Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program was held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 24 to 26.[1] There were 54 competitors from 41 nations.[2] The event was won by Shawn Crawford of the United States, the nation's 17th victory in the men's 200 metres. His teammates Bernard Williams (silver) and Justin Gatlin (bronze) completed the sixth American sweep in the event and first since 1984.

Men's 200 metres
at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
Shawn Crawford (2009)
VenueAthens Olympic Stadium
Dates24–26 August
Competitors54 from 41 nations
Winning time19.79
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Shawn Crawford  United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Bernard Williams  United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Justin Gatlin  United States
← 2000
2008 →

Barely turned eighteen, Usain Bolt came to the Olympics injured and was not able to compete at the level he had achieved earlier in the season. He was eliminated in the heats in his only Olympic defeat. He would eventually go on to win double gold at the Beijing, triple at London and Rio Olympics.

Background edit

This was the 24th 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 eight finalists from the 2000 Games returned: silver medalist Darren Campbell and fifth-place finisher Christian Malcolm, both of Great Britain. The 1992 and 1996 silver medalist, Frankie Fredericks of Namibia, had missed the 2000 Games due to injury but returned in 2004. Reigning Olympic champion Konstantinos Kenteris of Greece missed a drug test the day before the Games opened, resulting in his suspension.[2]

Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Palau, and Slovenia each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 23rd appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Summary edit

The final pool looked similar to the 100 metres final pool, with the favorites, Justin Gatlin, Francis Obikwelu and Shawn Crawford in the center of the track. Bernard Williams also was in the final, along with perennial silver medalist Frankie Fredericks. From the gun, Williams near the inside got a clearly better start, quickly making up a step on the stagger to Crawford to his outside. But through the turn, Crawford maintained the distance while running the further distance. Crawford and Gatlin ran about even last portion of the turn looked more powerful than Williams and Gatlin on either side. By the end of the turn, it was the three Americans in the lead, led by Crawford, Obikwelu the closest challenger a step behind. Crawford separated from Gatlin at the head of the straight and the race was for second. Gatlin held the edge down the straight until the last ten metres when Gatlin seemed to struggle and Williams cruised to silver. Next to last at the beginning of the straight, veteran Fredericks gained steadily and was able to dip past Obikwelu for fourth,[3][4] but not enough to break up the American sweep.

Qualification edit

The Olympic qualification period for the athletics ran from 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. For this event, each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was permitted to enter up to three athletes, provided they had run below 20.59 seconds during this period in IAAF-sanctioned meetings or tournaments. If a NOC had no athletes qualified under this standard, it could enter up to one athlete that had run below 20.75 seconds.

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 7 heats of 7 or 8 runners each, with the top 4 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals along with the next 4 fastest overall. The quarterfinals consisted of 4 heats of 8 athletes each; the 3 fastest men in each heat and the next 4 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

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

World record   Michael Johnson (USA) 19.32 Atlanta, United States 1 August 1996
Olympic record   Michael Johnson (USA) 19.32 Atlanta, United States 1 August 1996

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

Schedule edit

The competition used a three-day schedule rather than a two-day schedule, splitting the semifinals and final into two days. The three-day schedule had previously been used in 1992, but before that had last been used in 1908.

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

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 24 August 2004 10:35
20:00
Round 1
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 25 August 2004 22:50 Semifinals
Thursday, 26 August 2004 22:50 Final

Results edit

Heats edit

Qualification rule: The first four finishers in each heat (Q) plus the next four fastest overall runners (q) qualified.[5]

Heat 1 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 6 Stéphane Buckland   Mauritius 0.185 20.29 Q
2 2 Francis Obikwelu   Portugal 0.243 20.40 Q
2 2 Juan Pedro Toledo   Mexico 0.214 20.40 Q, NR
4 4 Yang Yaozu   China 0.217 20.59 Q, SB
5 7 Johan Wissman   Sweden 0.245 20.60 q
6 1 Paul Brizzel   Ireland 0.179 21.00
7 3 Nabie Foday Fofanah   Guinea 0.227 21.45
8 Hamed Al-Bishi   Saudi Arabia DNS
Wind: +1.5 m/s

Heat 2 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 5 Shawn Crawford   United States 0.272 20.55 Q
2 8 Christopher Williams   Jamaica 0.140 20.57 Q
3 3 Marcin Urbaś   Poland 0.174 20.71 Q, SB
4 2 Darren Campbell   Great Britain 0.155 20.72 Q
5 1 Jaysuma Saidy Ndure   The Gambia 0.158 20.78 q
6 4 Leigh Julius   South Africa 0.164 20.80
7 6 Geronimo Goeloe   Netherlands Antilles 0.167 21.09
8 7 Basílio de Moraes Júnior   Brazil 0.236 21.14
Wind: +1.4 m/s

Heat 3 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 5 Frankie Fredericks   Namibia 0.235 20.54 Q
2 3 Malik Louahla   Algeria 0.187 20.67 Q
3 4 David Canal   Spain 0.181 20.72 Q
4 1 Brian Dzingai   Zimbabwe 0.184 20.72 Q
5 7 Heber Viera   Uruguay 0.256 20.94 SB
6 2 Oleg Sergeyev   Russia 0.269 20.95
7 8 Menzi Dlamini   Swaziland 0.270 21.82
6 Chris Lambert   Great Britain 0.244 DNF
Wind: +2.0 m/s

Heat 4 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 7 Marcin Jędrusiński   Poland 0.256 20.63 Q, SB
2 2 Tobias Unger   Germany 0.160 20.65 Q
3 6 Joseph Batangdon   Cameroon 0.239 20.92 Q
4 8 Géza Pauer   Hungary 0.257 21.02 Q
5 5 Usain Bolt   Jamaica 0.254 21.05
6 1 Christian Nsiah   Ghana 0.146 21.06
7 3 Hamoud Abdallah Al-Dalhami   Oman 0.152 21.82
8 4 Ryo Matsuda   Japan 0.223 24.59
Wind: 0.0 m/s

Heat 5 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 7 Dominic Demeritte   Bahamas 0.246 20.62 Q
2 8 Christian Malcolm   Great Britain 0.284 20.62 Q
3 5 Panagiotis Sarris   Greece 0.254 20.67 Q
4 3 Asafa Powell   Jamaica 0.207 20.77 Q
5 2 Jiří Vojtík   Czech Republic 0.179 20.79
6 4 Dion Crabbe   British Virgin Islands 0.231 20.85
7 6 Nazmizan Mohamad   Malaysia 0.238 21.24
8 1 Adam Miller   Australia 0.198 21.31
Wind: +2.2 m/s

Heat 6 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 2 Bernard Williams   United States 0.207 20.29 Q
2 8 Anastasios Gousis   Greece 0.236 20.44 Q, PB
3 3 Andrew Howe   Italy 0.198 20.55 Q
4 4 Matic Osovnikar   Slovenia 0.203 20.57 Q
5 6 Till Helmke   Germany 0.241 20.72 q
6 5 Oumar Loum   Senegal 0.240 20.97
7 7 Anninos Marcoullides   Cyprus 0.247 23.94
Wind: +1.8 m/s

Heat 7 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 2 Sebastian Ernst   Germany 0.220 20.47 Q, =PB
2 8 Justin Gatlin   United States 0.282 20.51 Q
3 6 Marco Torrieri   Italy 0.222 20.68 Q
4 5 Cláudio Roberto Souza   Brazil 0.165 20.70 Q, =SB
5 7 Brendan Christian   Antigua and Barbuda 0.251 20.71 q
6 4 Shinji Takahira   Japan 0.212 21.05
7 3 Dadaş İbrahimov   Azerbaijan 0.141 21.60
8 1 Russel Roman   Palau 0.264 24.89
Wind: 0.0 m/s

Quarterfinals edit

Qualification rule: The first three finishers in each heat (Q) plus the next four fastest overall runners (q) advance to the semifinals.[6]

Quarterfinal 1 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 4 Shawn Crawford   United States 0.207 19.95 Q
2 5 Frankie Fredericks   Namibia 0.228 20.20 Q, SB
3 3 Tobias Unger   Germany 0.162 20.30 Q, PB
4 6 Christopher Williams   Jamaica 0.186 20.34 q, SB
5 1 Johan Wissman   Sweden 0.186 20.74
6 7 Géza Pauer   Hungary 0.241 20.90
7 2 David Canal   Spain 0.179 21.18
8 Joseph Batangdon   Cameroon DNS
Wind: +1.1 m/s

Quarterfinal 2 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 4 Bernard Williams   United States 0.217 20.40 Q
2 3 Anastasios Gousis   Greece 0.195 20.46 Q
3 6 Marcin Jędrusiński   Poland 0.194 20.55 Q, SB
4 7 Till Helmke   Germany 0.144 20.76
5 8 Brian Dzingai   Zimbabwe 0.206 20.87
6 2 Marco Torrieri   Italy 0.177 20.89
7 5 Malik Louahla   Algeria 0.175 20.93
8 1 Yang Yaozu   China 0.162 21.03
Wind: +0.2 m/s

Quarterfinal 3 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 4 Justin Gatlin   United States 0.220 20.03 Q
2 8 Asafa Powell   Jamaica 0.206 20.23 Q
3 5 Sebastian Ernst   Germany 0.244 20.36 Q, PB
4 7 Matic Osovnikar   Slovenia 0.235 20.47 q, NR
5 6 Christian Malcolm   Great Britain 0.259 20.56 q
6 3 Dominic Demeritte   Bahamas 0.141 20.61
7 2 Brendan Christian   Antigua and Barbuda 0.182 20.63
1 Marcin Urbaś   Poland 0.162 DNF
Wind: +0.5 m/s

Quarterfinal 4 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 3 Francis Obikwelu   Portugal 0.191 20.33 Q
2 5 Stéphane Buckland   Mauritius 0.239 20.36 Q
3 6 Juan Pedro Toledo   Mexico 0.276 20.43 Q
4 2 Darren Campbell   Great Britain 0.179 20.59 q, =SB
5 8 Cláudio Roberto Souza   Brazil 0.159 20.64 SB
6 7 Jaysuma Saidy Ndure   The Gambia 0.248 20.73
7 1 Panagiotis Sarris   Greece 0.184 20.92
8 4 Andrew Howe   Italy 0.211 21.17
Wind: +0.1 m/s

Semifinals edit

Qualification rule: The first four runners in each semifinal heat (Q) moves on to the final.[7]

Semifinal 1 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 6 Shawn Crawford   United States 0.231 20.05 Q
2 4 Bernard Williams   United States 0.200 20.18 Q
3 3 Frankie Fredericks   Namibia 0.152 20.43 Q
4 2 Tobias Unger   Germany 0.173 20.54 Q
5 5 Anastasios Gousis   Greece 0.205 20.68
6 7 Christopher Williams   Jamaica 0.164 20.80
7 8 Marcin Jędrusiński   Poland 0.245 20.81
8 1 Darren Campbell   Great Britain 0.150 20.89
Wind: −0.1 m/s

Semifinal 2 edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
1 4 Justin Gatlin   United States 0.195 20.35 Q
2 6 Francis Obikwelu   Portugal 0.244 20.36 Q
3 3 Stéphane Buckland   Mauritius 0.183 20.37 Q
4 5 Asafa Powell   Jamaica 0.236 20.56 Q
5 8 Sebastian Ernst   Germany 0.299 20.63
6 2 Juan Pedro Toledo   Mexico 0.215 20.64
7 7 Christian Malcolm   Great Britain 0.239 20.77
8 1 Matic Osovnikar   Slovenia 0.197 20.89
Wind: +0.2 m/s

Final edit

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Reaction Time Notes
  4 Shawn Crawford   United States 0.226 19.79 PB
  3 Bernard Williams   United States 0.173 20.01 PB
  5 Justin Gatlin   United States 0.195 20.03
4 8 Frankie Fredericks   Namibia 0.248 20.14 SB
5 6 Francis Obikwelu   Portugal 0.183 20.14
6 7 Stéphane Buckland   Mauritius 0.294 20.24
7 1 Tobias Unger   Germany 0.153 20.64
2 Asafa Powell   Jamaica DNS
Wind: +1.2 m/s[8]

References edit

  1. ^ "Athletics at the 2004 Athens Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Crawford sprints to gold". BBC Sport. 26 August 2004. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  4. ^ "Crawford wins 200m as crowd jeer". ABC News Australia. 27 August 2004. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  5. ^ "IAAF Athens 2004: Men's 200m Heats". Athens 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  6. ^ "IAAF Athens 2004: Men's 200m Heats". Athens 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  7. ^ "IAAF Athens 2004: Men's 100m Semifinals". Athens 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  8. ^ "IAAF Athens 2004: Men's 200m Final". Athens 2004. IAAF. Retrieved 10 October 2015.

External links edit