Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 72 competitors from 59 nations, with ten qualifying heats (72), five quarterfinal races (40) and two semifinals (16), before the final (8) took off on Wednesday September 28, 1988.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Joe DeLoach of the United States, beating his teammate and defending champion Carl Lewis by 0.04 seconds in the final. The defeat ended Lewis's hopes of repeating his 1984 quadruple, despite running the final under his own Olympic record time. It was the United States' 14th victory in the men's 200 metres. Lewis was the seventh man to win multiple medals in the event, matching Andy Stanfield for the best result to that point (a gold and a silver). Robson da Silva earned Brazil's first medal in the event with his bronze.

Men's 200 metres
at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad
Soviet stamp commemorating 1988 Olympic athletics
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates26 September 1988 (heats and quarterfinals)
28 September 1988 (semifinals and final)
Competitors72 from 59 nations
Winning time19.75 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Joe DeLoach
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Carl Lewis
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Robson da Silva
 Brazil
← 1984
1992 →

Background

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This was the 20th appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Olympics in 1896 but has been on the program ever since. Three of the eight finalists from the 1984 Games returned: gold medalist Carl Lewis of the United States, fifth-place finisher Ralf Lübke of West Germany, and seventh-place finisher Pietro Mennea of Italy. Mennea was competing in his fifth Games in this event, having won bronze in 1972, finished fourth in 1976, and won gold in 1980 previously. Lewis was attempting to repeat his 1984 quadruple of winning the 100 metres, 200 metres, long jump, and 4x100 metres relay (and had started well on that goal, winning the 100 and the long jump). He had placed second in the U.S. trials to Joe DeLoach in this event, however, and the competition between the two was expected to be tight. Nobody else running the event was thought to be close to the American pair.[2]

Burkina Faso, Chinese Taipei, the Maldives, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, South Yemen, Tonga, Vanuatu, and Vietnam each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 19th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

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 in the heats and quarterfinals.

There were 10 heats of 7 or 8 runners each, with the top 3 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals along with the next 10 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

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.

World record   Pietro Mennea (ITA) 19.72 Mexico City, Mexico 12 September 1979
Olympic record   Carl Lewis (USA) 19.80 Los Angeles, United States 8 August 1984

Joe DeLoach and Carl Lewis both finished the final under the Olympic record time; DeLoach's 19.75 seconds became the new record, while Lewis's 19.79 seconds was good for silver.

Schedule

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All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Monday, 26 September 1988 11:05
14:00
Heats
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 28 September 1988 13:40
16:00
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Heats

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First 3 from each heat (Q) and the next 10 fastest (q) qualified for the quarterfinals.

Rank Heat Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 2 Gilles Quénéhervé   France 20.55 Q
3 Atlee Mahorn   Canada 20.55 Q
3 1 Roy Martin   United States 20.65 Q
8 Cyprian Enweani   Canada 20.65 Q
5 10 Stefano Tilli   Italy 20.68 Q
6 8 Daniel Sangouma   France 20.70 Q
7 10 Carl Lewis   United States 20.72 Q
8 10 Olapade Adeniken   Nigeria 20.77 Q
9 6 Kennedy Ondiek   Kenya 20.79 Q
10 3 Ralf Lübke   West Germany 20.81 Q
11 8 Patrick Stevens   Belgium 20.84 Q
12 8 Norbert Dobeleit   West Germany 20.86 q
13 4 John Regis   Great Britain 20.90 Q
14 6 Troy Douglas   Bermuda 20.91 Q
15 4 Clive Wright   Jamaica 20.94 Q
16 1 Michael Rosswess   Great Britain 20.95 Q
17 2 Kenji Yamauchi   Japan 20.98 Q
5 Joe DeLoach   United States 20.98 Q
6 Attila Kovács   Hungary 20.98 Q
20 10 John Myles-Mills   Ghana 21.04 q
21 7 Linford Christie   Great Britain 21.05 Q
22 5 Mark Garner   Australia 21.09 Q
23 5 Edgardo Guilbe   Puerto Rico 21.09 Q
24 2 Iziaq Adeyanju   Nigeria 21.10 Q
6 Pietro Mennea   Italy 21.10 q
26 7 Bruno Marie-Rose   France 21.11 Q
27 9 Robson da Silva   Brazil 21.12 Q
28 10 Mostefa-Kamel Selmi   Algeria 21.24 q
29 2 Jang Jae-keun   South Korea 21.27 q
30 5 Andreas Berger   Austria 21.29 q
31 9 Luís Barroso   Portugal 21.31 Q
32 1 Harouna Pale   Burkina Faso 21.33 Q
8 Li Feng   China 21.33 q
9 Jimmy Flemming   Virgin Islands 21.33 Q
35 1 Nchinda Samuel-Kaya   Cameroon 21.45 q
7 Courtney Brown   Canada 21.45 Q
37 2 Lee Shiunn-Long   Chinese Taipei 21.53 q
38 8 Ousmane Diarra   Mali 21.55 q
39 3 Oliver Daniels   Liberia 21.59 Q
40 1 Henri Ndinga   Republic of the Congo 21.66
41 1 Fabian Muyaba   Zimbabwe 21.66
42 4 Ibrahima Tamba   Senegal 21.68 Q
43 3 Leung Wing Kwong   Hong Kong 21.69
44 7 Luís Cunha   Portugal 21.72
45 4 Issa Alassane Ousséni   Benin 21.74
46 6 Lindel Hodge   British Virgin Islands 21.78
47 3 Sunday Olweny   Uganda 21.79
48 6 Abdullah Al-Khalidi   Oman 21.82
49 2 Aouf Abdul Rahman Youssef   Iraq 21.88
6 André François   Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 21.88
51 3 Muhammad Afzal   Pakistan 21.89
52 2 Takale Tuna   Papua New Guinea 21.95
53 5 Henriko Atkins   Barbados 21.98
54 10 Jerry Jeremiah   Vanuatu 22.01
55 1 Markus Büchel   Liechtenstein 22.02
56 3 Mohamed Fahd Al-Bishi   Saudi Arabia 22.09
57 8 Abdullah Ali Ahmed   Libya 22.11
58 7 Carlos Moreno   Chile 22.13
59 9 Alexandre Yougbare   Burkina Faso 22.14
60 7 Odia Silweya   Malawi 22.24
61 9 Gustavo Envela Mahua   Equatorial Guinea 22.33
62 4 Maloni Bole   Fiji 22.44
63 7 Peauope Suli   Tonga 22.49
64 1 Mohamed Shah Alam   Bangladesh 22.52
65 4 Claude Roumain   Haiti 22.60
10 Howard Lindsay   Antigua and Barbuda 22.60
67 8 Nguyễn Đình Minh   Vietnam 22.65
68 5 Robert Loua   Guinea 22.78
69 9 Benny Kgarametso   Botswana 22.79
70 2 Sahim Saleh Mehdi   South Yemen 22.95
71 6 Ismail Asif   Maldives 23.17
9 Gaspar Fernandes   Angola DSQ
4 Samuel Birch   Liberia DNS
5 Simon Kipkemboi   Kenya DNS
7 Boeviyoulou Lawson   Togo DNS

Quarterfinals

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Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Carl Lewis   United States 20.57 Q
2 John Regis   Great Britain 20.61 Q
3 Cyprian Enweani   Canada 20.62 Q
4 Edgardo Guilbe   Puerto Rico 20.73 q
5 Kenji Yamauchi   Japan 20.94
6 Jimmy Flemming   Virgin Islands 21.23
7 Moustafa Kamel Salmi   Algeria 21.26
8 Ousmane Diarra   Mali 21.46

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bruno Marie-Rose   France 20.48 Q
2 Roy Martin   United States 20.54 Q
3 Troy Douglas   Bermuda 20.70 Q
4 Kennedy Ondiek   Kenya 20.79
5 Attila Kovács   Hungary 21.19
6 Lee Shiunn-Long   Chinese Taipei 21.34
7 Harouna Pale   Burkina Faso 21.35
Pietro Mennea   Italy DNS

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Linford Christie   Great Britain 20.49 Q
2 Atlee Mahorn   Canada 20.59 Q
3 Ralf Lübke   West Germany 20.80 Q
4 Luís Barroso   Portugal 20.81
5 Patrick Stevens   Belgium 20.94
6 John Myles-Mills   Ghana 20.95
7 Andreas Berger   Austria 21.40
8 Ibrahima Tamba   Senegal 21.93

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Joe DeLoach   United States 20.56 Q
2 Gilles Quénéhervé   France 20.77 Q
3 Olapade Adeniken   Nigeria 20.92 Q
4 Norbert Dobeleit   West Germany 20.98
5 Mark Garner   Australia 21.08
6 Jang Jae-Geun   South Korea 21.35
7 Li Feng   China 21.38
8 Oliver Daniels   Liberia 22.25

Quarterfinal 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Robson da Silva   Brazil 20.41 Q
2 Stefano Tilli   Italy 20.67 Q
3 Michael Rosswess   Great Britain 20.74 Q
4 Daniel Sangouma   France 20.81
5 Clive Wright   Jamaica 20.87
6 Isiag Adeyanju   Nigeria 21.01
7 Courtney Brown   Canada 21.18
8 Samuel Nchinda-Kaya   Cameroon 21.39

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Carl Lewis   United States 20.23 Q
2 Robson da Silva   Brazil 20.28 Q
3 Atlee Mahorn   Canada 20.43 Q
4 Gilles Quénéhervé   France 20.54 Q
5 Stefano Tilli   Italy 20.59
6 Roy Martin   United States 20.62
7 John Regis   Great Britain 20.69
8 Ralf Lübke   West Germany 21.23

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Joe DeLoach   United States 20.06 Q
2 Linford Christie   Great Britain 20.33 Q
3 Bruno Marie-Rose   France 20.50 Q
4 Michael Rosswess   Great Britain 20.51 Q
5 Cyprian Enweani   Canada 20.57
6 Olapade Adeniken   Nigeria 20.67
7 Edgardo Guilbe   Puerto Rico 20.77
8 Troy Douglas   Bermuda 20.84

Final

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Carl Lewis' time of 19.79 seconds was the fastest non-winning time until the 1996 Olympic final.

As of 2023, DeLoach's winning margin of 0.04 seconds remains the smallest winning margin in the history of the event.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Joe DeLoach   United States 19.75 OR
  Carl Lewis   United States 19.79
  Robson da Silva   Brazil 20.04
4 Linford Christie   Great Britain 20.09 NR
5 Atlee Mahorn   Canada 20.39
6 Gilles Quénéhervé   France 20.40
7 Michael Rosswess   Great Britain 20.51
8 Bruno Marie-Rose   France 20.58

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1988 Seoul Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
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