# Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which has appeared at every edition of the Summer Olympics since the 1900 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 10, 1912, and on July 11, 1912. 61 runners from 19 nations competed. NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes. The event was won by Ralph Craig of the United States, the nation's third victory in four Games. Another American, Donald Lippincott, took silver. Great Britain earned its first medal in the 200 metres with Willie Applegarth's bronze.

## Background

This was the fourth appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Olympics in 1896 but has been on the program ever since. None of the finalists from the 1908 Games returned. There was no clear favorite. None of the four different AAU champions since 1908 competed. Willie Applegarth of Great Britain was the 1912 AAA champion and closest thing to a favorite before the Games. American Ralph Craig had set the world record for 220 yards in 1910, won the eastern U.S. trials, and started out in Stockholm by winning the 100 metres.
Australasia, Bohemia, Chile, Japan, Portugal, and Russia each made their debut in the event. The United States made its fourth appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the 200 metres to date.

## Competition format

There were three rounds: quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. The quarterfinals consisted of 18 heats of between 2 and 5 athletes each; the two fastest men in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were 6 semifinals, each with 6 runners. In that round, only the top athlete advanced. The final had 6 runners.
The race was run on a 383-metre track.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.
| World record | Jack Donaldson (AUS)$^*$ | 21.3 | Glasgow, United Kingdom | 26 July 1911 |
| Olympic record | Archie Hahn (USA)$^{**}$ | 21.6 | St. Louis, United States | 31 August 1904 |
$^*$ unofficial 220 yards (= 201.17 m)
$^{**}$ straight course
Ralph Craig's 21.7 second performance in the final was 1⁄10 of a second off the Olympic record of 21.6 seconds, set in 1904.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Round |
| Wednesday, 10 July 1912 | 10:30 16:00 | Quarterfinals Semifinals |
| Thursday, 11 July 1912 | 15:00 | Final |

## Results
### Quarterfinals

All quarterfinal heats were held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charles Reidpath | United States | 22.6 | Q |
| 2 | Georges Rolot | France | 22.7 | Q |
| 3 | Knut Stenborg | Sweden | Unknown | |
| 4 | Václav Labík | Bohemia | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ralph Craig | United States | 22.8 | Q |
| 2 | Richard Rice | Great Britain | 23.0 | Q |
| 3 | Charles Poulenard | France | Unknown | |
| 4 | Karl Lindblom | Sweden | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ira Courtney | United States | 22.7 | Q |
| 2 | Duncan Macmillan | Great Britain | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Léon Aelter | Belgium | Unknown | |
| 4 | Haralds Hāns | Russia | Unknown | |
| — | Herberts Baumanis | Russia | DNF | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charles Luther | Sweden | 23.6 | Q |
| 2 | Jan Grijseels | Netherlands | Unknown | Q |

#### Quarterfinal 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Willie Applegarth | Great Britain | 24.7 | Q |
| 2 | Harold Heiland | United States | 24.7 | Q |

#### Quarterfinal 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Richard Rau | Germany | 22.5 | Q |
| 2 | Arthur Anderson | Great Britain | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Rudolf Rauch | Austria | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 7

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Carl Cooke | United States | 22.5 | Q |
| 2 | Reuben Povey | South Africa | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Joseph Wells | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 4 | Harry Beasley | Canada | Unknown | |
| 5 | Georges Malfait | France | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 8

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | John Howard | Canada | 25.0 | Q |
| 2 | Franco Giongo | Italy | 25.0 | Q |

#### Quarterfinal 9

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Knut Lindberg | Sweden | 23.1 | Q |
| 2 | Frigyes Wiesner | Hungary | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Charles Lelong | France | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 10

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Peter Gerhardt | United States | 22.9 | Q |
| 2 | Victor d'Arcy | Great Britain | 22.9 | Q |
| 3 | Gustav Möller | Sweden | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 11

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Donald Lippincott | United States | 22.8 | Q |
| 2 | Ivan Möller | Sweden | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Pierre Failliot | France | Unknown | |
| 4 | Ernest Haley | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 5 | Pablo Eitel | Chile | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 12

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Alvah Meyer | United States | 24.1 | Q |
| 2 | Robert Duncan | Great Britain | Unknown | Q |

#### Quarterfinal 13

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Donnell Young | United States | 22.8 | Q |
| 2 | Cyril Seedhouse | Great Britain | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Fritz Fleischer | Austria | Unknown | |
| 4 | Heinrich Wenseler | Germany | Unknown | |
| 5 | Yahiko Mishima | Japan | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 14

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | George Patching | South Africa | 22.3 | Q |
| 2 | Clement Wilson | United States | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Frank McConnell | Canada | Unknown | |
| 4 | Ervin Szerelemhegyi | Hungary | Unknown | |
| 5 | Emil Grandell | Sweden | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 15

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Max Herrmann | Germany | 22.9 | Q |
| 2 | István Déván | Hungary | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | Herman Sotaaen | Norway | Unknown | |
| 4 | Wladyslaw Ponurski | Austria | Unknown | |

#### Quarterfinal 16

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | William Stewart | Australasia | 26.0 | Q |
| 2 | Henry Macintosh | Great Britain | Unknown | Q |

#### Quarterfinal 17

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | David Jacobs | Great Britain | 23.2 | Q |
| 2 | Skotte Jacobsson | Sweden | 23.2 | Q |

#### Quarterfinal 18

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ture Person | Sweden | 23.2 | Q |
| 2 | Robert Schurrer | France | Unknown | Q |
| 3 | António Stromp | Portugal | Unknown | |

### Semifinals

All semi-finals were held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912.

#### Semifinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Ralph Craig | United States | 21.9 | Q |
| 2 | David Jacobs | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 3 | Ira Courtney | United States | Unknown | |
| 4 | Ture Person | Sweden | Unknown | |
| 5 | Frigyes Wiesner | Hungary | Unknown | |
| — | Arthur Anderson | Great Britain | DNF | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Willie Applegarth | Great Britain | 21.9 | Q |
| 2 | Clement Wilson | United States | Unknown | |
| 3 | Cyril Seedhouse | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 4 | Harold Heiland | United States | Unknown | |
| 5 | Skotte Jacobsson | Sweden | Unknown | |
| — | William Stewart | Australasia | DNF | |

#### Semifinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Donnell Young | United States | 21.9 | Q |
| 2 | Carl Cooke | United States | Unknown | |
| 3 | Georges Rolot | France | Unknown | |
| 4 | Max Herrmann | Germany | Unknown | |
| — | Henry Macintosh | Great Britain | DNF | |
| — | George Patching | South Africa | DNF | |

#### Semifinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Donald Lippincott | United States | 21.8 | Q |
| 2 | Alvah Meyer | United States | Unknown | |
| 3 | John Howard | Canada | Unknown | |
| 4 | Ivan Möller | Sweden | 22.4 | |
| 5 | Duncan Macmillan | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 6 | Jan Grijseels | Netherlands | Unknown | |

#### Semifinal 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Richard Rau | Germany | 22.1 | Q |
| 2 | Peter Gerhardt | United States | Unknown | |
| 3 | Charles Luther | Sweden | 22.3 | |
| 4 | Franco Giongo | Italy | Unknown | |
| 5 | Reuben Povey | South Africa | Unknown | |
| — | Richard Rice | Great Britain | DNF | |

#### Semifinal 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Charles Reidpath | United States | 22.1 | Q |
| 2 | Victor d'Arcy | Great Britain | Unknown | |
| 3 | Knut Lindberg | Sweden | 22.5 | |
| 4 | István Déván | Hungary | Unknown | |
| 5 | Robert Schurrer | France | Unknown | |
| — | Robert Duncan | Great Britain | DNF | |

### Final

The final was held on Thursday, July 11, 1912.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| | Ralph Craig | United States | 21.7 |
| | Donald Lippincott | United States | 21.8 |
| | Willie Applegarth | Great Britain | 22.0 |
| 4 | Richard Rau | Germany | 22.2 |
| 5 | Charles Reidpath | United States | 22.3 |
| 6 | Donnell Young | United States | 22.3 |