Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States had an entry list of 76 competitors from 58 nations, with ten qualifying heats (76), four quarterfinals (32), and two semifinals (16) before the final (8) took off on Wednesday August 8, 1984.[1] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by 0.16 seconds by Carl Lewis of the United States (clocking the then-third fastest time in history), the nation's first victory in the men's 200 metres since 1968 and 13th overall. It was the third gold medal of the Games for Lewis, who was attempting to match Jesse Owens in winning the 100, 200, long jump, and 4x100 relay; his victory in this event left only the relay to go, in which the United States was heavily favored. The American team competed in a medal sweep in this event, the first since 1956 and the fifth overall for the United States, with Kirk Baptiste earning silver and Thomas Jefferson taking bronze.

Men's 200 metres
at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad
Carl Lewis
VenueLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Dates6 August 1984 (heats and quarterfinals)
8 August 1984 (semifinals and finals)
Competitors76 from 58 nations
Winning time19.80 OR
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Carl Lewis
 United States
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Kirk Baptiste
 United States
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Thomas Jefferson
 United States
← 1980
1988 →

Background

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This was the 19th 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 eight finalists from the 1980 Games returned: gold medalist (and 1972 bronze medalist and 1976 finalist) Pietro Mennea of Italy and bronze medalist (and 1976 gold medalist) Don Quarrie of Jamaica. The favorite was Carl Lewis of the United States, attempting to win four golds, with his teammates Kirk Baptiste and Thomas Jefferson his biggest challengers. The Soviet-led boycott had little effect on this event, with none of the top 200 metres runners in 1984 being from boycotting nations.[2]

Algeria, Bangladesh, the British Virgin Islands, the People's Republic of China, Costa Rica, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Indonesia, Mali, Mauritius, the Netherlands Antilles, Oman, Qatar, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 18th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Competition format

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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 in the heats.

There were 10 heats of 8 runners each (before withdrawals), with the top 3 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals along with the next 2 fastest overall. The quarterfinals consisted of 4 heats of 8 athletes each (again, before withdrawals); the 4 fastest men in each heat 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.[2]

Records

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These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics.

World record   Pietro Mennea (ITA) 19.72 Mexico City, Mexico 12 September 1979
Olympic record   Tommie Smith (USA) 19.83 Mexico City, Mexico 16 October 1968

In the final Carl Lewis set a new Olympic record with 19.80 seconds.

Schedule

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All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)

Date Time Round
Monday, 6 August 1984 10:00
12:00
Heats
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 8 August 1984 16:00
18:30
Semifinals
Final

Results

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Heats

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Heat 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Pietro Mennea   Italy 20.70 Q
2 Peter Van Miltenburg   Australia 21.06 Q
3 Robson da Silva   Brazil 21.08 Q
4 Georges Kablan Degnan   Ivory Coast 21.39
5 Earl Haley   Guyana 21.52
6 Inoke Bainimoli   Fiji 22.16
7 Saidur Rahman Dawn   Bangladesh 22.59
Emmanuel Bitanga   Cameroon DNF

Heat 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Leroy Reid   Jamaica 20.62 Q
2 Ralf Lübke   West Germany 20.88 Q
3 Luke Watson   Great Britain 21.26 Q
4 Yu Zhuanghui   China 21.48
5 Nordin Mohamed Jadi   Malaysia 21.88
6 Gregory Simons   Bermuda 21.88
7 James Idun   Ghana 22.55
8 Glen Abrahams   Costa Rica 22.75

Heat 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Carlo Simionato   Italy 21.06 Q
2 Dudley Parker   Bahamas 21.12 Q
3 Jürgen Evers   West Germany 21.12 Q
4 Florencio Aguilar   Panama 21.50
5 Oumar Fye   The Gambia 21.56
6 Mohammad Mansha   Pakistan 22.04
7 Christian Nenepath   Indonesia 22.20
8 Clifford Sibusiso Mamba   Swaziland 22.76

Heat 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thomas Jefferson   United States 20.63 Q
2 Desai Williams   Canada 20.70 Q
3 João Batista da Silva   Brazil 20.70 Q
4 Jamal Al-Abdullah   Qatar 21.10 q
5 Paul Narracott   Australia 21.20
6 Larry Millers   Antigua and Barbuda 21.93
7 Markus Büchel   Liechtenstein 22.14
8 Augustus Moulton   Liberia 22.94

Heat 5

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Patrick Barré   France 20.88 Q
2 Fred Martin   Australia 20.98 Q
3 Gus Young   Jamaica 21.14 Q
4 Alfred Nyambane   Kenya 21.35
5 Hiroki Fuwa   Japan 21.37
6 Henry Ngolwe   Zambia 21.58
7 Antoine Kiakouama   Republic of the Congo 21.64
8 Odiya Silweya   Malawi 22.46

Heat 6

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Don Quarrie   Jamaica 20.84 Q
2 Ade Mafe   Great Britain 21.24 Q
3 Tony Sharpe   Canada 21.31 Q
4 Sumet Promna   Thailand 21.53
5 Lindel Hodge   British Virgin Islands 22.28
6 Mohamed Al-Hashimi   Oman 22.83
7 Aldo Salandra   El Salvador 22.90
8 Jean-Yves Mallat   Lebanon 22.91

Heat 7

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Carl Lewis   United States 21.02 Q
2 Atlee Mahorn   Canada 21.42 Q
3 Julien Thode   Netherlands Antilles 21.62 Q
4 Manuel Ramírez   Colombia 21.71
5 Henrique Ferreira   Mozambique 21.87
6 Luís Barroso   Portugal 22.03
7 Christopher Madzokere   Zimbabwe 22.75
Kgosiemang Khumoyarano   Botswana DNS

Heat 8

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Kirk Baptiste   United States 20.63 Q
2 Luis Morales   Puerto Rico 21.05 Q
3 Neville Hodge   Virgin Islands 21.12 Q
4 Ali Bakhta   Algeria 21.15 q
5 Arnaldo da Silva   Brazil 21.24
6 Lapule Tamean   Papua New Guinea 21.97
7 Gustavo Envela   Equatorial Guinea 22.14
8 Emilio Samayoa   Guatemala 22.19

Heat 9

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Stefano Tilli   Italy 20.72 Q
2 Jean-Jacques Boussemart   France 20.82 Q
3 Mohamed Purnomo   Indonesia 21.01 Q
4 David Sawyerr   Sierra Leone 21.29
5 Ivan Benjamin   Sierra Leone 21.54
6 Moussa Savadogo   Mali 21.72
7 Denis Rose   Seychelles 21.87
Hasely Crawford   Trinidad and Tobago DNS

Heat 10

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Jang Jae-Geun   South Korea 21.32 Q
2 John Goville   Uganda 21.59 Q
3 John Mayers   Barbados 21.70 Q
4 Nelson Erazo   Puerto Rico 21.72
5 Damel Flowers   Belize 21.72
6 Daniel André   Mauritius 22.16
Allan Wells   Great Britain DNS
Christian Haas   West Germany DNS

Quarterfinals

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Quarterfinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Carl Lewis   United States 20.48 Q
2 Stefano Tilli   Italy 20.64 Q
3 Atlee Mahorn   Canada 20.69 Q
4 Luis Morales   Puerto Rico 20.82 Q
5 Mohamed Purnomo   Indonesia 20.93
6 Patrick Barré   France 20.95
7 Dudley Parker   Bahamas 21.10
8 Ali Bakhta   Algeria 21.35

Quarterfinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Desai Williams   Canada 20.40 Q
2 Pietro Mennea   Italy 20.50 Q
3 Ade Mafe   Great Britain 20.55 Q
4 João Batista da Silva   Brazil 20.61 Q
5 Jürgen Evers   West Germany 20.95
6 Jang Jae-Keun   South Korea 20.14
7 John Mayers   Barbados 21.46
Leroy Reid   Jamaica DNF

Quarterfinal 3

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Thomas Jefferson   United States 20.47 Q
2 Jean-Jacques Boussemart   France 20.54 Q
3 Donald Quarrie   Jamaica 20.57 Q
4 Robson da Silva   Brazil 20.88 Q
5 Julien Thode   Netherlands Antilles 21.45
6 Tony Sharpe   Canada 21.46
7 John Goville   Uganda 21.55
Fred Martin   Australia DNS

Quarterfinal 4

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Kirk Baptiste   United States 20.48 Q
2 Ralf Lübke   West Germany 20.57 Q
3 Gus Young   Jamaica 20.75 Q
4 Carlo Simionato   Italy 20.86 Q
5 Peter Van Miltenburg   Australia 21.09
6 Luke Watson   Great Britain 21.14
7 Jamal Al-Abdulla   Qatar 21.44
Neville Hodge   Virgin Islands DNS

Semifinals

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Semifinal 1

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Kirk Baptiste   United States 20.29 Q
2 Thomas Jefferson   United States 20.40 Q
3 Pietro Mennea   Italy 20.47 Q
4 Jean-Jacques Boussemart   France 20.55 Q
5 Atlee Mahorn   Canada 20.77
6 Robson da Silva   Brazil 20.80
7 Gus Young   Jamaica 21.17
8 Luis Morales   Puerto Rico 21.22

Semifinal 2

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Carl Lewis   United States 20.27 Q
2 João Batista da Silva   Brazil 20.61 Q
3 Ade Mafe   Great Britain 20.63 Q
4 Ralf Lübke   West Germany 20.67 Q
5 Desai Williams   Canada 20.70
6 Stefano Tilli   Italy 20.72
7 Donald Quarrie   Jamaica 20.77
8 Carlo Simionato   Italy 20.92

Final

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Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
  Carl Lewis   United States 19.80 OR
  Kirk Baptiste   United States 19.96
  Thomas Jefferson   United States 20.26
4 João Batista da Silva   Brazil 20.30
5 Ralf Lübke   West Germany 20.51
6 Jean-Jacques Boussemart   France 20.55
7 Pietro Mennea   Italy 20.55
8 Ade Mafe   Great Britain 20.85

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Athletics at the 1984 Los Angeles Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
  2. ^ a b "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
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