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


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, with eleven qualifying heats, five second-round races, two semi-finals and a final.
By the summer of 1996, Pietro Mennea's world record of 19.72 had stood for almost 17 years. Carl Lewis, and Michael Marsh 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. . 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 halfway 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

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.
World Record19.66 Michael JohnsonAtlanta June 23, 1996
Olympic Record19.73 Michael MarshBarcelona August 5, 1992

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

Final

RANKFINALTIME
19.32
19.68 AR
19.80
4.20.14
5.20.17
6.20.21
7.20.27
8.20.48

Semifinals

RANKHEAT 2TIME
1.19.98
2.20.05
3.20.26
4.20.32
5.20.38
6.20.45
7.20.48
8.20.96

Round 2 - Heats

RANKHEAT 2TIME
1.20.37
2.20.48
3.20.62
4.20.65
5.20.68
6.20.86
7.21.03
8.21.31

RANKHEAT 3TIME
1.20.36
2.20.47
3.20.53
4.20.61
5.20.63
6.20.65
7.20.75
8.21.14

RANKHEAT 4TIME
1.20.39
2.20.43
3.20.56
4.20.58
5.20.87
6.21.00
7.21.01
—DNF

RANKHEAT 5TIME
1.20.25
2.20.49
3.20.49
4.20.59
5.20.60
6.20.83
7.20.84
8.20.89

Round 1 - Heats

RANKHEAT 2TIME
1.20.49
2.20.69
3.20.73
4.20.83
5.20.88
6.21.20
7.21.85
8.22.71

RANKHEAT 3TIME
1.20.26
2.20.42
3.20.57
4.20.82
5.20.88
6.20.96
7.21.25

RANKHEAT 4TIME
1.20.55
2.20.68
3.20.73
4.20.78
5.21.00
6.21.06
—DNS

RANKHEAT 5TIME
1.20.62
2.20.69
3.20.78
4.20.86
5.20.97
6.21.20
7.21.65
8.22.68

RANKHEAT 6TIME
1.20.60
2.20.65
3.20.80
4.20.81
5.20.99
6.21.62
7.22.00
8.22.09

RANKHEAT 7TIME
1.20.64
2.20.67
3.20.69
4.20.78
5.20.79
6.20.95
7.21.67

RANKHEAT 8TIME
1.20.54
2.20.61
3.20.69
4.20.76
5.21.25
6.21.37
7.21.94
—DNS

RANKHEAT 9TIME
1.20.37
2.20.57
3.20.87
4.20.99
5.21.20
6.21.77
—DNS

RANKHEAT 10TIME
1.20.56
2.20.77
3.20.85
4.20.93
5.21.09
6.21.32
7.21.72

RANKHEAT 11TIME
1.20.59
2.20.78
3.20.78
4.20.96
5.20.98
6.21.01
7.21.05