The men's 200 metres sprint event at the 1948 Summer Olympics took place between 2 August and 3 August. There were 51 competitors from 28 nations. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The final was won by American Mel Patton. His countryman Barney Ewell earned silver, making this the third consecutive Games the United States took the top two spots in the event. Lloyd La Beach's bronze gave Panama a medal in its debut in the event.

Background

This was the 10th appearance of the event, which was not held at the first Olympics in 1896 but has been on the program ever since. None of the six finalists from the pre-war 1936 Games returned. The Americans were favored. Barney Ewell was the 1946 and 1947 AAU champion. Mel Patton was a short sprint specialist who had been disappointed by a fifth-place finish in the 100 metres earlier in the Games; he had never won an American title at the longer sprint distance. European champion Nikolay Karakulov did not compete because the Soviet Union did not yet participate in the Olympics.

Bermuda, Burma, Ceylon, Cuba, Iceland, Iraq, Jamaica, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay each made their debut in the event. The United States made its 10th 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 3 and 6 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. Again, the top 3 athletes advanced. The final had 6 runners. The races were run on a now-standard 400 metre track.

Records

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

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

Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)

Date Time Round Monday, 2 August 1948 14:3016:15 HeatsQuarterfinals Tuesday, 3 August 1948 15:3017:15 SemifinalsFinal

Results

Heats

The fastest two runners in each of the twelve heats advanced to the quarterfinals.

Heat 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Herb McKenley 21.3 2 Ted Haggis 22.2 3 Haukur Clausen 22.2 4Stanley Lines Unknown

Heat 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Paul Vallé 22.3 2 John De Saram 23.1 3 Bernabe Lovina 23.2 4Stefanos Petrakis Unknown

Heat 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Rafael Fortún 21.9 2 Dennis Shore 22.1 3 António Morais 22.6

Heat 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Barney Ewell 21.6 2 Abram van Heerden 21.8 3 Angel García 22.2 4Fernand Linssen Unknown 5Hazzard Dill Unknown 6Ali Salman Unknown

Heat 5

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Julien Lebas 22.0 2 Rosalvo Ramos 22.2 3 Basil McKenzie 22.4

Heat 6

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Mel Patton 21.6 2 Leslie Laing 21.8 3 Guillermo Geary 23.0 4 Duncan White Unknown

Heat 7

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Gerardo Bönnhoff 0.69 2 John Fairgrieve 22.2 3 Raúl Mazorra 23.0 4Kemal Aksur Unknown 5Gonzalo Rodríguez Unknown

Heat 8

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Cliff Bourland 21.3 2 Haroldo da Silva 21.9 3 Georgie Lewis 22.4 4Walter Pérez Unknown 5Peter Bloch Unknown

Heat 9

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 John Treloar 21.7 2 Muhammad Sharif Butt 22.8 3 Raşit Öztaş 23.0 4Perry Johnson Unknown

Heat 10

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Alastair McCorquodale 22.3 2 Santiago Ferrando 22.5 3 Fernand Bourgaux 22.9 4Étienne Bally Unknown

Heat 11

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Juan López 22.1 2 Ivan Hausen 22.2 3 Gabe Scholten 22.2 4Maung Sein Pe Unknown

Heat 12

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Peter Heredia 2 2 Jan Lammers 22.0 3 Don Pettie 22.0 4 Mario Fayos Unknown 5 Joseph Stéphan Unknown Peter heredia 1s

Quarterfinals

The fastest three runners in each of the four heats advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Herb McKenley 21.3 2 Barney Ewell 21.8 3 Paul Vallé 22.1 4Jan Lammers Unknown 5Julien Lebas Unknown 6Rosalvo Ramos Unknown

Quarterfinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Cliff Bourland 21.3 2 John Treloar 21.5 3 Haroldo da Silva 22.0 4Gerardo Bönnhoff Unknown 5Dennis Shore Unknown 6John De Saram Unknown

Quarterfinal 3

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Lloyd La Beach 21.7 2 Leslie Laing 21.8 3 Abram van Heerden 22.9 4John Fairgrieve Unknown 5Santiago Ferrando Unknown — Juan López

Quarterfinal 4

Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 Mel Patton 21.4 2 Alastair McCorquodale 21.8 3 Rafael Fortún 22.0 4Ivan Hausen 22.3 5Ted Haggis Unknown 6Muhammad Sharif Butt Unknown

Semifinals

The fastest three runners in each of the two heats advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes 1 Herb McKenley 21.4 2 Mel Patton 21.6 3 Barney Ewell 21.8 4Haroldo da Silva Unknown 5Abram van Heerden Unknown 6Paul Vallé Unknown

Semifinal 2

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes 1 Cliff Bourland 21.5 2 Lloyd La Beach 21.6 3 Leslie Laing 21.6 4John Treloar Unknown 5Alastair McCorquodale Unknown 6Rafael Fortún Unknown

Final

Rank Athlete Nation Time (hand) Notes Mel Patton 21.1 Barney Ewell 21.1 Lloyd La Beach 21.2 4 Herb McKenley 21.3 * 5 Cliff Bourland 21.3 * 6 Leslie Laing 21.8 *

Key: * = Time is an estimate

References

External links Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad, The (1948). The Official Report of the Organising Committee for the XIV Olympiad. LA84 Foundation. Retrieved 5 September 2016.