1996 Summer Olympics / Athletics - 200 m (men)

sport	athletics
discipline	200 meter run
gender	Men
Attendees	78 athletes from 57 countries
Competition location	Centennial Olympic Stadium
Competition phase	July 31, 1996 (preliminary round / quarter-finals) August 1, 1996 (semi-finals / final)
Medalist Michael Johnson ( USA )   Frank Fredericks ( NAM )   Ato Boldon ( TTO )

The men's 200-meter run at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta was held on July 31 and August 1, 1996 at the Centennial Olympic Stadium . 78 athletes took part.

The American Michael Johnson became Olympic champion . He won in a new world record time ahead of Frank Fredericks from Namibia and Ato Boldon from Trinidad and Tobago.

The Austrians Thomas Griesser and Christoph Pöstinger failed, as did the Swiss Alain Reimann in the preliminary round.
Athletes from Germany and Liechtenstein did not take part.

Current title holders

Olympic champion 1992	Michael Marsh ( USA )	20.01 s	Barcelona 1992
World Champion 1995	Michael Johnson ( USA )	19.79 s	Gothenburg 1995
European Champion 1994	Geir Moen ( Norway )	20.30 s	Helsinki 1994
Pan American champion 1995	Iván García ( Cuba )	20.29 s	Mar del Plata 1995
Central America and Caribbean champions 1995	Obadele Thompson ( Barbados )	20.49 s	Guatemala City 1995
South American Champion 1995	Robson da Silva ( Brazil )	20.54 s	Manaus 1995
Asian champion 1995	Abdulaziz Mattar ( Bahrain )	20.76 s	Jakarta 1995
African champion 1996	Oumar Loum ( Senegal )	20.7 s	Yaoundé 1996
Oceania Champion 1994	Jone Delai ( Fiji )	21.55 s	Auckland 1994

Existing records

World record	19.66 s	Michael Johnson ( USA )	Atlanta , USA	June 23, 1996
Olympic record	19.75 s	Joe DeLoach ( USA )	Final from Seoul , South Korea	September 28, 1988

Preliminary round

Date: July 31, 1996

The runners competed in a total of eleven heats. The first three athletes per run qualified for the quarter-finals. In addition, the seven fastest drivers, the so-called lucky losers , made it through. The directly qualified athletes are highlighted in light blue, the lucky losers in light green.

Forward 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Michael Marsh	United States	20.27 s
2	Sergejs Inšakovs	Latvia	20.41 s
3	Troy Douglas	Bermuda	20.41 s
4th	Steve Brimacombe	Australia	20.45 s
5	Alfred Visagie	South Africa	21.10 s
6th	Mohamed Al-Hooti	Oman	21.10 s
7th	Takahiro Mazuka	Japan	21.13 s

Forward 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Iván García	Cuba	20.49 s
2	Albert Agyemang	Ghana	20.69 s
3	Elston Cawley	Jamaica	20.73 s
4th	Owusu Dako	Great Britain	20.83 s
5	Thomas Sbokos	Greece	20.88 s
6th	Anton Ivanov	Bulgaria	21.20 s
7th	David Wilson	Guam	21.85 s
8th	Mohamed Ould Brahim	Mauritania	22.71 s

Forward 3

Olympian Obadele Thompson from Barbados

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Ato Boldon	Trinidad and Tobago	20.26 s
2	Obadele Thompson	Barbados	20.42 s
3	Anninos Markoullidis	Cyprus	20.57 s
4th	Carlos Gats	Argentina	20.82 s
5	Joseph Gikonyo	Kenya	20.88 s
6th	Christopher Donaldson	New Zealand	20.96 s
7th	Wu-Shiun Tao	Chinese Taipei	21.25 s

Forward 4

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Michael Johnson	United States	20.55 s
2	Erik Wijmeersch	Belgium	20.68 s
3	Percival Spencer	Jamaica	20.73 s
4th	Frank Waota	Ivory Coast	20.78 s
5	Benjamin Sirimou	Cameroon	21.00 s
6th	Antoine Boussombo	Gabon	21.06 s
DNS	Venancio José	Spain

Forward 5

The later Portuguese Francis Obikwelu, here still at the start for Nigeria in a recording from 2006, made it to the semi-finals and was eliminated there in fifth place in his run

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Francis Obikwelu	Nigeria	20.62 s
2	Édson Ribeiro	Brazil	20.69 s
3	John Regis	Great Britain	20.78 s
4th	Pierre Lisk	Sierra Leone	20.86 s
5	Lars Hedner	Sweden	20.97 s
6th	Thomas Griesser	Austria	21.20 s
7th	Pascal Dangbo	Benin	21.65 s
8th	Hadhari Djaffar	Comoros	22.68 s

Forward 6

The Brazilian Claudinei da Silva - here in 2011 - qualified for the quarter-finals, but did not appear there

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Patrick Stevens	Belgium	20.60 s
2	Jordi Mayoral	Spain	20.65 s
3	Claudinei da Silva	Brazil	20.80 s
4th	Joseph Loua	Guinea	20.81 s
5	Boeviyoulou Lawson	Togo	20.99 s
6th	Anderson Vilien	Haiti	21.62 s
7th	Peter Ogilvie	Canada	22.00 s
8th	Gustavo Envela	Equatorial Guinea	22.09 s

Forward 7

The Pole Robert Maćkowiak reached the quarter-finals and was eliminated there in fourth of his run

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Linford Christie	Great Britain	20.64 s
2	Robert Maćkowiak	Poland	20.67 s
3	Georgios Panagiotopoulos	Greece	20.69 s
4th	Geir Moen	Norway	20.78 s
5	O'Brian Gibbons	Canada	20.79 s
6th	Andrei Fedoriv	Russia	20.95 s
7th	Brahim Abdoulaye	Chad	21.67 s

Forward 8

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Neil de Silva	Trinidad and Tobago	20.54 s
2	Robson da Silva	Brazil	20.61 s
3	Oumar Loum	Senegal	20.69 s
-	Dean Capobianco	Australia	20.76 s	DOP
5	Matthew Coad	New Zealand	21.25 s
6th	Amos Ali	Papua New Guinea	21.37 s
7th	Laurence Jack	Vanuatu	21.94 s
DNS	Olapade Adenics	Nigeria	21.77 s

The Australian Dean Capobianco, who finished fourth and started the next round, was subsequently disqualified. In June 1996 he was convicted of doping abuse for taking the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol . At the instigation of the Australian federation, he was nevertheless approved for the Olympic Games in July. In the spring of 1997, however, he was subsequently disqualified and banned for four years.

Forward 9

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Jeff Williams	United States	20.37 s
2	Wladyslaw Dolohodin	Ukraine	20.57 s
3	Francisco Javier Navarro	Spain	20.87 s
4th	Alain Reimann	Switzerland	20.99 s
5	Ousmane Diarra	Mali	21.20 s
6th	Mohamed Al-Aswad	United Arab Emirates	21.77 s
DNS	Ibrahim Ismail Muftah	Qatar	21.77 s

Forward 10

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Koji Ito	Japan	20.56 s
2	Torbjörn Eriksson	Sweden	20.77 s
3	Emmanuel Tuffour	Ghana	20.85 s
4th	Mark Keddell	New Zealand	20.93 s
5	Justice Dipeba	Botswana	21.09 s
6th	Carlton Chambers	Canada	21.32 s
7th	Miguel Janssen	Aruba	21.72 s

Forward 11

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Frank Fredericks	Namibia	20.59 s
2	Seun Ogunkoya	Nigeria	20.78 s
3	Gary Ryan	Ireland	20.78 s
4th	Sebastián Keitel	Chile	20.96 s
5	Christoph Pöstinger	Austria	20.98 s
6th	Sandro Floris	Italy	21.01 s
7th	Wenzhong Chen	People's Republic of China	21.05 s

Quarter finals

Date: July 31, 1996

From the five quarterfinals, the first three athletes per run qualified for the semifinals. In addition, the fastest, the so-called lucky loser , made it through. The directly qualified sprinters are highlighted in light blue, the Lucky Loser in light green.

Run 1

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Frank Fredericks	Namibia	20.38 s
2	Jeff Williams	United States	20.47 s
3	Obadele Thompson	Barbados	20.53 s
4th	Erik Wijmeersch	Belgium	20.59 s
5	Percival Spencer	Jamaica	20.59 s
6th	Troy Douglas	Bermuda	20.63 s
7th	Francisco Javier Navarro	Spain	21.06 s
DNS	O'Brian Gibbons	Canada

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Michael Johnson	United States	20.37 s
2	Geir Moen	Norway	20.48 s
3	Neil de Silva	Trinidad and Tobago	20.62 s
4th	Robson da Silva	Brazil	20.65 s
5	Jordi Mayoral	Spain	20.68 s
6th	Georgios Panagiotopoulos	Greece	20.86 s
7th	Oumar Loum	Senegal	21.31 s
DOP	Dean Capobianco	Australia	21.03 s

The Australian Dean Capobianco, who finished seventh, was subsequently disqualified. In June 1996 he was convicted of doping abuse for taking the banned anabolic steroid stanozolol . At the instigation of the Australian federation, he was nevertheless approved for the Olympic Games in July. In the spring of 1997, however, he was subsequently disqualified and banned for four years.

Run 3

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Iván García	Cuba	20.36 s
2	Koji Ito	Japan	20.47 s
3	Steve Brimacombe	Australia	20.53 s
4th	Robert Maćkowiak	Poland	20.61 s
5	Anninos Markoullidis	Cyprus	20.63 s
6th	Wladyslaw Dolohodin	Ukraine	20.65 s
7th	Elston Cawley	Jamaica	20.75 s
8th	Frank Waota	Ivory Coast	21.14 s

Run 4

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Michael Marsh	United States	20.39 s
2	Patrick Stevens	Belgium	20.43 s
3	John Regis	Great Britain	20.56 s
4th	Sergejs Inšakovs	Latvia	20.58 s
5	Albert Agyemang	Ghana	20.87 s
6th	Seun Ogunkoya	Nigeria	21.00 s
7th	Joseph Loua	Guinea	21.01 s
DNF	Claudinei da Silva	Brazil

Run 5

Brit Linford Christie - here in a photo from 2009 - was eliminated in fourth of his quarter-finals

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Ato Boldon	Trinidad and Tobago	20.25 s
2	Francis Obikwelu	Nigeria	20.49 s
3	Emmanuel Tuffour	Ghana	20.49 s
4th	Linford Christie	Great Britain	20.59 s
5	Édson Ribeiro	Brazil	20.60 s
6th	Torbjörn Eriksson	Sweden	20.83 s
7th	Carlos Gats	Argentina	20.84 s
8th	Gary Ryan	Ireland	20.89 s

Semifinals

Date: August 1, 1996

From the semi-finals, the first four athletes qualified for the final (highlighted in light blue).

Run 1

The Namibian Frank Fredericks - here in 2007 - won the silver medal as he did over 100 meters

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Michael Johnson	United States	20.27 s
2	Iván García	Cuba	20.34 s
3	Jeff Williams	United States	20.39 s
4th	Patrick Stevens	Belgium	20.46 s
5	Francis Obikwelu	Nigeria	20.56 s
6th	John Regis	Great Britain	20.58 s
7th	Emmanuel Tuffour	Ghana	20.61 s
8th	Neil de Silva	Trinidad and Tobago	21.26 s

Run 2

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Frank Fredericks	Namibia	19.98 s
2	Ato Boldon	Trinidad and Tobago	20.05 s
3	Michael Marsh	United States	20.26 s
4th	Obadele Thompson	Barbados	20.32 s
5	Steve Brimacombe	Australia	20.38 s
6th	Koji Ito	Japan	20.45 s
7th	Sergejs Inšakovs	Latvia	20.48 s
8th	Geir Moen	Norway	20.96 s

final

The American Olympic champion Michael Johnson in a photo from 2008

space	Surname	nation	time	annotation
1	Michael Johnson	United States	19.32 s	WR
2	Frank Fredericks	Namibia	19.68 s
3	Ato Boldon	Trinidad and Tobago	19.80 s
4th	Obadele Thompson	Barbados	20.14 s
5	Jeff Williams	United States	20.17 s
6th	Iván García	Cuba	20.21 s
7th	Patrick Stevens	Belgium	20.27 s
8th	Michael Marsh	United States	20.48 s

Date: August 1, 1996

Wind: +0.4 m / s

All three Americans who competed had qualified for the final. The final field was completed by one starter each from Barbados, Belgium, Cuba, Namibia and Trinidad and Tobago.

World champion and world record holder Michael Johnson from the USA was the clear favorite for this race. He had only been beaten once at this distance since 1994 and had improved the 17-year-old world record of Italian Pietro Mennea by six hundredths of a second in the Olympic qualifications . The strongest challengers were Ato Boldon from Trinidad and Tobago and the Namibian Frankie Fredericks, who had defeated Johnson two weeks before the games. Johnson had already become Olympic champion over 400 meters three days before this final and now wanted to win the double over both long sprint distances, a feat that only his compatriot Valerie Brisco-Hooks had achieved at the 1984 Los Angeles Games . Here in Atlanta , the French Marie-José Pérec had won the two Olympic championships over these two courses ten minutes before the start of the men's 200 meter final.

Johnson on lane three, the same lane on which Pérec had run to victory shortly before, had the fastest start and quickly caught up with the opponent on lane four, the Cuban Iván García. At the exit of the bend, Johnson was already one meter ahead of Fredericks and Boldon. On the home straight, Johnson pulled even further away from all competitors and maintained his high pace, so that he improved his own world record by 34 hundredths of a second to 19.32 s. Frank Fredericks crossed the finish line in second with an excellent 19.68s and was almost three meters behind Johnson. Fredericks ran the third fastest time over 200 meters. Ato Boldon, another meter back, won the bronze medal with 19.80 seconds. The other finalists achieved very good times, but all remained above the 20-second mark.

There was the same medal distribution here in Atlanta as in the 100-meter run .

Michael Johnson won the 16th gold medal in this discipline for the USA in the 22nd Olympic final. It was also the fourth US win in a row.

For Frank Fredericks this was his fourth silver medal after his second places in 1992 in Barcelona over 100 and 200 meters and second place over 100 meters here in Atlanta.

literature

• Gerd Rubenbauer (ed.), Olympic Summer Games Atlanta 1996 with reports by Britta Kruse, Johannes Ebert, Andreas Schmidt and Ernst Christian Schütt, comments: Gerd Rubenbauer and Hans Schwarz, Chronik Verlag im Bertelsmann Verlag, Gütersloh / Munich 1996, p. 28f

Video

• Men's 200m Final Atlanta Olympics 1996 , posted June 21, 2016 on youtube.com, accessed February 25, 2018

Web links

• SportsReference 200m , accessed February 25, 2018
• Official report, part III on the Olympic Games in Atlanta , athletics results: p. 70f, English / French (PDF, 13,520 MB), accessed on February 25, 2018

Individual evidence

1. ^ IAAF Statistics Handbook, Beijing 2015, page 668 , accessed on February 25, 2018
2. ↑ Official Report, Part III on the Olympic Games in Atlanta ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Results athletics: p. 70f, English / French (PDF, 13,520 MB), accessed on February 25, 2018 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Report in the CoolRunning portal ( Memento of the original from September 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 25, 2018 
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Official Report, Part III on the Olympic Games in Atlanta ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Results athletics: p. 71, English / French (PDF, 13,520 MB), accessed on February 25, 2018