1956 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 200 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	200 meter run
gender	Men
Attendees	66 athletes from 32 countries
Competition location	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Competition phase	November 26, 1956 (prelims / quarter-finals) November 27, 1956 (semi-finals / finals)
Medalist Bobby Morrow ( USA )   Andy Stanfield ( USA )   Thane Baker ( USA )

The men's 200-meter run at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne was held on November 26 and 27, 1956 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground . 65 athletes took part.

The American Bobby Morrow was the Olympic champion, ahead of his compatriots Andy Stanfield and Thane Baker .

The German participants Karl-Friedrich Haas and Leonhard Pohl reached the semi-finals, but were eliminated there. Manfred Germar qualified for the quarter-finals, but did not take part in the run. Swiss and Austrian athletes did not take part.

Existing records

World record	20.6 s	Andy Stanfield ( USA )	Los Angeles , USA	June 28, 1952
		Thane Baker ( USA )	Bakersfield , USA	June 23, 1956
Olympic record	20.7 s	Jesse Owens ( USA )	Final of Berlin , Germany	August 5, 1936

Conducting the competition

The runners competed in twelve preliminary runs on November 26th. The two best of each heat qualified for the quarter-finals on the same day from which the three best runners reached the preliminary decision. The two semi-finals and the final were held on November 27th. In the semi-finals, the first three starters qualified for the final.

Note: The qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue.

Time schedule

November 26th, 2.30 p.m .: Preliminaries
November 26th, 5.40 p.m .: quarter-finals
November 27th, 3 p.m .: semi-finals
November 27, 5 p.m .: final

Note: All times are local Melbourne time (UTC + 10)

Prelims

Date: November 26, 1956, from 2.30 p.m.

Forward 1

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	José Telles da Conceição	Brazil	21.5 s	21.61 s
2	Manfred Germar	Germany	21.8 s	21.88 s
3	René Ahumada	Mexico	21.9 s	21.96 s
4th	Melville Spence	Jamaica	21.9 s	22.13 s	Twin brother of Malcolm Spence (run 5)
5	Jean-Pierre Goudeau	France	22.0 s	22.13 s

Forward 2

The Indian Milkha Singh (photo from 2012) was eliminated in the preliminary run.

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Karl-Friedrich Haas	Germany	21.4 s	21.56 s
2	Václav Janeček	Czechoslovakia	21.7 s	21.85 s
3	Douglas Winston	Australia	22.0 s	22.20 s
4th	Milkha Singh	India	22.3 s	22.47 s
5	Kyohei Ushio	Japan	22.4 s	22.64 s

Forward 3

The time of the Thai Manut Bumrungphuk was not taken.
James Roberts crossed the finish line in fifth place with 23.1 s, but was subsequently disqualified.

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Mike Agostini	Trinidad and Tobago	21.6 s	21.80 s
2	Vincenzo Lombardo	Italy	21.8 s	21.94 s
3	Yuri Konovalov	Soviet Union	22.0 s	22.09 s
4th	Josef Trousil	Czechoslovakia	22.3 s	22.54 s
5	Beyene Legesse	Ethiopia	23.4 s	23.63 s
6th	Manut Bumrungphuk	Thailand	k. A.	k. A.
DSQ	James Roberts	Liberia

Forward 4

Apolinar Solórzano crossed the finish line in fourth place with 22.6 s, but was subsequently disqualified.

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Andy Stanfield	United States	21.5 s	21.69 s
2	Sergio D'Asnasch	Italy	22.2 s	22.35 s
3	Muhammad Sharif Butt	Pakistan	22.2 s	22.38 s
4th	Fred Hammer	Luxembourg	22.7 s	22.73 s
5	Roba Negousse	Ethiopia	23.7 s	23.89 s
DSQ	Apolinar Solórzano	Venezuela

Forward 5

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Abdul Khaliq	Pakistan	21.1 s	21.32 s
2	Maurice Rae	New Zealand	21.4 s	21.57 s
3	João Pires Sobrinho	Brazil	21.6 s	21.67 s
4th	Tom Robinson	Bahamas	21.6 s	21.76 s
5	Sándor Jakabfy	Hungary	21.6 s	21.78 s
6th	Malcolm Spence	Jamaica	21.7 s	21.86 s	Twin brother of Melville Spence (Run 1)

Forward 6

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Kanji Akagi	Japan	22.1 s	22.26 s
2	Jorge de Barros	Brazil	22.2 s	22.30 s

Forward 7

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Thane Baker	United States	21.8 s	21.92 s
2	Béla Goldoványi	Hungary	21.9 s	22.08 s
3	Bjørn Nilsen	Norway	22.2 s	22.33 s
4th	Oliver Hunter	British Guiana	22.4 s	22.54 s
5	Giovanni Ghiselli	Italy	22.5 s	22.68 s
6th	Abebe Hailou	Ethiopia	23.0 s	23.25 s

Forward 8

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Vilém Mandlík	Czechoslovakia	21.6 s	21.79 s
2	Hector Hogan	Australia	21.8 s	21.97 s
3	David Segal	Great Britain	22.1 s	22.22 s
4th	Joe Foreman	Canada	22.2 s	22.28 s
5	Kesavan Soon	Singapore	23.0 s	23.33 s
6th	Lee Kah Fook	Malaya	23.7 s	23.94 s

Forward 9

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Bobby Morrow	United States	21.8 s	21.95 s
2	Edward Szmidt	Poland	21.9 s	22.03 s
3	Graham Gipson	Australia	22.0 s	22.06 s
4th	Akira Kiyofuji	Japan	22.5 s	22.56 s
5	Abdul Aziz	Pakistan	22.9 s	22.98 s

Forward 10

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Boris Tokarev	Soviet Union	21.6 s	21.62 s
2	Brian Shenton	Great Britain	21.7 s	21.87 s
3	Rafael Romero	Venezuela	21.8 s	21.85 s
4th	Janusz Jarzembowski	Poland	21.9 s	21.91 s
5	Joe Goddard	Trinidad and Tobago	22.3 s	22.23 s
6th	Eero Kivelä	Finland	22.5 s	22.56 s
7th	Ben Nduga	Uganda	k. A.	22.89 s

Forward 11

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Konstantin Lissenko	France	21.8 s	22.06 s
2	Iván Rodríguez	Puerto Rico	21.9 s	22.06 s
3	Roy Sandstrom	Great Britain	22.1 s	22.18 s
4th	Pentti Rekola	Finland	22.1 s	22.22 s
5	Jack Parrington	Canada	22.4 s	22.61 s
6th	Montri Srinaka	Thailand	k. A.	23.88 s
7th	Emmanuel Putu	Liberia	k. A.	24.33 s

Forward 12

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Leonhard Pohl	Germany	21.6 s	21.78 s
2	Leonid Bartenew	Soviet Union	21.8 s	21.94 s
3	Yves Camus	France	22.2 s	22.37 s
4th	Paiboon Vacharapan	Thailand	23.8 s	23.92 s
5	Richard Estick	Jamaica	25.5 s	25.81 s

Quarter finals

Date: November 26, 1956, from 5.40 p.m.

Run 1

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Abdul Khaliq	Pakistan	21.1 s	21.34 s
2	Mike Agostini	Trinidad and Tobago	21.1 s	21.35 s
3	Leonhard Pohl	Germany	21.3 s	21.49 s
4th	Leonid Bartenew	Soviet Union	21.4 s	21.53 s
5	Béla Goldoványi	Hungary	21.5 s	21.64 s
6th	Edward Szmidt	Poland	21.6 s	21.73 s

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Andy Stanfield	United States	21.1 s	21.22 s
2	Boris Tokarev	Soviet Union	21.2 s	21.42 s
3	José Telles da Conceição	Brazil	21.3 s	21.46 s
4th	Vincenzo Lombardo	Italy	21.4 s	21.53 s
5	Kanji Akagi	Japan	21.9 s	22.05 s
DNF	Konstantin Lissenko	France

Run 3

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Thane Baker	United States	21.2 s	21.34 s
2	Vilém Mandlík	Czechoslovakia	21.3 s	21.56 s
3	Karl-Friedrich Haas	Germany	21.5 s	21.68 s
4th	Hector Hogan	Australia	21.7 s	21.90 s
5	Iván Rodríguez	Puerto Rico	21.9 s	22.16 s
6th	Sergio D'Asnasch	Italy	22.6 s	22.82 s

Run 4

The German Manfred Germar did not start the run.

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Bobby Morrow	United States	21.9 s	22.03 s
2	Maurice Rae	New Zealand	22.0 s	22.12 s
3	Brian Shenton	Great Britain	22.1 s	22.15 s
4th	Václav Janeček	Czechoslovakia	22.2 s	22.26 s
5	Jorge de Barros	Brazil	23.7 s	23.88 s

Semifinals

Date: November 27, 1956, from 3 p.m.

Run 1

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Thane Baker	United States	21.1 s	21.21 s
2	Bobby Morrow	Trinidad and Tobago	21.3 s	21.43 s
3	José Telles da Conceição	Brazil	21.4 s	21.53 s
4th	Abdul Khaliq	Pakistan	21.5 s	21.58 s
5	Karl-Friedrich Haas	Germany	21.5 s	21.74 s
6th	Maurice Rae	New Zealand	21.5 s	21.75 s

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Andy Stanfield	United States	21.2 s	21.35 s
2	Bobby Morrow	United States	21.3 s	21.48 s
3	Boris Tokarev	Soviet Union	21.3 s	21.50 s
4th	Leonhard Pohl	Germany	21.5 s	21.64 s
5	Vilém Mandlík	Czechoslovakia	21.6 s	21.74 s
6th	Brian Shenton	Great Britain	21.9 s	22.08 s

Olympic Champion Bobby Morrow (USA)

final

Date: November 27, 1956, 5 p.m.

It was a duel expected between the Olympic champion in 1952 , Andy Stanfield, and the winner of the 100-meter run from Melbourne , Bobby Morrow. Morrow was walking with his left thigh bandaged. At the start of the home stretch, both favorites were tied, but Morrow increased the pace again and won by a meter over Stanfield, who ran the same time as his Olympic victory in Helsinki . Morrow set the world record , which also meant a new Olympic record . Bronze went to Thane Baker as he did over 100 meters. For Morrow this was his second gold medal at these games, a third was to follow in the 4 x 100 meter relay .

Bobby Morrow won the tenth gold medal for the USA in the twelfth Olympic final.
With Thane Baker's bronze medal, the US team achieved the second triple success in a row. Overall, it was the fourth US triple success in this discipline.
Of the 36 medals awarded so far, US runners alone have won 25.

space	Surname	nation	Official time hand-stopped	Unofficial time electronically	annotation
1	Bobby Morrow	United States	20.6 s	20.75 s	WRe / OR
2	Andy Stanfield	United States	20.7 s	20.97 s
3	Thane Baker	United States	20.9 s	21.05 s
4th	Mike Agostini	Trinidad and Tobago	21.1 s	21.35 s
5	Boris Tokarev	Soviet Union	21.2 s	21.42 s
6th	José Telles da Conceição	Brazil	21.3 s	21.56 s

literature

• Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 1st edition 1969, p. 123f

Web links

• SportsReference 200 m , accessed October 1, 2017
• Official report pp. 287–289, engl. (PDF), accessed October 1, 2017
• ✘ Melbourne 1956, Bobby Joe Morrow, 200m (amateur footage) , published June 12, 2017 on youtube.com, accessed October 1, 2017

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ekkehard zur Megede , The History of Olympic Athletics, Volume 2: 1948–1968, Verlag Bartels & Wernitz KG, Berlin, 2nd edition 1970, p. 124
2. ^ Official report p. 284, engl. (PDF), accessed October 1, 2017
3. ↑ Official Report S. 287f, Eng. (PDF), accessed October 1, 2017
4. ↑ Official Report, p. 287
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Official report p. 289, engl. (PDF), accessed October 1, 2017
6. ↑ SportsReference (Eng.)