The men's

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

competition at the

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was held at the

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on 7–9 August. There were 54 competitors from 40 nations. The event was won by

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

of Jamaica, the first man to repeat as champion in the 200 metres. His teammates

Yohan Blake Yohan Blake (born 26 December 1989) is a Jamaican sprinter specialising in the 100 metres, 100-metre and 200 metres, 200-metre sprint races. He won gold at the 100 m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships as the youngest 100 m world champion ...

(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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

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 Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

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

of Jamaica, fifth-place finisher

Christian Malcolm Christian Sean Malcolm (born 3 June 1979) is a retired Welsh track and field athlete who specialised in the 200 metres. In 2020 he was appointed Head Coach of the British Athletics Olympic Programme. Early life Malcolm was born and was brough ...

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 James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913 – March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who made history at the Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics, 1936 Olympic Games by becoming the first person to win four gold meda ...

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 Pietro Paolo Mennea (; 28 June 1952 – 21 March 2013), nicknamed ("the Arrow of the South"), was an Italian sprinter and politician. He was most successful in the 200 m event, winning a gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, and setting a wor ...

made the final four times and came away with a gold and a bronze;

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and lo ...

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 Shawn Crawford (born January 14, 1978) is a retired American sprint athlete. He competed in the 100 meters and 200 meters events. In the 200 meter sprint, Crawford won gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2008 Summer O ...

the third gold-silver winner by beating him in 2008. He was a heavy favorite in the event; countryman

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. 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,

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.

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

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n 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 The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

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

has achieved this (after the women did it in the 2008 100 metres). 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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

, set by Michael Johnson at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics

. As of December 2023, Blake's time of 19.44 seconds remains the fastest non-winning time in history.

Qualification

National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...

(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 World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. 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.

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. 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.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing global records were as follows: No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition. The following new national records were set during the competition.

Schedule

All times are

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(

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)