The men's 200 metres sprint event at the 1936 Olympic Games took place between August 4 and August 5. There were 44 athletes from 22 nations competing. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by 0.4 seconds by American Jesse Owens, with silver going to Mack Robinson (brother of baseball's Jackie Robinson). Owens thus reached 3 gold medals in 1936 (along with the 100 metres and long jump), with the sprint relay still to come. The Netherlands earned its first medal in the men's 200 metres with Tinus Osendarp's bronze.

Background

This was the ninth appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Olympics in 1896 but has been on the program ever since. None of the six finalists from the 1932 Games returned. Jesse Owens was the favorite coming into the Games. He had already won both the 100 metres and the long jump in Berlin.

Liechtenstein made its debut in the event. The United States made its ninth appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the 200 metres to date.

Competition format

The competition used the four round format introduced in 1920: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 8 heats of between 4 and 6 runners each, with the top 3 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals consisted of 4 heats of 6 athletes each; the 3 fastest men in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were 2 semifinals, each with 6 runners. Again, the top 3 athletes advanced. The final had 6 runners. The races were run on a now-standard 400 metre track.

Records

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

*On straightaway. No world record existed for running on a curve.Official Report, p. 621.

Jesse Owens set a new Olympic record in the third heat, running in 21.1 seconds. He repeated that performance in the third quarterfinal. Mack Robinson matched Owens' new record in the first semifinal, and again in the final—but Owens finished with a time of 20.7 seconds in the final to lower the Olympic record and set an unofficial world record for curved-track running.

Schedule

Date Time Round Tuesday, 4 August 1936 10:3015:30 HeatsQuarterfinals Wednesday, 5 August 1936 15:0018:00 SemifinalsFinal

Results

Heats

The fastest three runners in each of the eight heats advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Wil van Beveren 21.4 2 Tomás Beswick 22.1 3 Mutsuo Taniguchi 22.2 4Antonio Salcedo Unknown 5José de Almeida Unknown 6Aristidis Sakellariou Unknown

Heat 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Tinus Osendarp 21.7 2 Egon Schein 22.0 3 Alan Pennington 22.1 4Masao Yazawa 22.4 5Pierre Dondelinger Unknown 6Xaver Frick Unknown

Heat 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Jesse Owens 21.1 , 2 Lee Orr 21.6 3 Karl Neckermann 21.8 4Arthur Sweeney 22.1 5Nemesio de Guzman 22.9 6Gunnar Christensen 23.1

Heat 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Bruce Humber 22.1 2 Gyula Gyenes 22.1 3 Felix Rinner 22.4 4Paul Bronner 22.6 5Chen Kingkwan Unknown

Heat 5

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Paul Hänni 21.9 2 Renos Frangoudis 22.1 3 József Sir 22.2 4Poh Kimseng Unknown 5Pat Dannaher Unknown

Heat 6

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Marthinus Theunissen 21.7 2 Howard McPhee 21.8 3 Börje Strandvall 22.6 4George Fahoum Unknown 5Liu Changchun Unknown 6Antonio Fondevilla Unknown

Heat 7

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Bob Packard 21.2 2 Eric Grimbeek 21.8 3 Albert Steinmetz 21.9 4Eric Whiteside Unknown

Heat 8

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Mack Robinson 21.6 2 Aki Tammisto 22.2 3 Carlos Hofmeister 22.3 4Dieudonné Devrindt Unknown 5Mario Minai Unknown 6Alfred König Unknown

Quarterfinals

The fastest three runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Lee Orr 21.2 2 Paul Hänni 21.3 3 Bob Packard 21.3 4József Sir 21.6 5Egon Schein 21.7 6Tomás Beswick Unknown

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Wil van Beveren 21.7 2 Marthinus Theunissen 21.9 3 Bruce Humber 22.1 4Renos Frangoudis Unknown 5Mutsuo Taniguchi Unknown 6Carlos Hofmeister Unknown

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Jesse Owens 21.1 , 2 Howard McPhee 21.8 3 Eric Grimbeek 21.9 4Aki Tammisto 22.0 5Felix Rinner Unknown — Albert Steinmetz

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Mack Robinson 21.2 2 Tinus Osendarp 21.3 3 Karl Neckermann 21.6 4Gyula Gyenes Unknown 5Börje Strandvall Unknown — Alan Pennington

Semifinals

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

Semifinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Mack Robinson 21.1 , 2 Lee Orr 21.3 3 Wil van Beveren 21.5 4Bob Packard 21.6 5Karl Neckermann 21.8 6Eric Grimbeek 22.2

Semifinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Jesse Owens 21.3 2 Tinus Osendarp 21.5 3 Paul Hänni 21.6 4Marthinus Theunissen 21.8 5Bruce Humber 22.0 6Howard McPhee 22.0

Final

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes Jesse Owens 20.7 Mack Robinson 21.1 Tinus Osendarp 21.3 4 Paul Hänni 21.6 5 Lee Orr 21.6 6 Wil van Beveren 21.9

References