Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

Men's 200 metres at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Venue	Centennial Olympic Stadium
Date	July 31-August 1
Competitors	78 from 57 nations
Medalists
Michael Johnson  United States Frank Fredericks  Namibia Ato Boldon  Trinidad and Tobago

Official Video Highlights

These are the official results of the men's 200 metres event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. There were a total number of 78 participating athletes (plus three non-starters), with eleven qualifying heats (78), five second-round races (40), two semi-finals (16) and a final (8).

By the summer of 1996, Pietro Mennea's world record of 19.72 had stood for almost 17 years. Carl Lewis (19.73 in 1983), and Michael Marsh (19.73 in 1992) had come tantalizingly close to it, but eased up. Finally at the Olympic Trials, Michael Johnson knocked .06 off the record. In Atlanta, Johnson was the clear favorite and was attempting an unprecedented men's 200/400 double (Valerie Brisco-Hooks did the double in 1984 and Marie-José Pérec had just completed the double less than ten minutes before the men's 200 metres final). Johnson occupied the same lane 3 as Pérec had just run in.

From the gun, Johnson took the lead, quickly making up the stagger on Ivan Garcia to his outside half way through the turn. Coming on to the straight, Johnson led by a metre from Frankie Fredericks and Ato Boldon, with Jeff Williams fourth. Johnson continued to pull away to the finish and won by over three metres from Fredericks, with Boldon a further metre back. Obadele Thompson closed with a strong straight to edge past Williams at the line another three metres behind Boldon. Three strides past the finish line, while others were still finishing, Johnson looked back to see the clock had stopped at 19.32 and began celebrating. His time was a Beamonesque .4 of a second faster than the world record had been just five weeks earlier, .34 faster than that performance. Far behind him, Fredericks had run 19.68, superior to the old record and Boldon had run 19.80. At that point in time, Fredericks was #2 and Boldon was #7 performer all time.

Medalists

Gold	Michael Johnson  United States
Silver	Frankie Fredericks  Namibia
Bronze	Ato Boldon  Trinidad and Tobago

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.

World Record	19.66	Michael Johnson	Atlanta (USA)	June 23, 1996
Olympic Record	19.73	Michael Marsh	Barcelona (ESP)	August 5, 1992

In the final, Michael Johnson set a new world record with a time of 19.32.

Final

• Held on August 1, 1996

RANK	FINAL	TIME
	Michael Johnson (USA)	19.32
	Frank Fredericks (NAM)	19.68 AR
	Ato Boldon (TRI)	19.80
4.	Obadele Thompson (BAR)	20.14
5.	Jeff Williams (USA)	20.17
6.	Ivan Garcia (CUB)	20.21
7.	Patrick Stevens (BEL)	20.27
8.	Michael Marsh (USA)	20.48

Semifinals

RANK	HEAT 1	TIME
1.	Michael Johnson (USA)	20.27
2.	Ivan Garcia (CUB)	20.34
3.	Jeff Williams (USA)	20.39
4.	Patrick Stevens (BEL)	20.46
5.	Francis Obikwelu (NGR)	20.56
6.	John Regis (GBR)	20.58
7.	Emmanuel Tuffour (GHA)	20.61
8.	Neil De Silva (TRI)	21.26

RANK	HEAT 2	TIME
1.	Frank Fredericks (NAM)	19.98
2.	Ato Boldon (TRI)	20.05
3.	Michael Marsh (USA)	20.26
4.	Obadele Thompson (BAR)	20.32
5.	Steve Brimacombe (AUS)	20.38
6.	Koji Ito (JPN)	20.45
7.	Sergejs Insakovs (LAT)	20.48
8.	Geir Moen (NOR)	20.96

Round 2 - Heats

RANK	HEAT 1	TIME
1.	Frank Fredericks (NAM)	20.38
2.	Jeff Williams (USA)	20.47
3.	Obadele Thompson (BAR)	20.53
4.	Erik Wymeersch (BEL)	20.59
5.	Percival Spencer (JAM)	20.59
6.	Troy Douglas (BER)	20.63
7.	Francisco Navarro (ESP)	21.06
—	O'Brian Gibbons (CAN)	DNS

RANK	HEAT 2	TIME
1.	Michael Johnson (USA)	20.37
2.	Geir Moen (NOR)	20.48
3.	Neil De Silva (TRI)	20.62
4.	Robson Da Silva (BRA)	20.65
5.	Jordi Mayoral (ESP)	20.68
6.	George Panayiotopoulos (GRE)	20.86
7.	Dean Capobianco (AUS)	21.03
8.	Oumar Loum (SEN)	21.31

RANK	HEAT 3	TIME
1.	Ivan Garcia (CUB)	20.36
2.	Koji Ito (JPN)	20.47
3.	Steve Brimacombe (AUS)	20.53
4.	Robert Mackowiak (POL)	20.61
5.	Anninos Markoullides (CYP)	20.63
6.	Vladyslav Dolohodin (UKR)	20.65
7.	Elston Cawley (JAM)	20.75
8.	Frank Waota (CIV)	21.14

RANK	HEAT 4	TIME
1.	Michael Marsh (USA)	20.39
2.	Patrick Stevens (BEL)	20.43
3.	John Regis (GBR)	20.56
4.	Sergejs Insakovs (LAT)	20.58
5.	Albert Agyemang (GHA)	20.87
6.	Seun Ogunkoya (NGR)	21.00
7.	Joseph Loua (GUI)	21.01
—	Claudinei da Silva (BRA)	DNF

RANK	HEAT 5	TIME
1.	Ato Boldon (TRI)	20.25
2.	Francis Obikwelu (NGR)	20.49
3.	Emmanuel Tuffour (GHA)	20.49
4.	Linford Christie (GBR)	20.59
5.	Edson Ribeiro (BRA)	20.60
6.	Torbjorn Eriksson (SWE)	20.83
7.	Carlos Gats (ARG)	20.84
8.	Gary Ryan (IRL)	20.89

Round 1 - Heats

RANK	HEAT 1	TIME
1.	Michael Marsh (USA)	20.27
2.	Sergejs Insakovs (LAT)	20.41
3.	Troy Douglas (BER)	20.41
4.	Steve Brimacombe (AUS)	20.45
5.	Alfred Visagie (RSA)	21.10
6.	Mohamed Al Hooti (OMA)	21.10
7.	Takahiro Mazuka (JPN)	21.13

RANK	HEAT 2	TIME
1.	Ivan Garcia (CUB)	20.49
2.	Albert Agyemang (GHA)	20.69
3.	Elston Cawley (JAM)	20.73
4.	Owusu Dako (GBR)	20.83
5.	Thomas Sbokos (GRE)	20.88
6.	Anton Ivanov (BUL)	21.20
7.	David Wilson (GUM)	21.85
8.	Mohamed Ould Brahim (MTN)	22.71

RANK	HEAT 3	TIME
1.	Ato Boldon (TRI)	20.26
2.	Obadele Thompson (BAR)	20.42
3.	Anninos Markoullides (CYP)	20.57
4.	Carlos Gats (ARG)	20.82
5.	Joseph Gikonyo (KEN)	20.88
6.	Chris Donaldson (NZL)	20.96
7.	Wu-Shiun Tao (TPE)	21.25

RANK	HEAT 4	TIME
1.	Michael Johnson (USA)	20.55
2.	Erik Wymeersch (BEL)	20.68
3.	Percival Spencer (JAM)	20.73
4.	Frank Waota (CIV)	20.78
5.	Benjamin Sirimou (CMR)	21.00
6.	Antoine Boussombo (GAB)	21.06
—	Venancio Jose (ESP)	DNS

RANK	HEAT 5	TIME
1.	Francis Obikwelu (NGR)	20.62
2.	Edson Ribeiro (BRA)	20.69
3.	John Regis (GBR)	20.78
4.	Pierre Lisk (SLE)	20.86
5.	Lars Hedner (SWE)	20.97
6.	Thomas Griesser (AUT)	21.20
7.	Pascal Dangbo (BEN)	21.65
8.	Hadhari Djaffar (COM)	22.68

RANK	HEAT 6	TIME
1.	Patrick Stevens (BEL)	20.60
2.	Jordi Mayoral (ESP)	20.65
3.	Claudinei da Silva (BRA)	20.80
4.	Joseph Loua (GUI)	20.81
5.	Boevi Lawson (TOG)	20.99
6.	Anderson Vilien (HAI)	21.62
7.	Peter Ogilvie (CAN)	22.00
8.	Gustavo Envela (GEQ)	22.09

RANK	HEAT 7	TIME
1.	Linford Christie (GBR)	20.64
2.	Robert Mackowiak (POL)	20.67
3.	George Panayiotopoulos (GRE)	20.69
4.	Geir Moen (NOR)	20.78
5.	O'Brian Gibbons (CAN)	20.79
6.	Andrey Fedoriv (RUS)	20.95
7.	Brahim Abdoulaye (CHA)	21.67

RANK	HEAT 8	TIME
1.	Neil De Silva (TRI)	20.54
2.	Robson Da Silva (BRA)	20.61
3.	Oumar Loum (SEN)	20.69
4.	Dean Capobianco (AUS)	20.76
5.	Matthew Coad (NZL)	21.25
6.	Amos Ali (PNG)	21.37
7.	Laurence Jack (VAN)	21.94
—	Olapade Adeniken (NGR)	DNS

RANK	HEAT 9	TIME
1.	Jeff Williams (USA)	20.37
2.	Vladyslav Dolohodin (UKR)	20.57
3.	Francisco Navarro (ESP)	20.87
4.	Alain Reimann (SUI)	20.99
5.	Ousmane Diarra (MLI)	21.20
6.	Mohd Al Aswad (UAE)	21.77
—	Ibrahim Ismail Muftah (QAT)	DNS

RANK	HEAT 10	TIME
1.	Koji Ito (JPN)	20.56
2.	Torbjorn Eriksson (SWE)	20.77
3.	Emmanuel Tuffour (GHA)	20.85
4.	Mark Keddell (NZL)	20.93
5.	Justice Dipeba (BOT)	21.09
6.	Carlton Chambers (CAN)	21.32
7.	Miguel Janssen (ARU)	21.72

RANK	HEAT 11	TIME
1.	Frank Fredericks (NAM)	20.59
2.	Seun Ogunkoya (NGR)	20.78
3.	Gary Ryan (IRL)	20.78
4.	Sebastian Keitel (CHI)	20.96
5.	Christoph Pöstinger (AUT)	20.98
6.	Sandro Floris (ITA)	21.01
7.	Wenzhong Chen (CHN)	21.05

References

• Official Report