# Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres was an event at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. The competition was held on 3–4 September. There were 57 competitors from 42 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.19 seconds by Valeriy Borzov of the Soviet Union, the nation's first medal in the event. Larry Black took silver, extending the United States' podium streak in the men's 200 metres to nine Games. Italy earned its first medal in the event since 1960 with Pietro Mennea's bronze.

## Background

This was the 16th appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Olympics in 1896 but has been on the program ever since. One of the eight finalists from the 1968 Games returned: fourth-place finisher (and 1964 bronze medalist) Edwin Roberts of Trinidad and Tobago. Larry Black was the top American and one of the favorites, along with 1971 Pan American Games winner Don Quarrie of Jamaica. European champion Valeriy Borzov of the Soviet Union was also a contender.
Chad, the Republic of the Congo, East Germany, Lesotho, Malawi, Saudi Arabia, and Suriname each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 16th appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the men's 200 metres to date.

## Competition format

The competition used the four round format introduced in 1920: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1960 was used again in the heats and, for the first time, in the quarterfinals.
There were 9 heats of between 7 and 8 runners each (before withdrawals), with the top 4 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals along with the next 4 fastest overall. The quarterfinals consisted of 5 heats of 8 athletes each; the 3 fastest men in each heat as well as the next fastest runner overall advanced to the semifinals. There were 2 semifinals, each with 8 runners. Again, the top 4 athletes advanced. The final had 8 runners. The races were run on a 400 metre track.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Tommie Smith (USA) | 19.83 | Mexico City, Mexico | 16 October 1968 |
| Olympic record | Tommie Smith (USA) | 19.83 | Mexico City, Mexico | 16 October 1968 |
No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

## Schedule

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Sunday, 3 September 1972 | 11:00 15:40 | Heats Quarterfinals |
| Monday, 4 September 1972 | 15:25 18:10 | Semifinals Final |

## Results
### Heats

The top four runners in each of the nine heats and the next fastest four advanced to the quarterfinal round.

#### Heat 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 20.66 | Q |
| 2 | Bruno Cherrier | France | 20.79 | Q |
| 3 | Jiří Kynos | Czechoslovakia | 20.95 | Q |
| 4 | Audun Garshol | Norway | 21.16 | Q |
| 5 | Pasqualino Abeti | Italy | 21.17 | q |
| 6 | Solomon Belay | Ethiopia | 21.73 | |
| — | Zenon Nowosz | Poland | DNS | |

#### Heat 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Don Quarrie | Jamaica | 21.04 | Q |
| 2 | Martin Jellinghaus | West Germany | 21.10 | Q |
| 3 | Andrés Calonge | Argentina | 21.39 | Q |
| 4 | Ladislav Kříž | Czechoslovakia | 21.58 | Q |
| 5 | Mike Sands | Bahamas | 21.61 | q |
| 6 | Yeo Kian Chye | Singapore | 21.89 | |
| — | Amadou Meïté | Ivory Coast | DNS | |
| — | Rodolfo Rieder | Paraguay | DNS | |

#### Heat 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 20.64 | Q |
| 2 | Edwin Roberts | Trinidad and Tobago | 20.95 | Q |
| 3 | Richard Hardware | Jamaica | 21.09 | Q |
| 4 | Motsapi Moorosi | Lesotho | 21.15 | Q |
| 5 | Su Wen-Ho | Republic of China | 21.55 | q |
| 6 | Jean-Pierre Bassegela | Republic of the Congo | 21.72 | |
| 7 | Hamad Ndee | Tanzania | 21.74 | |

#### Heat 4

Wind assisted.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 20.53 | Q |
| 2 | Markku Juhola | Finland | 20.98 | Q |
| 3 | Ainsley Armstrong | Trinidad and Tobago | 21.12 | Q |
| 4 | Guillermo González | Puerto Rico | 21.22 | Q |
| 5 | Sammy Monsels | Suriname | 21.26 | q |
| 6 | Gaston Malam | Cameroon | 21.71 | |
| 7 | Gary Georges | Haiti | 22.97 | |

#### Heat 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Larry Black | United States | 20.79 | Q |
| 2 | René Metz | France | 21.08 | Q |
| 3 | Brian Green | Great Britain | 21.26 | Q |
| 4 | Omar Chokhmane | Morocco | 21.29 | Q |
| 5 | Luiz de Silva | Brazil | 21.81 | |
| 6 | Eston Kaonga | Malawi | 22.18 | |
| — | Benedict Majekodumni | Nigeria | DNS | |

#### Heat 6

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Chuck Smith | United States | 20.79 | Q |
| 2 | Vladimir Lovetskiy | Soviet Union | 20.99 | Q |
| 3 | Sunil Gunawardene | Ceylon | 21.60 | Q |
| 4 | Trevor James | Trinidad and Tobago | 21.83 | Q |
| 5 | Zainuddin Wahab | Malaysia | 21.87 | |
| 6 | Dominic Saidu | Liberia | 22.48 | |
| 7 | Saad Khalil Al-Dosari | Saudi Arabia | 22.56 | |
| — | Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa | Madagascar | DNS | |

#### Heat 7

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jaroslav Matoušek | Czechoslovakia | 20.70 | Q |
| 2 | Francisco García | Spain | 20.89 | Q |
| 3 | George Daniels | Ghana | 21.05 | Q |
| 4 | Jimmy Sierra | Colombia | 21.10 | Q |
| 5 | Kevin Johnson | Bahamas | 21.70 | |
| 6 | Ibrahim Saad Abdel Galil | Sudan | 22.41 | |
| — | Mao Samphon | Khmer Republic | DNS | |
| — | Abdulazeez Abdulkareem | Kuwait | DNS | |

#### Heat 8

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Manfred Ommer | West Germany | 20.80 | Q |
| 2 | Hans-Joachim Zenk | East Germany | 20.93 | Q |
| 3 | James Addy | Ghana | 21.06 | Q |
| 4 | Dan Amuke | Kenya | 21.53 | Q |
| 5 | Nusrat Iqbal Sahi | Pakistan | 22.07 | |
| — | Saleh Alah-Djaba | Chad | DNF | |
| — | Charlie Francis | Canada | DNS | |

#### Heat 9

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Larry Burton | United States | 20.80 | Q |
| 2 | Lucien Sainte-Rose | France | 21.09 | Q |
| 3 | Bevan Smith | New Zealand | 21.17 | Q |
| 4 | Philippe Clerc | Switzerland | 21.32 | Q |
| 5 | Tukal Mokalam | Philippines | 21.81 | |
| 6 | William Dralu | Uganda | 21.87 | |
| — | Larmeck Mukonde | Zambia | DNS | |

### Quarterfinals

The top three runners (blue) in each of the five heats and the next fastest (green) advanced to the semifinal round.

#### Quarterfinal 1

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 20.30 | Q |
| 2 | Manfred Ommer | West Germany | 20.53 | Q |
| 3 | Jiří Kynos | Czechoslovakia | 20.68 | Q |
| 4 | René Metz | France | 20.83 | |
| 5 | Jimmy Sierra | Colombia | 20.87 | |
| 6 | Omar Chokhmane | Morocco | 21.00 | |
| 7 | Guillermo González | Puerto Rico | 21.10 | |
| — | Mike Sands | Bahamas | DNS | |

#### Quarterfinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Jaroslav Matoušek | Czechoslovakia | 20.65 | Q |
| 2 | Chuck Smith | United States | 20.66 | Q |
| 3 | Ainsley Armstrong | Trinidad and Tobago | 21.00 | Q |
| 4 | Bevan Smith | New Zealand | 21.04 | |
| 5 | George Daniels | Ghana | 21.10 | |
| 6 | Andrés Calonge | Argentina | 21.11 | |
| 7 | Markku Juhola | Finland | 21.19 | |
| 8 | Sunil Gunawardene | Ceylon | 21.31 | |

#### Quarterfinal 3

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Larry Burton | United States | 20.68 | Q |
| 2 | Martin Jellinghaus | West Germany | 20.70 | Q |
| 3 | Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 20.79 | Q |
| 4 | Philippe Clerc | Switzerland | 20.82 | |
| 5 | Edwin Roberts | Trinidad and Tobago | 20.99 | |
| 6 | Pasqualino Abeti | Italy | 21.00 | |
| 7 | Ladislav Kříž | Czechoslovakia | 21.46 | |
| — | James Addy | Ghana | DSQ | |

#### Quarterfinal 4

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Larry Black | United States | 20.28 | Q |
| 2 | Don Quarrie | Jamaica | 20.43 | Q |
| 3 | Bruno Cherrier | France | 20.62 | Q |
| 4 | Vladimir Lovetskiy | Soviet Union | 20.83 | |
| 5 | Motsapi Moorosi | Lesotho | 20.90 | |
| 6 | Su Wen-Ho | Republic of China | 21.47 | |
| 7 | Audun Garshol | Norway | 25.30 | |
| — | Dan Amuke | Kenya | DNF | |

#### Quarterfinal 5

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 20.47 | Q |
| 2 | Hans-Joachim Zenk | East Germany | 20.59 | Q |
| 3 | Richard Hardware | Jamaica | 20.76 | Q |
| 4 | Lucien Sainte-Rose | France | 20.76 | q |
| 5 | Francisco García | Spain | 20.77 | |
| 6 | Trevor James | Trinidad and Tobago | 21.34 | |
| 7 | Brian Green | Great Britain | 21.41 | |
| — | Samuel Monsels | Suriname | DNS | |

### Semifinals

Top four in each heat advance to final.

#### Semifinal 1

Quarrie pulled his hamstring during the race and could not finish.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 20.74 | Q |
| 2 | Larry Burton | United States | 20.78 | Q |
| 3 | Chuck Smith | United States | 20.86 | Q |
| 4 | Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 20.97 | Q |
| 5 | Jaroslav Matoušek | Czechoslovakia | 20.99 | |
| 6 | Manfred Ommer | West Germany | 21.08 | |
| 7 | Lucien Sainte-Rose | France | 21.42 | |
| — | Don Quarrie | Jamaica | DNF | |

#### Semifinal 2

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Larry Black | United States | 20.36 | Q |
| 2 | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 20.52 | Q |
| 3 | Hans-Joachim Zenk | East Germany | 20.63 | Q |
| 4 | Martin Jellinghaus | West Germany | 20.75 | Q |
| 5 | Jiří Kynos | Czechoslovakia | 20.88 | |
| 6 | Ainsley Armstrong | Trinidad and Tobago | 21.13 | |
| 7 | Bruno Cherrier | France | 21.15 | |
| 8 | Richard Hardware | Jamaica | 21.24 | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time |
| | Valeriy Borzov | Soviet Union | 20.00 |
| | Larry Black | United States | 20.19 |
| | Pietro Mennea | Italy | 20.30 |
| 4 | Larry Burton | United States | 20.37 |
| 5 | Chuck Smith | United States | 20.55 |
| 6 | Siegfried Schenke | East Germany | 20.56 |
| 7 | Martin Jellinghaus | West Germany | 20.65 |
| 8 | Hans-Joachim Zenk | East Germany | 21.05 |