# 1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres event at the 1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships was held on March 7–8.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Kevin Little United States | Iván García Cuba | Francis Obikwelu Nigeria |

## Results
### Heats

First 2 of each heat (Q) and next 6 fastest (q) qualified for the semifinals.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 5 | Kevin Little | United States | 20.73 | Q |
| 2 | 4 | Troy Douglas | Bermuda | 20.77 | Q, NR |
| 3 | 1 | Rohsaan Griffin | United States | 20.85 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Christophe Cheval | France | 20.94 | Q, PB |
| 5 | 2 | Sebastián Keitel | Chile | 20.99 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Ato Boldon | Trinidad and Tobago | 20.99 | Q |
| 7 | 3 | Francis Obikwelu | Nigeria | 21.01 | Q |
| 8 | 4 | Erik Wijmeersch | Belgium | 21.02 | Q |
| 9 | 1 | Iván García | Cuba | 21.03 | Q |
| 10 | 4 | Gary Ryan | Ireland | 21.13 | q, NR |
| 10 | 6 | Geir Moen | Norway | 21.13 | Q |
| 12 | 2 | Angelo Cipolloni | Italy | 21.15 | q |
| 12 | 3 | Patrick van Balkom | Netherlands | 21.15 | q |
| 14 | 5 | Ivan Šlehobr | Czech Republic | 21.17 | Q, NR |
| 15 | 6 | Julian Golding | Great Britain | 21.18 | q |
| 16 | 1 | Ahmed Douhou | Ivory Coast | 21.21 | q, NR |
| 17 | 6 | Miklós Gyulai | Hungary | 21.29 | q |
| 18 | 1 | Prodromos Katsantonis | Cyprus | 21.32 | |
| 18 | 5 | Gaëtan Bernard | Belgium | 21.32 | q |
| 20 | 1 | Francisco Navarro | Spain | 21.33 | |
| 21 | 4 | Marcelo Brivilati da Silva | Brazil | 21.50 | |
| 22 | 2 | Claudinei da Silva | Brazil | 21.58 | |
| 23 | 5 | Han Chaoming | China | 21.61 | |
| 24 | 3 | Koji Ito | Japan | 21.68 | |
| 25 | 1 | Ioannis Nafpliotis | Greece | 21.76 | |
| 26 | 5 | Emmanuel Tuffour | Ghana | 21.88 | |
| 27 | 4 | Douglas Turner | Great Britain | 21.90 | |
| 28 | 6 | Georgios Panagiotopoulos | Greece | 21.97 | |
| 29 | 4 | Javier Verme | Peru | 21.98 | NR |
| 30 | 3 | Neil de Silva | Trinidad and Tobago | 22.66 | |
| 31 | 3 | Doli Aligbane | Zaire | 23.82 | |
| | 6 | Giovanni Puggioni | Italy | DNF | |
| | 2 | Miguel Janssen | Aruba | DNS | |
| | 2 | Eric Nkansah | Ghana | DNS | |
| | 6 | Carlos Santa | Dominican Republic | DNS | |

### Semifinals

First 2 of each semifinal (Q) qualified directly for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Ato Boldon | Trinidad and Tobago | 20.41 | Q, CR |
| 2 | 2 | Kevin Little | United States | 20.46 | Q |
| 3 | 3 | Iván García | Cuba | 20.48 | Q, PB |
| 4 | 3 | Rohsaan Griffin | United States | 20.52 | Q |
| 5 | 1 | Francis Obikwelu | Nigeria | 20.82 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | Christophe Cheval | France | 20.83 | PB |
| 7 | 1 | Troy Douglas | Bermuda | 20.89 | Q |
| 8 | 1 | Patrick van Balkom | Netherlands | 21.08 | |
| 9 | 2 | Julian Golding | Great Britain | 21.15 | |
| 10 | 1 | Sebastián Keitel | Chile | 21.17 | |
| 11 | 3 | Erik Wijmeersch | Belgium | 21.33 | |
| 12 | 1 | Ivan Šlehobr | Czech Republic | 21.61 | |
| 12 | 2 | Gaëtan Bernard | Belgium | 21.61 | |
| 14 | 3 | Ahmed Douhou | Ivory Coast | 21.81 | |
| 15 | 2 | Gary Ryan | Ireland | 21.84 | |
| 16 | 3 | Angelo Cipolloni | Italy | 21.87 | |
| 17 | 1 | Miklós Gyulai | Hungary | 22.13 | |
| | 2 | Geir Moen | Norway | DNS | |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | Kevin Little | United States | 20.40 | CR |
| | Iván García | Cuba | 20.46 | PB |
| | Francis Obikwelu | Nigeria | 21.10 | |
| 4 | Troy Douglas | Bermuda | 21.22 | |
| 5 | Rohsaan Griffin | United States | 21.27 | |
| | Ato Boldon | Trinidad and Tobago | DNF | |