

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Larry Burton  United States 20.80 Q
2 Lucien Sainte-Rose  France 21.09 Q
3 Bevan Smith  New Zealand 21.17 Q
4 Philippe Clerc  Switzerland 21.32 Q
5 Tukal Mokalam  Philippines 21.81
6 William Dralu  Uganda 21.87
Larmeck Mukonde  Zambia DNS

Quarterfinals

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The top three runners (blue) in each of the five heats and the next fastest (green) advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Valeriy Borzov  Soviet Union 20.30 Q
2 Manfred Ommer  West Germany 20.53 Q
3 Jiří Kynos  Czechoslovakia 20.68 Q
4 René Metz  France 20.83
5 Jimmy Sierra  Colombia 20.87
6 Omar Chokhmane  Morocco 21.00
7 Guillermo González  Puerto Rico 21.10
Mike Sands  Bahamas DNS

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jaroslav Matoušek  Czechoslovakia 20.65 Q
2 Chuck Smith  United States 20.66 Q
3 Ainsley Armstrong  Trinidad and Tobago 21.00 Q
4 Bevan Smith  New Zealand 21.04
5 George Daniels  Ghana 21.10
6 Andrés Calonge  Argentina 21.11
7 Markku Juhola  Finland 21.19
8 Sunil Gunawardene  Ceylon 21.31

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Larry Burton  United States 20.68 Q
2 Martin Jellinghaus  West Germany 20.70 Q
3 Siegfried Schenke  East Germany 20.79 Q
4 Philippe Clerc  Switzerland 20.82
5 Edwin Roberts  Trinidad and Tobago 20.99
6 Pasqualino Abeti  Italy 21.00
7 Ladislav Kříž  Czechoslovakia 21.46
James Addy  Ghana DSQ

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Larry Black  United States 20.28 Q
2 Don Quarrie  Jamaica 20.43 Q
3 Bruno Cherrier  France 20.62 Q
4 Vladimir Lovetskiy  Soviet Union 20.83
5 Motsapi Moorosi  Lesotho 20.90
6 Su Wen-Ho  Republic of China 21.47
7 Audun Garshol  Norway 25.30
Dan Amuke  Kenya DNF

Quarterfinal 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Pietro Mennea  Italy 20.47 Q
2 Hans-Joachim Zenk  East Germany 20.59 Q
3 Richard Hardware  Jamaica 20.76 Q
4 Lucien Sainte-Rose  France 20.76 q
5 Francisco García  Spain 20.77
6 Trevor James  Trinidad and Tobago 21.34
7 Brian Green  Great Britain 21.41
Samuel Monsels  Suriname DNS

Semifinals

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Top four in each heat advance to final.

Semifinal 1

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Quarrie pulled his hamstring during the race and could not finish.[2]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Valeriy Borzov  Soviet Union 20.74 Q
2 Larry Burton  United States 20.78 Q
3 Chuck Smith  United States 20.86 Q
4 Siegfried Schenke  East Germany 20.97 Q
5 Jaroslav Matoušek  Czechoslovakia 20.99
6 Manfred Ommer  West Germany 21.08
7 Lucien Sainte-Rose  France 21.42
Don Quarrie  Jamaica DNF

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Larry Black  United States 20.36 Q
2 Pietro Mennea  Italy 20.52 Q
3 Hans-Joachim Zenk  East Germany 20.63 Q
4 Martin Jellinghaus  West Germany 20.75 Q
5 Jiří Kynos  Czechoslovakia 20.88
6 Ainsley Armstrong  Trinidad and Tobago 21.13
7 Bruno Cherrier  France 21.15
8 Richard Hardware  Jamaica 21.24

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time
1st place, gold medalist(s) Valeriy Borzov  Soviet Union 20.00
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Larry Black  United States 20.19
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Pietro Mennea  Italy 20.30
4 Larry Burton  United States 20.37
5 Chuck Smith  United States 20.55
6 Siegfried Schenke  East Germany 20.56
7 Martin Jellinghaus  West Germany 20.65
8 Hans-Joachim Zenk  East Germany 21.05

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1972 Munich Summer Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
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