Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres
These are the official results of the Men's 200 metres event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 3–4 September.
Heats
The top four runners in each of the nine heats and the next fastest four, advanced to the quarterfinal round.Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Siegfried Schenke | 20.66 | |
| 2 | Bruno Cherrier | 20.79 | |
| 3 | Jiří Kynos | 20.95 | |
| 4 | Audun Garshol | 21.16 | |
| 5 | Pasqualino Abeti | 21.17 | |
| 6 | Solomon Belaye | 21.73 | |
| - | Zenon Nowosz | DNS |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Don Quarrie | 21.04 | |
| 2 | Martin Jellinghaus | 21.10 | |
| 3 | Andrés Calonge | 21.39 | |
| 4 | Ladislav Kříž | 21.58 | |
| 5 | Mike Sands | 21.61 | |
| 6 | Yeo Kian Chye | 21.89 | |
| - | Amadou Meïté | DNS | |
| - | Rodolfo Rieder | DNS |
Heat three
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Valeriy Borzov | 20.64 | |
| 2 | Edwin Roberts | 20.95 | |
| 3 | Richard Hardware | 21.09 | |
| 4 | Motsapi Moorosi | 21.15 | |
| 5 | Su Wen-Ho | 21.55 | |
| 6 | Jean-Pierre Bassegela | 21.72 | |
| 7 | Hamad Ndee | 21.74 |
Heat four *
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Pietro Mennea | 20.53 | |
| 2 | Markku Juhola | 20.98 | |
| 3 | Ainsley Armstrong | 21.12 | |
| 4 | Guillermo González | 21.22 | |
| 5 | Sammy Monsels | 21.26 | |
| 6 | Gaston Malam | 21.71 | |
| 7 | Gary Georges | 22.97 |
* Wind assisted
Heat five
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Larry Black | 20.79 | |
| 2 | René Metz | 21.08 | |
| 3 | Brian Green | 21.26 | |
| 4 | Omar Chokhmane | 21.29 | |
| 5 | Luiz de Silva | 21.81 | |
| 6 | Eston Kaonga | 22.18 | |
| - | Benedict Majekodumni | DNS |
Heat six
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Chuck Smith | 20.79 | |
| 2 | Vladimir Lovetskiy | 20.99 | |
| 3 | Sunil Gunawardene | 21.60 | |
| 4 | Trevor James | 21.83 | |
| 5 | Zainuddin Wahab | 21.87 | |
| 6 | Dominic Saidu | 22.48 | |
| 7 | Saad Khalil Al-Dosari | 22.56 | |
| - | Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa | DNS |
Heat seven
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Jaroslav Matoušek | 20.70 | |
| 2 | Francisco García | 20.89 | |
| 3 | George Daniels | 21.05 | |
| 4 | Jimmy Sierra | 21.10 | |
| 5 | Kevin Johnson | 21.70 | |
| 6 | Ibrahim Saad Abdel Galil | 22.41 | |
| - | Mao Samphon | DNS | |
| - | Abdulazeez Abdulkareem | DNS |
Heat eight
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Manfred Ommer | 20.80 | |
| 2 | Hans-Joachim Zenk | 20.93 | |
| 3 | James Addy | 21.06 | |
| 4 | Dan Amuke | 21.53 | |
| 5 | Nusrat Iqbal Sahi | 22.07 | |
| - | Saleh Alah-Djaba | DNF | |
| - | Charlie Francis | DNS |
Heat nine
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Larry Burton | 20.80 | |
| 2 | Lucien Sainte-Rose | 21.09 | |
| 3 | Bevan Smith | 21.17 | |
| 4 | Philippe Clerc | 21.32 | |
| 5 | Tukal Mokalam | 21.81 | |
| 6 | William Dralu | 21.87 | |
| - | Larmeck Mukonde | DNS |
Quarterfinals
The top three runners in each of the five heats and the next fastest advanced to the semifinal round.Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Valeriy Borzov | 20.30 | |
| 2 | Manfred Ommer | 20.53 | |
| 3 | Jiří Kynos | 20.68 | |
| 4 | René Metz | 20.83 | |
| 5 | Jimmy Sierra | 20.87 | |
| 6 | Omar Chokhmane | 21.00 | |
| 7 | Guillermo González | 21.10 | |
| - | Mike Sands | DNS |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Jaroslav Matoušek | 20.65 | |
| 2 | Chuck Smith | 20.66 | |
| 3 | Ainsley Armstrong | 21.00 | |
| 4 | Bevan Smith | 21.04 | |
| 5 | George Daniels | 21.10 | |
| 6 | Andrés Calonge | 21.11 | |
| 7 | Markku Juhola | 21.19 | |
| 8 | Sunil Gunawardene | 21.31 |
Heat three
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Larry Burton | 20.68 | |
| 2 | Martin Jellinghaus | 20.70 | |
| 3 | Siegfried Schenke | 20.79 | |
| 4 | Philippe Clerc | 20.82 | |
| 5 | Edwin Roberts | 20.99 | |
| 6 | Pasqualino Abeti | 21.00 | |
| 7 | Ladislav Kříž | 21.46 | |
| - | James Addy | DQ |
Heat four
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Larry Black | 20.28 | |
| 2 | Don Quarrie | 20.43 | |
| 3 | Bruno Cherrier | 20.62 | |
| 4 | Vladimir Lovetskiy | 20.83 | |
| 5 | Motsapi Moorosi | 20.90 | |
| 6 | Su Wen-Ho | 21.47 | |
| 7 | Audun Garshol | 25.30 | |
| - | Dan Amuke | DNF |
Heat five
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Pietro Mennea | 20.47 | |
| 2 | Hans-Joachim Zenk | 20.59 | |
| 3 | Richard Hardware | 20.76 | |
| 4 | Lucien Sainte-Rose | 20.76 | |
| 5 | Francisco García | 20.77 | |
| 6 | Trevor James | 21.34 | |
| 7 | Brian Green | 21.41 | |
| - | Samuel Monsels | DNS |
Semifinals
Top four in each heat advance to final.Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Valeriy Borzov | 20.74 | |
| 2 | Larry Burton | 20.78 | |
| 3 | Chuck Smith | 20.86 | |
| 4 | Siegfried Schenke | 20.97 | |
| 5 | Jaroslav Matoušek | 20.99 | |
| 6 | Manfred Ommer | 21.08 | |
| 7 | Lucien Sainte-Rose | 21.42 | |
| - | Don Quarrie | DNF |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| 1 | Larry Black | 20.36 | |
| 2 | Pietro Mennea | 20.52 | |
| 3 | Hans-Joachim Zenk | 20.63 | |
| 4 | Martin Jellinghaus | 20.75 | |
| 5 | Jiří Kynos | 20.88 | |
| 6 | Ainsley Armstrong | 21.13 | |
| 7 | Bruno Cherrier | 21.15 | |
| 8 | Richard Hardware | 21.24 |
Final
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time |
| Valeriy Borzov | 20.00 | ||
| Larry Black | 20.19 | ||
| Pietro Mennea | 20.30 | ||
| 4 | Larry Burton | 20.37 | |
| 5 | Chuck Smith | 20.55 | |
| 6 | Siegfried Schenke | 20.56 | |
| 7 | Martin Jellinghaus | 20.65 | |
| 8 | Hans-Joachim Zenk | 21.05 |