Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

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Men's 200 metres
at the Games of the XXX Olympiad
Usain Bolt 2012 Olympics 2.jpg
Usain Bolt
VenueOlympic Stadium
Dates7–9 August
Competitors54 from 40 nations
Winning time19.32
Medalists
1st place, gold medalist(s) Usain Bolt
 Jamaica
2nd place, silver medalist(s) Yohan Blake
 Jamaica
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) Warren Weir
 Jamaica
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Athletics at the
2012 Summer Olympics
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Official video

The men's 200 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom was held at the Olympic Stadium on 7–9 August.[1] There were 54 competitors from 40 nations.[2] The event was won by Usain Bolt of Jamaica, the first man to repeat as champion in the 200 metres. His teammates Yohan Blake (silver) and Warren Weir (bronze) completed the medal sweep; it was the seventh sweep in the men's 200 metres and the first by a nation other than the United States. Bolt's gold medal was Jamaica's third in the event, moving out of a tie with Canada and Italy for second-most overall (behind the United States' 17 wins).

This was only the fourth time that the United States failed to win a medal in the men's 200 metres, Wallace Spearmon finishing fourth with a time of 19.90, 0.06 seconds outside of a medal placing (the others being the 1928 Olympics, the 1980 Olympics in Moscow which the country boycotted, and the 2000 Olympics).

Background[]

This was the 26th 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 2008 Games returned: gold medalist Usain Bolt of Jamaica, fifth-place finisher Christian Malcolm of Great Britain, and the two men who had finished second and third but been disqualified for stepping out of their lanes: Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles and Wallace Spearmon of the United States. Bolt, in addition to being reigning Olympic champion, had won the 2009 and 2011 World Championships.

Bolt was looking to do something no man had done before: repeat as 200 metres Olympic champion. Jesse Owens ran afoul of harsh amateurism rules after his 1936 win (and would have lost any opportunity to repeat with the outbreak of World War II in any case); Andy Stanfield lost by 0.22 seconds in 1956 after winning in 1952; Pietro Mennea made the final four times and came away with a gold and a bronze; Carl Lewis lost by 0.04 seconds in 1988 after winning in 1984; food poisoning robbed Michael Johnson of his first opportunity in 1992 before he won in 1996; Bolt himself had made Shawn Crawford the third gold-silver winner by beating him in 2008. He was a heavy favorite in the event; countryman Yohan Blake was his biggest challenger, but Bolt had beaten Blake to repeat as 100 metres champion earlier in London and was considered stronger in the 200 metres. The United States, which had the winner in 5 of the last 7 appearances of the event, had no strong runner to challenge Bolt.[2]

For the first time, no nations made their debut in the event. The United States made its 25th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

Summary[]

The semifinal round showed all three Jamaican athletes were the class of the field. In heat one, Yohan Blake had a huge lead and relaxed down the straightaway, almost too much as Wallace Spearmon and Christophe Lemaitre raced to the line behind him in the fastest heat of the day. Usain Bolt dominated the second heat, jogging and looking around for non-existent challengers down the straight. And in heat three, Warren Weir was running easily, easing up at the finish to let Churandy Martina take the first spot, knowing he had qualified in the second position. Slowest qualifier Álex Quiñónez, racing hard for his 20.37, was on the opposite side of a clear dividing line in the field.

In the final, Bolt, who was in lane 7, moved past his Jamaican teammate Weir after only 50 metres; coming off the bend and onto the final 100-metre straight, Bolt's lead over the rest of the field had grown to several metres, however Blake began to pull him back. Due to the lead he had built in the first 120 meters, it was Bolt who crossed the line first in a time of 19.32, already easing off before the line. In doing so, he became the first man in history to do the "double double" – winning both the 100 and 200 metres twice, back to back (he would later break this record by winning the 4 × 100 m relay and completing the Double Triple, at the same Olympics). Blake took the silver medal, as he had done in the 100 metres final, again behind Bolt. His time was the fastest ever time to not win a gold medal. Weir completed the 1–2–3 sweep for the Jamaicans by winning the bronze medal, the second time in any international competition that Jamaica has achieved this (after the women did it in the 2008 100 metres).[3]

Bolt's time of 19.32 was coincidentally the time he had beaten when he first broke the 200 metres world record at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, set by Michael Johnson at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics 200 metres.[4]

Qualification[]

Main article: Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Qualification

A National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter up to 3 qualified athletes in the men's 200 metres event if all athletes met the A standard, or 1 athlete if they met the B standard. The qualifying time standards could be obtained in various meets during the qualifying period that had the approval of the IAAF. For the sprints and short hurdles, including the 200 metres, only outdoor meets were eligible. The A standard for the 2012 men's 200 metres was 20.55 seconds; the B standard was 20.65 seconds. The qualifying period for was from 1 May 2011 to 8 July 2012. NOCs could also have an athlete enter the 200 metres through a universality place. NOCs could enter one male athlete in an athletics event, regardless of time, if they had no male athletes meeting the qualifying A or B standards in any men's athletic event.[5][6][7]

Competition format[]

For the first time since 1920 established a four-round competition, the number of rounds was changed. The 2012 competition had only three rounds: quarterfinals, semifinals and a final. The "fastest loser" system introduced in 1960 was used in the semifinals for the first time, as the number of semifinals increased from 2 to 3.[2][8]

There were 7 quarterfinals of 7 or 8 runners each, with the top 3 men in each as well as the next 3 fastest overall advancing to the semifinals. There were 3 semifinals, each with 8 runners. The top 2 athletes in each semifinal and the next 2 overall advanced. The final had 8 runners. The races were run on a 400 metre track.[2][8]

Records[]

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record  Usain Bolt (JAM) 19.19 Berlin, Germany 20 August 2009
Olympic record  Usain Bolt (JAM) 19.30 Beijing, China 20 August 2008

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. The following new national records were set during the competition.

Nation Athlete Time
Swaziland national record Sibusiso Matsenjwa 20.93
Ecuador national record Álex Quiñónez 20.28

Schedule[]

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round
Tuesday, 7 August 2012 11:50 Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 8 August 2012 20:10 Semifinals
Thursday, 9 August 2012 20:55 Final

Results[]

Official Video of the First Round

Quarterfinals[]

Qual. rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 3 fastest times (q) qualified.[9]

Quarterfinal 1[]

Usain Bolt after his heat
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Usain Bolt  Jamaica 20.39 Q
2 Aldemir da Silva Junior  Brazil 20.53 Q
3 Isiah Young  United States 20.55 Q
4 Alex Wilson  Switzerland 20.57 q
5 Noah Akwu  Nigeria 20.67
6 Michael Herrera  Cuba 21.05
7 Vyacheslav Muravyev  Kazakhstan 21.75
8 Jidou El Moctar  Mauritania 22.94 PB

Quarterfinal 2[]

Christophe Lemaitre before his heat
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Christophe Lemaitre  France 20.34 Q
2 Anaso Jobodwana  South Africa 20.46 Q
3 Aaron Brown  Canada 20.55 Q, PB
4 Likoúrgos-Stéfanos Tsákonas  Greece 20.56 q
5 Rondel Sorrillo  Trinidad and Tobago 20.76
6 Carlos Jorge  Dominican Republic 21.02
7 Cristián Reyes  Chile 21.29
8 Ibrahim Turay  Sierra Leone 21.90 PB

Quarterfinal 3[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Maurice Mitchell  United States 20.54 Q
2 Christian Malcolm  Great Britain 20.59 Q
3 Michael Mathieu  Bahamas 20.62 Q
4 Roberto Skyers  Cuba 20.66
5 Shota Iizuka  Japan 20.81
6 Sibusiso Matsenjwa  Swaziland 20.93 NR
7 José Carlos Herrera  Mexico 21.17
8 Joel Redhead  Grenada 21.22

Quarterfinal 4[]

Yohan Blake starts his heat
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Yohan Blake  Jamaica 20.38 Q
2 Bruno de Barros  Brazil 20.52 Q
3 Jaysuma Saidy Ndure  Norway 20.52 Q
4 Serhiy Smelyk  Ukraine 20.65
5 Paul Hession  Ireland 20.69
6 Xie Zhenye  China 20.69
7 Mosito Lehata  Lesotho 20.74

Quarterfinal 5[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Warren Weir  Jamaica 20.29 Q
2 Antoine Adams  Saint Kitts and Nevis 20.59 Q
3 Kamil Krynski  Poland 20.66 Q
4 Pavel Maslák  Czech Republic 20.67
5 Tremaine Harris  Canada 20.70
6 Marek Niit  Estonia 20.82
7 Reto Schenkel  Switzerland 20.98
— Alonso Edward  Panama DSQ R 162.7

Quarterfinal 6[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Álex Quiñónez  Ecuador 20.28 Q, NR
2 Wallace Spearmon  United States 20.47 Q
3 Shinji Takahira  Japan 20.57 Q
4 Brendan Christian  Antigua and Barbuda 20.63 q, SB
5 Jonathan Åstrand  Finland 20.73 SB
6 Aziz Ouhadi  Morocco 20.80
7 Sandro Viana  Brazil 21.05
— Ben Youssef Meité  Ivory Coast DNS

Quarterfinal 7[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Churandy Martina  Netherlands 20.58 Q
2 Kei Takase  Japan 20.72 Q
3 Jared Connaughton  Canada 20.72 Q
4 Amr Ibrahim Mostafa Seoud  Egypt 20.81
5 Arnaldo Abrantes  Portugal 20.88
6 James Ellington  Great Britain 21.23
7 Trevorvano Mackey  Bahamas 21.28
8 Jean-Yves Esparon  Seychelles 21.99
Official Video of the Semifinal Round

Semifinals[]

Qual. rule: first 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.[10]

Semifinal 1[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Yohan Blake  Jamaica 20.01 Q
2 Wallace Spearmon  United States 20.02 Q
3 Christophe Lemaitre  France 20.03 q
4 Jaysuma Saidy Ndure  Norway 20.42
5 Likoúrgos-Stéfanos Tsákonas  Greece 20.52 PB
6 Bruno de Barros  Brazil 20.55
7 Jared Connaughton  Canada 20.64
8 Kei Takase  Japan 20.70

Semifinal 2[]

The start of the second semifinal
Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Usain Bolt  Jamaica 20.18 Q
2 Anaso Jobodwana  South Africa 20.27 Q, PB
3 Álex Quiñónez  Ecuador 20.37 q
4 Aaron Brown  Canada 20.42 PB
5 Aldemir da Silva Junior  Brazil 20.63
6 Kamil Krynski  Poland 20.83
7 Alex Wilson  Switzerland 20.85
8 Isiah Young  United States 20.89

Semifinal 3[]

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes
1 Churandy Martina  Netherlands 20.17 Q
2 Warren Weir  Jamaica 20.28 Q
3 Christian Malcolm  Great Britain 20.51
4 Maurice Mitchell  United States 20.56
5 Brendan Christian  Antigua and Barbuda 20.58 SB
6 Shinji Takahira  Japan 20.77
— Antoine Adams  Saint Kitts and Nevis DSQ R 163.3a
Michael Mathieu  Bahamas DSQ R 162.7

Final[]

Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes
1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 Usain Bolt  Jamaica 19.32 WL, SB
2nd place, silver medalist(s) 4 Yohan Blake  Jamaica 19.44 SB
3rd place, bronze medalist(s) 8 Warren Weir  Jamaica 19.84 PB
4 6 Wallace Spearmon  United States 19.90 SB
5 5 Churandy Martina  Netherlands 20.00
6 2 Christophe Lemaitre  France 20.19
7 3 Álex Quiñónez  Ecuador 20.57
8 9 Anaso Jobodwana  South Africa 20.69
Wind: +0.4 m/s

References[]

  1. ^ Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  3. ^ "Bolt Is First to Repeat as Winner of 100 and 200 Meters". New York Times. 9 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  4. ^ "Usain Bolt wins 200m to make Olympic athletics history". BBC Sport. 9 August 2012. Archived from the original on 12 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  5. ^ "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – GAMES OF THE XXX OLYMPIAD" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  6. ^ "Olympic Qualifying Procedures for Athletics". Telegraph. 15 April 2011. Archived from the original on 19 April 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  7. ^ "Amended Qualifying Standards". IAAF. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b "Men's 200m". London 2012 Organising Committee. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Men's 200m results". London 2012 Organising Committee. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  10. ^ "London 2012 200m men Results - Olympic athletics".
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