Athletics at the 1956 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres was an event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. There were 67 competitors from 32 countries. The first and second rounds were held on Monday 26 November and the semifinals and final on Tuesday 27 November.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

Men's 200 metres
at the Games of the XVI Olympiad
Bobby Morrow (right)
VenueMelbourne Cricket Ground
Dates26 November 1956 & 27 November 1956
Competitors67 from 32 nations
Winning time20.6 =WR OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bobby Morrow
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Andy Stanfield
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Thane Baker
 United States
← 1952
1960 →
Video on YouTube Official Video @20:55

Even though it had been a part of the Olympics, the IAAF had only certified world records for the 200 meters around the bend since 1951. Both claimants to the record Andy Stanfield and Thane Baker were in this final. Stanfield took a slight lead from the gun, making up the stagger on Jose Telles da Conceicao to his outside just past halfway through the turn. Inside of him, 100 meter champion Bobby Morrow slowly accelerated and caught Stanfield. Coming off the turn, Morrow had almost a meter advantage. Two meters back, Baker was in a battle with Michael Agostini. Down the final straight, Morrow opened up another meter to take the win by 0.22 seconds. Baker separated from Agostini and made a late run at Stanfield, coming up a couple of feet short.

Morrow's hand time of 20.6 second equalled the world record. The American sweep was the second consecutive and fourth overall sweep for the United States; Morrow's gold was the fifth consecutive and 10th overall for the nation. Stanfield and Baker were the third and fourth men to earn multiple medals in the 200 metres.

Background

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This was the 12th appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Olympics in 1896 but has been on the program ever since. Two of the six finalists from the 1952 Games returned: gold medalist Andy Stanfield and silver medalist Thane Baker, both of the United States. The third member of the 1952 American sweep, James Gathers, had been replaced by Bobby Morrow. Morrow and Dave Sime had been favorites early in the year, but Sime was injured and did not make the Olympic team.[2]

The Bahamas, Ethiopia, Guyana, Liberia, Malaya, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and Uganda each made their debut in the event; East and West Germany competed as the United Team of Germany for the first time. The United States made its 12th appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the 200 metres to date.

Competition format

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The competition used the four round format introduced in 1920: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 12 heats of between 2 and 7 runners each, with the top 2 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals consisted of 4 heats of 6 athletes each; the 3 fastest men in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were 2 semifinals, each with 6 runners. In that round, the top 3 athletes advanced. The final had 6 runners. The races were run on a 400 metre track.[2]

Records

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Prior to the competition, the existing world (curved track) and Olympic records were as follows.

World record   Andy Stanfield (USA) 20.6 Los Angeles, United States 28 June 1952
Olympic record   Jesse Owens (USA) 20.7 Berlin, Germany 5 August 1936

Bobby Morrow's hand-timed final run of 20.6 seconds was equal to the world record and set a new Olympic record.

Schedule

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All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 26 November 1956 14:30
17:40
Heats
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 27 November 1956 15:00
17:00
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Heats

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Twelve heats were held, the two fastest in each would qualify for the quarterfinals.

Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jose Telles da Conceicao   Brazil 21.61 Q
2 Manfred Germar   United Team of Germany 21.88 Q
3 Rene Ahumada Rodriguez   Mexico 21.96
4 Mel Spence   Jamaica 22.13
5 Jean-Pierre Goudeau   France 22.13

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Karl-Friedrich Haas   United Team of Germany 21.56 Q
2 Václav Janeček   Czechoslovakia 21.85 Q
3 Douglas Winston   Australia 22.20
4 Milkha Singh   India 22.47
5 Kyohei Ushio   Japan 22.64

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Michael Agostini   Trinidad and Tobago 21.80 Q
2 Vincenzo Lombardo   Italy 21.94 Q
3 Yuriy Konovalov   Soviet Union 22.09
4 Josef Trousil   Czechoslovakia 22.54
5 Legesse Beyene   Ethiopia 23.63
6 Manut Bumrungphuk   Thailand 24.59
James Roberts   Liberia DSQ

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Andy Stanfield   United States 21.69 Q
2 Sergio D'Asnasch   Italy 22.35 Q
3 Muhammad Sharif Butt   Pakistan 22.38
4 Fred Hammer   Luxembourg 22.73
5 Nigousse Robba   Ethiopia 23.89
Apolinar Solórzano   Venezuela DSQ

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Abdul Khaliq   Pakistan 21.32 Q
2 Maurice Rae   New Zealand 21.57 Q
3 Joao Pires Sobrinho   Brazil 21.67
4 Tom Robinson   Bahamas 21.76
5 Sándor Jakabfy   Hungary 21.78
6 Malcolm Spence   Jamaica 21.86

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Kanji Akagi   Japan 22.26 Q
2 Jorge Machado de Barros   Brazil 22.30 Q

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thane Baker   United States 21.92 Q
2 Béla Goldoványi   Hungary 22.08 Q
3 Bjørn Nilsen   Norway 22.33
4 Oliver Hunter   Guyana 22.54
5 Giovanni Ghiselli   Italy 22.68
6 Hailou Abbebe   Ethiopia 23.25

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Vilem Mandlik   Czechoslovakia 21.79 Q
2 Hector Hogan   Australia 21.97 Q
3 David Segal   Great Britain 22.22
4 Joseph Foreman   Canada 22.28
5 Kesavan Soon   Singapore 23.33
6 Lee Kah Fook   Malaya 23.94

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bobby Morrow   United States 21.95 Q
2 Edward Szmidt   Poland 22.03 Q
3 Graham Gipson   Australia 22.06
4 Akira Kiyofuji   Japan 22.56
5 Abdul Aziz   Pakistan 22.98

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Boris Tokarev   Soviet Union 21.62 Q
2 Brian Shenton   Great Britain 21.85 Q
3 Rafael Romero   Venezuela 21.87
4 Janusz Jarzembowski   Poland 21.91
5 Joseph Goddard   Trinidad and Tobago 22.23
6 Eero Kivelä   Finland 22.56
7 Benjamin Kiyini Nduga   Uganda 22.89

Heat 11

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Constantin Lissenko   France 22.06 Q
2 Iván Rodríguez   Puerto Rico 22.06 Q
3 Roy Sandstrom   Great Britain 22.18
4 Pentti Rekola   Finland 22.22
5 John Parrington   Canada 22.61
6 Montri Srinaka   Thailand 23.88
7 Emmanuel Gbecy Putu   Liberia 24.33

Heat 12

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Leonhard Pohl   United Team of Germany 21.78 Q
2 Leonid Bartenev   Soviet Union 21.94 Q
3 Yves Camus   France 22.37
4 Phaibulya Vacharabhan   Thailand 23.92
5 Richard Estick   Jamaica 25.81

Quarterfinals

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Four heats were held, the three fastest in each would qualify for the semifinals.

Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Abdul Khaliq   Pakistan 21.34 Q
2 Michael Agostini   Trinidad and Tobago 21.35 Q
3 Leonhard Pohl   United Team of Germany 21.49 Q
4 Leonid Bartenev   Soviet Union 21.53
5 Béla Goldoványi   Hungary 21.64
6 Edward Szmidt   Poland 21.73

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Andy Stanfield   United States 21.22 Q
2 Boris Tokarev   Soviet Union 21.42 Q
3 Jose Telles da Conceicao   Brazil 21.46 Q
4 Vincenzo Lombardo   Italy 21.53
5 Kanji Akagi   Japan 22.03
Constantin Lissenko   France DNS

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thane Baker   United States 21.34 Q
2 Vilem Mandlik   Czechoslovakia 21.56 Q
3 Karl-Friedrich Haas   United Team of Germany 21.68 Q
4 Hector Hogan   Australia 21.90
5 Iván Rodríguez   Puerto Rico 22.16
6 Sergio D'Asnasch   Italy 22.82

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Bobby Morrow   United States 22.03 Q
2 Maurice Rae   New Zealand 22.12 Q
3 Brian Shenton   Great Britain 22.15 Q
4 Václav Janeček   Czechoslovakia 22.26
5 Jorge Machado de Barros   Brazil 23.88
Manfred Germar   United Team of Germany DNS

Semifinals

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Two semifinals were held, the three fastest of which would qualify for the final.

Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thane Baker   United States 21.21 Q
2 Bobby Morrow   United States 21.43 Q
3 Jose Telles da Conceicao   Brazil 21.53 Q
4 Abdul Khaliq   Pakistan 21.58
5 Karl-Friedrich Haas   United Team of Germany 21.74
6 Maurice Rae   New Zealand 21.75

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Andy Stanfield   United States 21.35 Q
2 Michael Agostini   Trinidad and Tobago 21.48 Q
3 Boris Tokarev   Soviet Union 21.50 Q
4 Leonhard Pohl   United Team of Germany 21.64
5 Vilem Mandlik   Czechoslovakia 21.74
6 Brian Shenton   Great Britain 22.08

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Bobby Morrow   United States 20.75 =WR, OR
  Andy Stanfield   United States 20.97
  Thane Baker   United States 21.05
4 Michael Agostini   Trinidad and Tobago 21.35
5 Boris Tokarev   Soviet Union 21.42
6 Jose Telles da Conceicao   Brazil 21.56

References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1956 Melbourne Summer Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
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