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| Event type

200 metres, Men

Date2 – 3 August 1932
StatusOlympic
LocationLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Participants25 from 13 countries

The race was expected to be between American Eddie Tolan and Ralph Metcalfe, with Metcalfe favored as he was better in the 200. They had already finished 1-2 in the 100, Tolan winning. In the final, Metcalfe looked to be running a very strong curve but could not close on Tolan and actually entered the straight in third place, behind Tolan and teammate George Simpson. They finished in that order for an American sweep. Films of the race then revealed that Metcalfe had been the victim of a terrible measurement error, his lane being 1.5 metres longer than it should have been. He graciously decined a re-run of the race, because the Americans had swept the medals. Had the lane been measured correctly, he definitely would have placed higher, possibly beating Tolan. Metcalfe later served four terms as a US Congressman.

PosNrAthleteNOCR1QFSFFinal
1461Eddie TolanUSA22.0 (2 h2)21.5 (1 h2)21.7 (3 h2)21.2 (1)GoldOR
2458George SimpsonUSA29.0 (3 h5)21.5 (2 h3)21.5 (2 h1)21.4 (2)Silver
3445Ralph MetcalfeUSA22.9 (2 h3)21.5 (1 h1)21.5 (1 h1)21.5 (3)Bronze
4168Arthur JonathGER21.9 (1 h6)21.4 (1 h4)21.5 (1 h2)21.5 (4)
52Carlos BianchiARG22.3 (3 h6)21.4 (1 h3)21.6 (3 h1)21.6 (5)
6375Willie WaltersRSA21.9 (1 h2)21.5 (2 h1)21.7 (2 h2)21.9 (6)
4 h1 r3/4374Danie JoubertRSA22.3 (2 h7)21.7 (3 h3)21.7 (4 h1)
4 h2 r3/483Harold WrightCAN22.8 (1 h3)21.7 (2 h4)21.8 (4 h2)
5 h1 r3/4159Erich BorchmeyerGER22.1 (1 h1)21.6 (3 h1)21.8 (5 h1)
5 h2 r3/4351Allan ElliotNZL22.2 (2 h6)21.8 (3 h4)21.9 (5 h2)
6 h1 r3/475Bert PearsonCAN22.3 (1 h7)21.7 (2 h2)21.9 (6 h1)
6 h2 r3/46Roberto GentaARG25.3 (1 h5)21.8 (3 h2)22.0 (6 h2)
4 h1 r2/4292Itaro NakajimaJPN22.2 (1 h4)21.9 (4 h1)
4 h2 r2/4166Fritz HendrixGER22.9 (2 h4)21.9 (4 h2)
4 h3 r2/4305Takayoshi YoshiokaJPN22.3 (2 h1)21.8 (4 h3)
4 h4 r2/4193Stanley EngelhartGBR– (3 h1)21.9 (4 h4)
5 h1 r2/4228Chris BergerNED26.1 (2 h5)22.0 (5 h1)
5 h2 r2/4197Stanley FullerGBR22.4 (3 h2)22.0 (5 h2)
5 h3 r2/4350Stuart BlackNZL23.1 (3 h3)22.0 (5 h3)
5 h4 r2/4293Teiichi NishiJPN22.4 (3 h7)22.1 (5 h4)
4 h2 r1/4343Enrique SánchezMEX22.8 (4 h2)
4 h3 r1/497Liu ChangchunCHN23.4 (4 h3)
4 h6 r1/4109Andrej EngelTCH22.3 (4 h6)
4 h7 r1/4248Ronald VernieuxIND22.8 (4 h7)
5 h6 r1/4335Everardo MúzquizMEX23.0 (5 h6)
DNS27José de AlmeidaBRA– (DNS h1)
DNS218Angelos LamprouGRE– (DNS h1)
DNS8Carlos HofmeisterARG– (DNS h2)
DNS104Leonardo ValdésCUB– (DNS h2)
DNS336Fernando OrtizMEX– (DNS h3)
DNS371António SarsfieldPOR– (DNS h3)
DNS81Percy WilliamsCAN– (DNS h4)
DNS36Arnaldo FerraraBRA– (DNS h4)
DNS23Felix RinnerAUT– (DNS h4)
DNS105José Alberto TorrienteCUB– (DNS h4)
DNS217Renos FragkoudisGRE– (DNS h5)
DNS204Fred ReidGBR– (DNS h5)
DNS226André ThéardHAI– (DNS h5)
DNS219Christos MantikasGRE– (DNS h6)
DNS40Ricardo GuimarãesBRA– (DNS h7)

Round One (2 August 1932 — 15:00)

Top three in each heat advanced to the quarter-finals.

Heat One

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)
1159Erich BorchmeyerGER22.1Q
2305Takayoshi YoshiokaJPN22.3Q
3193Stanley EngelhartGBRQ
DNS27José de AlmeidaBRA
DNS218Angelos LamprouGRE

Heat Two

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
1375Willie WaltersRSA21.921.83Q
2461Eddie TolanUSA22.0Q
3197Stanley FullerGBR22.4Q
4343Enrique SánchezMEX22.8
DNS8Carlos HofmeisterARG
DNS104Leonardo ValdésCUB

Heat Three

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)
183Harold WrightCAN22.8Q
2445Ralph MetcalfeUSA22.9Q
3350Stuart BlackNZL23.1Q
497Liu ChangchunCHN23.4
DNS336Fernando OrtizMEX
DNS371António SarsfieldPOR

Heat Four

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)
1292Itaro NakajimaJPN22.2Q
2166Fritz HendrixGER22.9Q
DNS81Percy WilliamsCAN
DNS36Arnaldo FerraraBRA
DNS23Felix RinnerAUT
DNS105José Alberto TorrienteCUB

Heat Five

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)
16Roberto GentaARG25.3Q
2228Chris BergerNED26.1Q
3458George SimpsonUSA29.0Q
DNS217Renos FragkoudisGRE
DNS204Fred ReidGBR
DNS226André ThéardHAI

Heat Six

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
1168Arthur JonathGER21.921.83Q
2351Allan ElliotNZL22.2Q
32Carlos BianchiARG22.3Q
4109Andrej EngelTCH22.3
5335Everardo MúzquizMEX23.0
DNS219Christos MantikasGRE

Heat Seven

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)
175Bert PearsonCAN22.3Q
2374Danie JoubertRSA22.3Q
3293Teiichi NishiJPN22.4Q
4248Ronald VernieuxIND22.8
DNS40Ricardo GuimarãesBRA

Quarter-Finals (2 August 1932 — 17:30)

Top three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
1445Ralph MetcalfeUSA21.521.59QOR
2375Willie WaltersRSA21.5Q
3159Erich BorchmeyerGER21.6Q
4292Itaro NakajimaJPN21.9
5228Chris BergerNED22.0

Heat Two

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
1461Eddie TolanUSA21.521.56Q=OR
275Bert PearsonCAN21.7Q
36Roberto GentaARG21.8Q
4166Fritz HendrixGER21.9
5197Stanley FullerGBR22.0

Heat Three

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
12Carlos BianchiARG21.421.46QOR
2458George SimpsonUSA21.5Q
3374Danie JoubertRSA21.7Q
4305Takayoshi YoshiokaJPN21.8
5350Stuart BlackNZL22.0

Heat Four

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
1168Arthur JonathGER21.421.48Q
283Harold WrightCAN21.7Q
3351Allan ElliotNZL21.8Q
4193Stanley EngelhartGBR21.9
5293Teiichi NishiJPN22.1

Semi-Finals (3 August 1932 — 14:30)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
1445Ralph MetcalfeUSA21.521.52Q
2458George SimpsonUSA21.521.54Q
32Carlos BianchiARG21.6Q
4374Danie JoubertRSA21.7
5159Erich BorchmeyerGER21.8
675Bert PearsonCAN21.9

Heat Two

PosNrAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
1168Arthur JonathGER21.521.51Q
2375Willie WaltersRSA21.7Q
3461Eddie TolanUSA21.7Q
483Harold WrightCAN21.8
5351Allan ElliotNZL21.9
66Roberto GentaARG22.0

Final (3 August 1932 — 17:00)

PosLaneAthleteNOCTime (H)Time (A)
11Eddie TolanUSA21.221.12OR
23George SimpsonUSA21.4
32Ralph MetcalfeUSA21.5
46Arthur JonathGER21.5
54Carlos BianchiARG21.6
65Willie WaltersRSA21.9