Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres sprint at the 1936 Olympic Games was on August 4 and August 5. There were 44 athletes. These athletes were from 22 different nations. Each country could only have 3 athletes in this event. Jesse Owens won the event by 0.4 seconds. Mack Robinson(brother of baseball's Jackie Robinson) was in 2nd place. This was Owen's 3rd gold medal. He had also gotten a medal in the 100 metres and long jump. Later, he would also win the sprint relay. Tinus Osendarp of the Netherlands was in 3rd place. This was their first medal in this event.

Background

This was the 200 metres in the Olympics. It was not in the 1896 Summer Olympics, but it was in every Olympics after that. None of the 6 athletes from the 1932 finals were also in this event. Jesse Owens was the favorite Olympian. He had already won both the 100 metres and the long jump in Berlin.

This was the first time that Liechtenstein ran in this event. This was the 9th time that the United States was in this event. They were the only country to have been at every 200 metres in the Olympics so far.

Competition

The competition was the same since 1920. There were heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 8 heats. Each heat had 4 to 6 runners. The 3 fastest runners in each heat went to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals consisted of 4 heats. Each heat had 6 athletes each. The 3 fastest men in each quarterfinal went to the semifinals. There were 2 semifinals. Each semifinal had 6 runners. The 3 fastest athletes in each semifinal went to the finals. The final had 6 runners. Before, some 200 metres races were on a straight trace. These races were run on the new standard 400-metre track.

Records

Before this competition, these were the world and Olympic records.

*On straightaway. No world record existed for running on a curve.Official Report, p. 621.

Jesse Owens beat the Olympic record in the 3rd heat. He ran 21.1 seconds. He tied that time in the 3rd quarterfinal. Mack Robinson tied that time in the 1st semifinal. He also tied that time in the final. However, Owens had won with the time of 20.7 seconds. This beat the Olympic record. It also was the unofficial record for the 200 metres on a curved track.

Schedule

 Date Time Round Tuesday, 4 August 1936  10:3015:30  HeatsQuarterfinals Wednesday, 5 August 1936  15:0018:00  SemifinalsFinal

Results

Heats

The fastest 3 runners in each heat went to the quarterfinal.

Heat 1

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Wil van Beveren    21.4   2  Tomás Beswick  22.1  3 Mutsuo Taniguchi  22.2  4Antonio Salcedo  Unknown  5José de Almeida  Unknown  6Aristidis Sakellariou  Unknown 

Heat 2

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Tinus Osendarp    21.7   2  Egon Schein  22.0  3 Alan Pennington  22.1  4Masao Yazawa 22.4 5Pierre Dondelinger  Unknown  6Xaver Frick  Unknown 

Heat 3

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Jesse Owens    21.1  ,  2  Lee Orr  21.6  3 Karl Neckermann  21.8  4Arthur Sweeney 22.1 5Nemesio de Guzman 22.9 6Gunnar Christensen 23.1

Heat 4

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Bruce Humber    22.1   2  Gyula Gyenes  22.1  3 Felix Rinner  22.4  4Paul Bronner 22.6 5Chen Kingkwan  Unknown 

Heat 5

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Paul Hänni    21.9   2  Renos Frangoudis  22.1  3 József Sir  22.2  4Poh Kimseng  Unknown  5Pat Dannaher  Unknown 

Heat 6

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Marthinus Theunissen    21.7   2  Howard McPhee  21.8  3 Börje Strandvall  22.6  4George Fahoum  Unknown  5Liu Changchun  Unknown  6Antonio Fondevilla  Unknown 

Heat 7

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Bob Packard    21.2   2  Eric Grimbeek  21.8  3 Albert Steinmetz  21.9  4Eric Whiteside  Unknown 

Heat 8

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Mack Robinson    21.6   2  Aki Tammisto  22.2  3 Carlos Hofmeister  22.3  4Dieudonné Devrindt  Unknown  5Mario Minai  Unknown  6Alfred König  Unknown 

Quarterfinals

The 3 fastest runners in each quarterfinal went to the semifinal.

Quarterfinal 1

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Lee Orr    21.2   2  Paul Hänni  21.3  3 Bob Packard  21.3  4József Sir 21.6 5Egon Schein 21.7 6Tomás Beswick  Unknown 

Quarterfinal 2

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Wil van Beveren    21.7   2  Marthinus Theunissen  21.9  3 Bruce Humber  22.1  4Renos Frangoudis  Unknown  5Mutsuo Taniguchi  Unknown  6Carlos Hofmeister  Unknown 

Quarterfinal 3

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Jesse Owens    21.1  ,  2  Howard McPhee  21.8  3 Eric Grimbeek  21.9  4Aki Tammisto 22.0 5Felix Rinner  Unknown  — Albert Steinmetz    

Quarterfinal 4

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Mack Robinson    21.2   2  Tinus Osendarp  21.3  3 Karl Neckermann  21.6  4Gyula Gyenes  Unknown  5Börje Strandvall  Unknown  —  Alan Pennington    

Semifinals

The 3 fastest times in each semifinal went to the finals.

Semifinal 1

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Mack Robinson    21.1  ,  2  Lee Orr   21.3   3 Wil van Beveren   21.5   4Bob Packard  21.6  5Karl Neckermann  21.8  6Eric Grimbeek 22.2

Semifinal 2

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes 1  Jesse Owens    21.3   2  Tinus Osendarp   21.5   3 Paul Hänni   21.6   4Marthinus Theunissen  21.8  5Bruce Humber  22.0  6Howard McPhee 22.0

Final

 Rank  Athlete  Nation  Time  Notes Jesse Owens    20.7   Mack Robinson    21.1    Tinus Osendarp    21.3  4  Paul Hänni    21.6  5  Lee Orr    21.6   6  Wil van Beveren    21.9 

References

Category:Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics
Category:Men's events at the 1936 Summer Olympics