Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres was an event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were 79 participating athletes from 65 nations, with eleven qualifying heats.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Michael Marsh of the United States, the nation's third consecutive and 15th overall victory in the event. The Americans would take a second medal for the third consecutive Games as well, this time with Michael Bates earning bronze. The silver medal went to Frankie Fredericks, taking Namibia's first medal in the men's 200 metres.

Men's 200 metres
at the Games of the XXV Olympiad
Soviet stamp commemorating 1992 Olympic athletics
VenueEstadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
DatesAugust 4–6
Competitors79 from 65 nations
Winning time20.01
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Michael Marsh
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Frankie Fredericks
 Namibia
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Michael Bates
 United States
← 1988
1996 →

Background edit

This was the 21st appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Olympics in 1896 but has been on the program ever since. Four of the eight finalists from the 1988 Games returned: bronze medalist Robson da Silva of Brazil, fourth-place finisher Linford Christie of Great Britain, fifth-place finisher Atlee Mahorn of Canada, and sixth-place finisher Gilles Quénéhervé of France. Michael Johnson was the favorite coming into the Games; he had won the 1991 World Championship and was ranked #1 in the world in 1990 and 1991. He had been beaten in June by Frankie Fredericks of Namibia, however, and teammate Michael Marsh had been only 0.07 seconds behind Johnson at the U.S. trials. Before the Games, Johnson came down with food poisoning; while he still competed, he was clearly not at full strength.[2]

Bahrain, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, Grenada, Mauritania, Namibia, Niger, San Marino, and Togo each made their debut in the event. Some former Soviet republics competed as the Unified Team. One Yugoslav athlete competed as an Independent Olympic Participant. The United States made its 20th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format edit

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 in the heats and quarterfinals.

There were 11 heats of 7 or 8 runners each, with the top 3 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals along with the next 7 fastest overall. The quarterfinals consisted of 5 heats of 8 athletes each; the 3 fastest men in each heat and the next fastest overall advanced to the semifinals. There were 2 semifinals, each with 8 runners. The top 4 athletes in each semifinal advanced. The final had 8 runners. The races were run on a 400 metre track.[2]

Records edit

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1992 Summer Olympics.

World record   Pietro Mennea (ITA) 19.72 Mexico City, Mexico 12 September 1979
Olympic record   Joe DeLoach (USA) 19.75 Seoul, South Korea 28 September 1988

Michael Marsh set a new Olympic and American record with 19.73 seconds in his semifinal.

Schedule edit

The schedule featured three days of competition for the first time since 1908, up from two days in previous Games, with the semifinals and final on separate days.

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Date Time Round
Monday, 3 August 1992 10:20
18:20
Heats
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 5 August 1992 18:30 Semifinals
Thursday, 6 August 1992 18:40 Final

Results edit

Heats edit

Heat 1 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Frankie Fredericks   Namibia 20.74 Q
2 Andreas Berger   Austria 21.02 Q
3 Edgardo Guilbe   Puerto Rico 21.75 Q
4 Wyndell Dickinson   Virgin Islands 21.78
5 Bothloko Shebe   Lesotho 21.96
6 Apisai Driu Baibai   Fiji 22.07
7 Médard Makanga   Republic of the Congo 22.18

Heat 2 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Michael Johnson   United States 20.80 Q
2 Patrick Stevens   Belgium 20.93 Q
3 Sérgio de Menezes   Brazil 21.17 Q
4 Francis Ogola   Uganda 21.29 q
5 Miguel Ángel Gómez   Spain 21.46 q
6 Samuel Nchinda-Kaya   Cameroon 21.50
7 Sriyantha Dissanayake   Sri Lanka 21.61

Heat 3 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Oluyemi Kayode   Nigeria 20.42 Q
2 Atlee Mahorn   Canada 21.01 Q
3 Boevi Lawson   Togo 21.05 Q
4 Ouattara Lagazane   Ivory Coast 21.13 q
5 Simon Kipkemboi   Kenya 21.57
6 Dejan Jovković   Independent Olympic Participants 21.77
7 Amadou Sy Savané   Guinea 21.86
8 Jaime Zelaya   Honduras 22.05

Heat 4 edit

Quénéhervé was originally disqualified, putting Seaksarn Boonrat in third place and qualifying the Thai runner for the quarterfinals. When Quénéhervé was reinstated, both men advanced on placement (Seaksarn Boonrat would have advanced on time, but this resulted in him not using one of the "lucky loser" places).[2]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Michael Bates   United States 20.91 Q
2 Gilles Quénéhervé   France 20.99 Q
3 Kennedy Ondiek   Kenya 21.04 Q
4 Seaksarn Boonrat   Thailand 21.39 Q
5 Eswort Coombs   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 22.07
6 Bounhom Siliphone   Laos 23.64
Afonso Ferraz   Angola DNS

Heat 5 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Daniel Cojocaru   Romania 21.20 Q
2 Linford Christie   Great Britain 21.23 Q
3 Stefan Burkart   Switzerland 21.33 Q
4 Abel Tshaka Nzimande   South Africa 21.43 q
5 Mateaki Mafi   Tonga 22.05
6 Lamin Marikong   The Gambia 22.33
7 Randolph Foster   Costa Rica 22.47
8 Abdullah Salem Al-Khalidi   Oman 22.48

Heat 6 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Marcus Adam   Great Britain 20.62 Q
2 Nikolay Antonov   Bulgaria 20.94 Q
3 Nelson Boateng   Ghana 21.03 Q
4 Henrico Atkins   Barbados 21.28 q
5 Ato Boldon   Trinidad and Tobago 21.65
6 Shahanuddin Choudhury   Bangladesh 21.88
7 Kaminiel Selot   Papua New Guinea 22.36
8 Boureima Kimba   Niger 22.49

Heat 7 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Olapade Adeniken   Nigeria 20.79 Q
2 Clive Wright   Jamaica 20.98 Q
3 Edvin Ivanov   Unified Team 21.10 Q
4 Giannis Zisimidis   Cyprus 21.51
5 Aldo Canti   San Marino 21.69
6 Gabriel Simeon   Grenada 22.09
7 Kenmore Hughes   Antigua and Barbuda 22.18

Heat 8 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Dean Capobianco   Australia 20.86 Q
2 Torbjörn Eriksson   Sweden 21.08 Q
3 Ibrahima Tamba   Senegal 21.25 Q
4 Sayed Mubarak Al-Kuwari   Qatar 21.87
5 Adam Hassan Sakak   Sudan 21.96
6 Robinson Stewart   Swaziland 21.97
Jean-Charles Trouabal   France DNF
Juan Vicente Matala   Equatorial Guinea DSQ

Heat 9 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Regis   Great Britain 20.63 Q
2 Sidnei de Souza   Brazil 20.72 Q
3 Emmanuel Tuffour   Ghana 21.07 Q
4 Horace Dove-Edwin   Sierra Leone 21.38 q
5 Khaled Ibrahim Jouma   Bahrain 21.55
6 Harouna Pale   Burkina Faso 21.65
7 Boubout Dieng   Mauritania 22.75

Heat 10 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Mike Marsh   United States 20.38 Q
2 Neil De Silva   Trinidad and Tobago 20.89 Q
3 Peter Ogilvie   Canada 21.11 Q
4 Ousmane Diarra   Mali 21.73
5 Hussain Arif   Pakistan 21.75
6 Pat Kwok Wai   Hong Kong 22.45
7 Ahmed Shageef   Maldives 22.54

Heat 11 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Robson da Silva   Brazil 20.62 Q
2 Cameron Taylor   New Zealand 20.91 Q
3 Christoph Pöstinger   Austria 21.02 Q
4 Anthony Wilson   Canada 21.21 q
5 Valentin Ngbogo   Central African Republic 21.51
6 Claude Roumain   Haiti 22.51
Fletcher Wamilee   Vanuatu DNS

Quarterfinals edit

Quarterfinal 1 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Marcus Adam   Great Britain 20.43 Q
2 Michael Johnson   United States 20.55 Q
3 Neil de Silva   Trinidad and Tobago 20.66 Q
4 Atlee Mahorn   Canada 20.78
5 Christoph Pöstinger   Austria 20.83
6 Sergio de Menezes   Brazil 21.00
7 Horace Dove-Edwin   Sierra Leone 21.80
Eduardo Guilbe Alomar   Puerto Rico DNS

Quarterfinal 2 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Robson da Silva   Brazil 20.35 Q
2 Olapade Adeniken   Nigeria 20.47 Q
3 Clive Wright   Jamaica 20.70 Q
4 Edvin Ivanov   Unified Team 20.78
5 Cameron Taylor   New Zealand 20.83
6 Samuel Nelson Boateng   Ghana 21.04
7 Ouattara Lagazane   Ivory Coast 21.39
8 Francis Ogola   Uganda 21.41

Quarterfinal 3 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Michael Bates   United States 20.22 Q
2 Oluyemi Kayode   Nigeria 20.22 Q
3 Linford Christie   Great Britain 20.52 Q
4 Dean Capobianco   Australia 20.61
5 Peter Ogilvie   Canada 20.77
6 Andreas Berger   Austria 21.02
7 Seksarn Boon Rat   Thailand 21.30
Tshakile Nzimande   South Africa DNS

Quarterfinal 4 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Michael Marsh   United States 20.08 Q
2 Sidney Telles   Brazil 20.69 Q
3 Torbjörn Eriksson   Sweden 20.81 Q
4 Kennedy Ondieki   Kenya 20.86
5 Gilles Quénéhervé   France 20.96
6 Daniel Cojocaru   Romania 20.96
7 Ibrahim Tamba   Senegal 21.28
8 Miguel Ángel Gómez   Spain 21.32
9 Stefan Burkart   Switzerland 21.52

Quarterfinal 5 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Frankie Fredericks   Namibia 20.02 Q
2 John Regis   Great Britain 20.16 Q
3 Nikolay Antonov   Bulgaria 20.50 Q
4 Emmanuel Tuffour   Ghana 20.58 q
5 Patrick Stevens   Belgium 20.67
6 Henrico Atkins   Barbados 21.19
7 Anthony Wilson   Canada 21.22
8 Boevi Youlou Lawson   Togo 21.47

Semifinals edit

Semifinal 1 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Michael Marsh   United States 19.73 Q, OR
2 John Regis   Great Britain 20.09 Q
3 Robson da Silva   Brazil 20.15 Q
4 Oluyemi Kayode   Nigeria 20.23 Q
5 Linford Christie   Great Britain 20.38
6 Nikolay Antonov   Bulgaria 20.55
7 Clive Wright   Jamaica 20.82
8 Torbjörn Eriksson   Sweden 20.85

Semifinal 2 edit

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Frankie Fredericks   Namibia 20.14 Q
2 Michael Bates   United States 20.39 Q
3 Olapade Adeniken   Nigeria 20.39 Q
4 Marcus Adam   Great Britain 20.63 Q
5 Emmanuel Tuffour   Ghana 20.78
6 Michael Johnson   United States 20.78
7 Sidney Telles   Brazil 20.88
Neil de Silva   Trinidad and Tobago DSQ

Final edit

Held on August 6, 1992.

Rank Athlete Nation Time
  Michael Marsh   United States 20.01
  Frankie Fredericks   Namibia 20.13
  Michael Bates   United States 20.38
4 Robson da Silva   Brazil 20.45
5 Olapade Adeniken   Nigeria 20.50
6 John Regis   Great Britain 20.55
7 Oluyemi Kayode   Nigeria 20.67
8 Marcus Adam   Great Britain 20.80

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1992 Barcelona Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 January 2021.

External links edit