# Athletics at the 1979 Summer Universiade – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres event at the 1979 Summer Universiade was held at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario in Mexico City on 10, 11 and 12 September 1979.

## Medalists

| Gold | Silver | Bronze |
| Pietro Mennea Italy | Leszek Dunecki Poland | Ainsley Bennett Great Britain |

## Results
### Heats

Wind: Heat 1: +0.1 m/s, Heat 2: +1.6 m/s, Heat 3: 0.0 m/s, Heat 4: +0.5 m/s, Heat 5: +1.3 m/s Heat 6: +0.7 m/s, Heat 7: +0.1 m/s, Heat 8: +2.3 m/s, Heat 9: +0.2 m/s
| Rank | Heat | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 9 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 19.96 | Q, UR, AR |
| 2 | 4 | Altevir de Araújo | Brazil | 20.55 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Otis Melvin | United States | 20.55 | Q |
| 4 | 8 | Ainsley Bennett | Great Britain | 20.66 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Georges Kablan Degnan | Ivory Coast | 20.71 | Q |
| 6 | 2 | Jens Smedegaard | Denmark | 20.76 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | Viktor Burakov | Soviet Union | 20.83 | q |
| 8 | 8 | Boubacar Diallo | Senegal | 20.84 | Q |
| 9 | 8 | Tomás González | Cuba | 20.89 | q |
| 10 | 2 | Andrey Shlyapnikov | Soviet Union | 20.91 | Q |
| 11 | 1 | Su Mal-guh | South Korea | 20.94 | Q |
| 12 | 1 | Roland Bombardella | Luxembourg | 20.95 | Q |
| 13 | 9 | Peter Muster | Switzerland | 21.01 | Q |
| 14 | 7 | Floyd Brown | Jamaica | 21.04 | Q |
| 15 | 5 | Frank van Doorn | Canada | 21.05 | Q |
| 16 | 6 | Leszek Dunecki | Poland | 21.06 | Q |
| 17 | 9 | Yasuhiro Harada | Japan | 21.09 | q |
| 18 | 2 | Patrice Ouré | Ivory Coast | 21.11 | q |
| 19 | 3 | Georgios Vamvakas | Greece | 21.14 | Q |
| 20 | 5 | István Nagy | Hungary | 21.15 | q |
| 21 | 7 | Patrick Wamister | Switzerland | 21.16 | Q |
| 22 | 3 | Charles Pickens | United States | 21.21 | Q |
| 23 | 1 | Kazimierz Grubecki | Poland | 21.33 | q |
| 24 | 6 | Ángel Cruz | Spain | 21.48 | Q |
| 25 | 7 | Marcel Klarenbeek | Netherlands | 21.49 | PB |
| 26 | 3 | Akira Harada | Japan | 21.54 | |
| 27 | 7 | Jean Gracia | France | 21.56 | |
| 28 | 6 | Daniel Biocchi | Canada | 21.58 | |
| 29 | 3 | Sabidou Touré | Senegal | 21.64 | |
| 30 | 8 | Lucien Ralaivita | Madagascar | 21.65 | |
| 31 | 8 | Nicos Hadjinicolau | Cyprus | 21.65 | |
| 32 | 9 | Benjamín González | Spain | 21.71 | |
| 33 | 7 | Alan Bell | Great Britain | 21.74 | |
| 34 | 5 | Vilmundur Vilhjálmsson | Iceland | 21.82 | |
| 35 | 6 | Antonis Georgallidis | Cyprus | 22.01 | |
| 36 | 8 | Francisco Ramírez | Mexico | 22.02 | |
| 37 | 9 | Marco Mautinho | Peru | 22.11 | |
| 38 | 3 | Sergio Barajas | Mexico | 22.15 | |
| 39 | 6 | José Luis Valverde | Peru | 22.22 | |
| 39 | 9 | Jean-Jacques Randrianasolo | Madagascar | 22.22 | |
| 41 | 5 | Ernest Obeng | Ghana | 22.23 | |
| 42 | 1 | Konlan Martelot | Togo | 22.37 | |
| 43 | 5 | Sheikh Omar Faye | Gambia | 22.41 | |
| 44 | 2 | Kossi Adolo Djobokou | Togo | 22.43 | |
| 45 | 2 | Cheung Lai Chi | Hong Kong | 22.56 | |
| 45 | 8 | Javier Fernández | Guatemala | 22.56 | |
| 47 | 4 | Sulayman Faye | Gambia | 22.76 | |
| 48 | 2 | Nelson González | Guatemala | 22.87 | |
| 49 | 5 | Oscar Muñoz | Honduras | 22.89 | |
| 50 | 4 | Roberto Prado | Bolivia | 22.91 | |
| 51 | 1 | Ehsan Salih | Saudi Arabia | 23.05 | |
| 52 | 6 | Marco Luque | Bolivia | 23.05 | |
| 53 | 1 | José Flores | Honduras | 23.28 | |
| 54 | 6 | Mordhi Abdulhakim | Saudi Arabia | 23.75 | |
| 55 | 3 | Clifford Maseko | Swaziland | 24.05 | |
| | 9 | Louis Nkanza | Congo | DNS | |

### Semifinals

Wind: Heat 1: 0.0 m/s, Heat 2: 0.0 m/s, Heat 3: 0.0 m/s
| Rank | Heat | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 20.04 | Q |
| 2 | 2 | Altevir de Araújo | Brazil | 20.46 | Q |
| 3 | 1 | Leszek Dunecki | Poland | 20.48 | Q, NR |
| 4 | 1 | Ainsley Bennett | Great Britain | 20.67 | q |
| 5 | 3 | Jens Smedegaard | Denmark | 20.69 | Q |
| 6 | 3 | Otis Melvin | United States | 20.74 | Q |
| 7 | 2 | Georges Kablan Degnan | Ivory Coast | 20.78 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Viktor Burakov | Soviet Union | 20.90 | q |
| 9 | 2 | Su Mal-guh | South Korea | 20.91 | |
| 10 | 2 | Floyd Brown | Jamaica | 20.92 | |
| 11 | 1 | Andrey Shlyapnikov | Soviet Union | 20.95 | |
| 12 | 1 | Peter Muster | Switzerland | 21.04 | |
| 13 | 3 | Patrice Ouré | Ivory Coast | 21.07 | |
| 14 | 2 | István Nagy | Hungary | 21.09 | |
| 14 | 3 | Frank van Doorn | Canada | 21.09 | |
| 16 | 3 | Roland Bombardella | Luxembourg | 21.10 | |
| 17 | 1 | Georgios Vamvakas | Greece | 21.13 | |
| 18 | 3 | Patrick Wamister | Switzerland | 21.14 | |
| 19 | 1 | Charles Pickens | United States | 21.18 | |
| 19 | 3 | Tomás González | Cuba | 21.18 | |
| 21 | 1 | Boubacar Diallo | Senegal | 21.23 | |
| 21 | 2 | Kazimierz Grubecki | Poland | 21.33 | |
| 23 | 2 | Yasuhiro Harada | Japan | 21.37 | |
| 24 | 3 | Ángel Cruz | Spain | 21.56 | |

### Final

Wind: +1.8 m/s
| Rank | Lane | Athlete | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 4 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 19.72 | WR |
| | 1 | Leszek Dunecki | Poland | 20.24 | NR |
| | 8 | Ainsley Bennett | Great Britain | 20.42 | |
| 4 | 6 | Altevir de Araújo | Brazil | 20.43 | NR |
| 5 | 5 | Jens Smedegaard | Denmark | 20.52 | NR |
| 6 | 2 | Viktor Burakov | Soviet Union | 20.74 | |
| 7 | 3 | Georges Kablan Degnan | Ivory Coast | 20.88 | |
| 8 | 7 | Otis Melvin | United States | 22.97 | |