Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres
Men's 200 metres at the Games of the XIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | Estadio Olímpico Universitario | |||||||||
Dates | 15–16 October | |||||||||
Competitors | 50 from 37 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 19.83 WR | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics | ||
---|---|---|
Track events | ||
100 m | men | women |
200 m | men | women |
400 m | men | women |
800 m | men | women |
1500 m | men | |
5000 m | men | |
10,000 m | men | |
80 m hurdles | women | |
110 m hurdles | men | |
400 m hurdles | men | |
3000 m steeplechase | men | |
4 × 100 m relay | men | women |
4 × 400 m relay | men | |
Road events | ||
Marathon | men | |
20 km walk | men | |
50 km walk | men | |
Field events | ||
Long jump | men | women |
Triple jump | men | |
High jump | men | women |
Pole vault | men | |
Shot put | men | women |
Discus throw | men | women |
Javelin throw | men | women |
Hammer throw | men | |
Combined events | ||
Pentathlon | women | |
Decathlon | men | |
The men's 200 metres event at the 1968 Summer Olympics was held in Mexico City, Mexico. The final was won by Tommie Smith in a time of 19.83, a new world record. However, the race is perhaps best known for what happened during the medal ceremony – the Black Power salute of Smith and bronze medallist John Carlos. The background, consequences, and legacy of the salute carried forward into subsequent Olympics and is perhaps the single most memorable event from these Olympics.
The event started on 15 October and finished on 16 October.[1] There were 50 athletes from 37 nations competing.[2] The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. Smith's win was the second consecutive and 12th overall for the United States. Peter Norman's medal was the second for Australia in the men's 200 metres, after Stan Rowley's bronze 68 years earlier.
Background
This was the 15th appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Olympics in 1896 but has been on the program ever since. Three of the eight finalists from the 1964 Games returned: bronze medalist Edwin Roberts of Trinidad and Tobago, fourth-place finisher Harry Jerome of Canada, and fifth-place finisher (and 1960 gold medalist) Livio Berruti of Italy.
Barbados, British Honduras (Belize), the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, West Germany, Honduras, Nicaragua, Sudan, Tanzania, and the Virgin Islands each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 15th appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the 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.
There were 7 heats of between 7 and 8 runners each, with the top 4 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals along with the next 4 fastest overall. The quarterfinals consisted of 4 heats of 8 athletes each; 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
Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | Tommie Smith (USA) | 20.0y | Sacramento, United States |
11 June 1966 |
Olympic record | Henry Carr (USA) | 20.3 | Tokyo, Japan | 17 October 1964 |
Schedule
All times are
Date | Time | Round |
---|---|---|
Tuesday, 15 October 1968 | 10:30 15:40 |
Heats Quarterfinals |
Wednesday, 16 October 1968 | 15:20 17:50 |
Semifinals Final |
Results
Heats
Heat 1
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John Carlos | United States | 20.54 | Q |
2 | Andrés Calonge | Argentina | 20.81 | Q |
3 | Mani Jegathesan | Malaysia | 20.92 | Q, NR |
4 | Livio Berruti | Italy | 21.06 | Q |
5 | Valentin Maslakov | Soviet Union | 21.07 | q |
6 | Norman Chihota | Tanzania | 21.28 | |
7 | Canagasabai Kunalan |
Singapore | 21.39 | |
8 | Hadley Hinds | Barbados | 22.35 |
Heat 2
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tommie Smith | United States | 20.37 | Q, =OR |
2 | Charles Asati | Kenya | 20.66 | Q |
3 | Jochen Eigenherr | West Germany | 20.69 | Q |
4 | Edwin Roberts | Trinidad and Tobago | 20.69 | Q |
5 | David Ejoke | Nigeria | 21.09 | q |
6 | Edwin Johnson |
Bahamas | 21.22 | q |
7 | Kun Min-mu | Taiwan | 22.44 |
Heat 3
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Larry Questad | United States | 20.75 | Q |
2 | Julius Sang | Kenya | 20.90 | Q |
3 | Edward Romanowski | Poland | 20.95 | Q |
4 | Miguel Angel González | Mexico | 21.31 | Q |
5 | Jean-Louis Ravelomanantsoa | Madagascar | 21.53 | |
6 | Norris Stubbs | Bahamas | 21.64 | |
7 | Morgan Gesmalla | Sudan | 22.70 |
Heat 4
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mike Fray |
Jamaica | 20.62 | Q |
2 | Winston Short | Trinidad and Tobago | 21.00 | Q |
3 | Hansruedi Wiedmer | Switzerland | 21.06 | Q |
4 | Bernard Nottage | Bahamas | 21.31 | Q |
5 | Philippe Housiaux | Belgium | 21.41 | |
6 | Porfirio Veras | Dominican Republic | 21.53 | |
7 | Juan Argüello | Nicaragua | 22.80 |
Heat 5
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Iván Moreno |
Chile | 20.93 | Q |
2 | Jacques Carette | France | 20.97 | Q |
3 | James Addy | Ghana | 21.00 | Q |
4 | Fernando Acevedo | Peru | 21.02 | Q |
5 | Harry Jerome | Canada | 21.22 | q |
6 | William Dralu | Uganda | 21.38 | |
7 | Colin Thurton | British Honduras | 22.14 |
Heat 6
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Norman | Australia | 20.17 | Q, OR[3] |
2 | Roger Bambuck | France | 20.61 | Q |
3 | Dick Steane | Great Britain | 20.66 | Q |
4 | Rajalingam Gunaratnam | Malaysia | 21.58 | Q |
5 | Alberto Torres | Dominican Republic | 21.99 | |
6 | José Astacio | El Salvador | 23.13 | |
— | Juan Franceschi |
Puerto Rico | DNF |
Heat 7
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Greg Lewis |
Australia | 20.71 | Q |
2 | Ralph Banthorpe | Great Britain | 20.73 | Q |
3 | Nikolay Ivanov |
Soviet Union | 20.78 | Q |
4 | Pedro Grajales | Colombia | 21.07 | Q |
5 | Gert Metz | West Germany | 21.24 | |
6 | Carl Plaskett | Virgin Islands | 21.29 | |
7 | Cristóbal Corrales | Honduras | 23.93 |
Quarterfinals
Quarterfinal 1
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John Carlos | United States | 20.69 | Q |
2 | Greg Lewis |
Australia | 20.81 | Q |
3 | Dick Steane | Great Britain | 20.81 | Q |
4 | Mani Jegathesan | Malaysia | 21.01 | Q |
5 | Julius Sang | Kenya | 21.04 | |
6 | Jacques Carette | France | 21.15 | |
7 | Edwin Johnson |
Bahamas | 21.41 | |
8 | Harry Jerome | Canada | 21.43 |
Quarterfinal 2
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Peter Norman | Australia | 20.44 | Q |
2 | Jochen Eigenherr | West Germany | 20.53 | Q |
3 | Fernando Acevedo | Peru | 20.78 | Q |
4 | Iván Moreno |
Chile | 20.83 | Q |
5 | Charles Asati | Kenya | 20.84 | |
6 | Livio Berruti | Italy | 21.01 | |
7 | Winston Short | Trinidad and Tobago | 21.51 | |
8 | Rajalingam Gunaratnam | Malaysia | 21.52 |
Quarterfinal 3
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tommie Smith | United States | 20.28 | Q, =OR |
2 | Edwin Roberts | Trinidad and Tobago | 20.50 | Q |
3 | Edward Romanowski | Poland | 20.85 | Q |
4 | Nikolay Ivanov |
Soviet Union | 20.90 | Q |
5 | David Ejoke | Nigeria | 20.99 | |
6 | Andrés Calonge | Argentina | 21.03 | |
7 | Hansruedi Wiedmer | Switzerland | 21.42 | |
8 | Miguel Angel González | Mexico | 21.57 |
Quarterfinal 4
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mike Fray |
Jamaica | 20.39 | Q |
2 | Larry Questad | United States | 20.54 | Q |
3 | Roger Bambuck | France | 20.63 | Q |
4 | Ralph Banthorpe | Great Britain | 20.83 | Q |
5 | James Addy | Ghana | 20.90 | |
6 | Valentin Maslakov | Soviet Union | 20.96 | |
7 | Pedro Grajales | Colombia | 21.05 | |
8 | Bernard Nottage | Bahamas | 21.53 |
Semifinals
Semifinal 1
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | John Carlos | United States | 20.12 | Q, OR |
2 | Peter Norman | Australia | 20.22 | Q |
3 | Mike Fray |
Jamaica | 20.46 | Q |
4 | Roger Bambuck | France | 20.47 | Q |
5 | Iván Moreno |
Chile | 20.84 | |
6 | Dick Steane | Great Britain | 20.85 | |
7 | Nikolay Ivanov |
Soviet Union | 20.89 | |
8 | Fernando Acevedo | Peru | 20.91 |
Semifinal 2
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tommie Smith | United States | 20.14 | Q, =OR |
2 | Edwin Roberts | Trinidad and Tobago | 20.44 | Q |
3 | Larry Questad | United States | 20.48 | Q |
4 | Jochen Eigenherr | West Germany | 20.49 | Q |
5 | Greg Lewis |
Australia | 20.53 | |
6 | Edward Romanowski | Poland | 20.80 | |
7 | Ralph Banthorpe | Great Britain | 20.88 | |
8 | Mani Jegathesan | Malaysia | 21.05 |
Final
Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Tommie Smith | United States | 19.83 | WR | |
Peter Norman | Australia | 20.06 | NR | |
John Carlos | United States | 20.10 | ||
4 | Edwin Roberts | Trinidad and Tobago | 20.34 | |
5 | Roger Bambuck | France | 20.51 | |
6 | Larry Questad | United States | 20.62 | |
7 | Mike Fray |
Jamaica | 20.63 | |
8 | Jochen Eigenherr | West Germany | 20.66 |
References
- ^ "Athletics at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
- ^ a b c "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
- ^ Frost, Caroline (17 October 2008). "The other man on the podium". BBC News. Retrieved 24 May 2014.