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Athletics at the 1952 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

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Men's 200 metres
at the Games of the XV Olympiad
Helsinki Olympic Stadium (1930s)
VenueHelsinki Olympic Stadium
DatesJuly 22 (heats and quarterfinals)
July 23 (semifinals and final)
Competitors71 from 35 nations
Winning time20.7 =OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Andy Stanfield
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Thane Baker
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Jim Gathers
 United States
← 1948
1956 →

The men's 200 metres sprint event at the 1952 Olympic Games took place between July 22 and July 23. There were 71 competitors from 35 nations.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by 0.16 seconds by American Andy Stanfield.[2] Americans also took silver (Thane Baker) and bronze (Jim Gathers) as the United States swept the medals in the event for the third time (1904, 1932).

Background

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This was the 11th 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 six finalists from the 1948 Games returned: sixth-place finisher Leslie Laing of Jamaica. Andy Stanfield, the inaugural world record setter for 200 metres around a curve and winner of three AAU titles, was the favorite.[1]

Bulgaria, Guatemala, Israel, Nigeria, South Korea, the Soviet Union, Thailand, and Venezuela each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 11th appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the 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. There were 18 heats of between 2 and 5 runners each, with the top 2 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals consisted of 6 heats of 6 athletes each; the 2 fastest men in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were 2 semifinals, each with 6 runners. In that round, the top 3 athletes advanced. The final had 6 runners. The races were run on a 400 metre track.[1]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing world (curved track) and Olympic records were as follows. The world record (straight) was 20.2 seconds.[3]

World record  Andy Stanfield (USA) 20.6 Los Angeles, United States 28 June 1952
Olympic record  Jesse Owens (USA) 20.7 Berlin, Germany 5 August 1936

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. Andy Stanfield's hand-timed final run of 20.7 seconds was equal to the Olympic record.

Schedule

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

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 22 July 1952 15:00
18:50
Heats
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 23 July 1952 15:45
17:55
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Heats

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The fastest two runners in each of the eighteen heats advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gerardo Bönnhoff  Argentina 21.72 Q
2 Étienne Bally  France 22.03 Q
3 Adolf Turakainen  Finland 22.55
4 Hörður Haraldsson  Iceland 22.56

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thane Baker  United States 21.62 Q
2 Levan Sanadze  Soviet Union 22.26 Q
3 Stefanos Petrakis  Greece 22.64
4 Willy Eichenberger  Switzerland 22.98

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Don McFarlane  Canada 22.94 Q
2 Roman Budzyński  Poland 23.37 Q

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rafael Fortún  Cuba 21.98 Q
2 Nick Stacey  Great Britain 22.07 Q
3 Fernand Linssen  Belgium 22.37
4 Edward Ajado  Nigeria 22.92

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Theo Saat  Netherlands 22.17 Q
2 Werner Zandt  Germany 22.23 Q
3 Juan Leiva  Venezuela 22.38
4 Fawzi Chaaban  Egypt 22.90
5 Eugénio Eleutério  Portugal 23.37

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 David Tabak  Israel 22.60 Q
2 Marcel Gerdil  France 22.71 Q

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Andy Stanfield  United States 22.00 Q
2 Zdobysław Stawczyk  Poland 22.22 Q
3 Enrique Beckles  Argentina 22.73
4 Youssef Ali Omar  Egypt 23.26
5 Adul Wanasatith  Thailand 23.50

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Vladimir Sukharev  Soviet Union 22.08 Q
2 Angel García  Cuba 22.14 Q
3 Hans Wehrli  Switzerland 22.35
4 Pauli Tavisalo  Finland 22.45
5 Abdul Aziz  Pakistan 23.02

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Václav Janeček  Czechoslovakia 21.99 Q
2 Peter Kraus  Germany 22.06 Q
3 Muhammad Aslam  Pakistan 22.14
4 Fred Hammer  Luxembourg 22.63

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Brian Shenton  Great Britain 22.12 Q
2 Voitto Hellstén  Finland 22.41 Q
3 Roby Schaeffer  Luxembourg 22.76
4 Vasilios Sillis  Greece 22.88

Heat 11

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Schalk Booysen  South Africa 22.03 Q
2 Gerard Mach  Poland 22.16 Q
3 Muhammad Sharif Butt  Pakistan 22.34
4 Ásmundur Bjarnason  Iceland 22.51
5 Walter Sutton  Canada 22.53

Heat 12

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jim Gathers  United States 21.42 Q
2 Tomio Hosoda  Japan 22.36 Q
3 Henry Brault  France 22.48
4 Luigi Grossi  Italy 22.49
5 Muslim Arogundade  Nigeria 22.71

Heat 13

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 McDonald Bailey  Great Britain 21.66 Q
2 Miroslav Horčic  Czechoslovakia 22.52 Q
3 Giorgio Sobrero  Italy 22.66
4 Ernst Mühlethaler  Switzerland 23.26
5 Eom Par-yong  South Korea 23.41

Heat 14

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Rafiu Oluwa  Nigeria 22.89 Q
2 Boonterm Pakpuang  Thailand 24.15 Q

Heat 15

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Les Laing  Jamaica 21.97 Q
2 Paul Dolan  Ireland 22.04 Q
3 František Brož  Czechoslovakia 22.35
4 Fernando Casimiro  Portugal 22.72
5 José Julio Barillas  Guatemala 22.88

Heat 16

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Raúl Mazorra  Cuba 22.52 Q
2 Robert Hutchinson  Canada 22.66 Q
3 Emad El-Din Shafei  Egypt 22.75
4 Aroon Sankosik  Thailand 23.64

Heat 17

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Edwin Carr, Jr.  Australia 22.19
2 Angel Kolev  Bulgaria 22.24

Heat 18

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Treloar  Australia 21.75 Q
2 Lavy Pinto  India 21.83 Q
3 Péter Karádi  Hungary 22.24
4 Lucio Sangermano  Italy 22.38

Quarterfinals

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The fastest two runners in each of the six heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jim Gathers  United States 21.64 Q
2 Lavy Pinto  India 21.80 Q
3 Theo Saat  Netherlands 21.87
4 Zdobysław Stawczyk  Poland 22.12
5 Miroslav Horčic  Czechoslovakia 22.44
6 Raúl Mazorra  Cuba 31.00

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thane Baker  United States 21.64 Q
2 Rafael Fortún  Cuba 21.98 Q
3 Paul Dolan  Ireland 22.15
4 Peter Kraus  Germany 22.19
5 Voitto Hellstén  Finland 22.61
6 Rafiu Oluwa  Nigeria 22.69

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 McDonald Bailey  Great Britain 21.27 Q
2 Václav Janeček  Czechoslovakia 21.93 Q
3 Edwin Carr, Jr.  Australia 21.98
4 Schalk Booysen  South Africa 22.09
5 Marcel Gerdil  France 22.37
6 Robert Hutchinson  Canada 22.55

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Gerardo Bönnhoff  Argentina 21.67 Q
2 Nick Stacey  Great Britain 21.79 Q
3 Angel Kolev  Bulgaria 22.07
4 Angel García  Cuba 22.11
5 David Tabak  Israel 22.34
6 Roman Budzyński  Poland 22.51

Quarterfinal 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Andy Stanfield  United States 21.21 Q
2 Les Laing  Jamaica 21.74 Q
3 Étienne Bally  France 22.02
4 Levan Sanadze  Soviet Union 22.26
5 Don McFarlane  Canada 22.33
Boonterm Pakpuang  Thailand DNS

Quarterfinal 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 John Treloar  Australia 21.86 Q
2 Werner Zandt  Germany 21.87 Q
3 Vladimir Sukharev  Soviet Union 21.88
4 Gerard Mach  Poland 22.12
5 Brian Shenton  Great Britain 22.24
6 Tomio Hosoda  Japan 22.49

Semifinals

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

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Andy Stanfield  United States 21.23 Q
2 Jim Gathers  United States 21.58 Q
3 Les Laing  Jamaica 21.80 Q
4 Werner Zandt  Germany 21.92
5 Nick Stacey  Great Britain 21.95
6 Václav Janeček  Czechoslovakia 22.12

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 McDonald Bailey  Great Britain 21.46 Q
2 Thane Baker  United States 21.50 Q
3 Gerardo Bönnhoff  Argentina 21.75 Q
4 Rafael Fortún  Cuba 21.93
5 Lavy Pinto  India 22.01
- John Treloar  Australia DNF

Final

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Standfield's hand-timed results of 20.7 seconds was equal to the Olympic record.

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Andy Stanfield  United States 20.81 =OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Thane Baker  United States 20.97
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) James Gathers  United States 21.08
4 McDonald Bailey  Great Britain 21.14
5 Les Laing  Jamaica 21.45
6 Gerardo Bönnhoff  Argentina 21.59

References

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  1. ^ a b c "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  2. ^ "Athletics at the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  3. ^ Official Report, p. 272.