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

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.

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 →

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
  Valeriy Borzov   Soviet Union 20.00
  Larry Black   United States 20.19
  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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