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

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

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. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress.

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. 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

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 The third member of the 1952 American sweep, James Gathers, had been replaced by Bobby Morrow.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.

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

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.

Records

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

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

Heats

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

Heat 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

Heat 7

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quarterfinal 1

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

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

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

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

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

Semifinal 1

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

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

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) Bobby Morrow  United States 20.75 =WR, OR
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Andy Stanfield  United States 20.97
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 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

This page was last updated at 2024-02-23 12:42 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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