Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres explained

Event:	Men's 200 metres
Games:	1932 Summer
Venue:	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Dates:	August 2 (heats and quarterfinals) August 3 (semifinals and final)
Competitors:	25
Nations:	13
Longnames:	yes
Win Value:	21.2
Gold:	Eddie Tolan
Goldnoc:	USA
Silver:	George Simpson
Silvernoc:	USA
Bronze:	Ralph Metcalfe
Bronzenoc:	USA
Prev:	1928
Next:	1936

The men's 200 metres sprint event at the 1932 Summer Olympics took place on August 2 and August 3 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.^[1] There were 25 athletes from 13 nations. The 1930 Olympic Congress in Berlin had reduced the limit from 4 athletes per NOC to 3 athletes.^[2] After missing the podium entirely in 1928, the United States swept the medals in the event in 1932. It was the second medal sweep in the event by the United States (after 1904), as well as the nation's sixth victory in eight Games. Eddie Tolan won gold by 0.2 seconds, with George Simpson winning silver and Ralph Metcalfe winning bronze.

Afterwards, the film of the race revealed that Metcalfe had run 201.5 meters due to a measurement error: despite being offered a re-run by race officials, Metcalfe graciously declined.

Background

This was the eighth 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 1928 Games returned. The Americans were favored coming into the Games, particularly Eddie Tolan and Ralph Metcalfe. Tolan had won the 100 metres over Metcalfe two days before the final of the 200 metres.^[3]

The Republic of China made its debut in the event. The United States made its eighth 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 7 heats of between 2 and 5 runners each, with the top 3 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals consisted of 4 heats of 5 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.^[3]

Records

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

On a straightaway; no world record existed for running on a curve at the time.^[4]

Ralph Metcalfe set a new Olympic record in the first quarterfinal with a time of 21.5 seconds. Eddie Tolan matched the new record in the second quarterfinal. Carlos Bianchi broke it in the third, with 21.4 seconds; Arthur Jonath matched Bianchi's time in the fourth quarterfinal. That record survived the semifinals, but Tolan bettered it with 21.2 seconds in the final.

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
Tuesday, 2 August 1932	15:00 17:30	Heats Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 3 August 1932	14:30 17:00	Semifinals Final

Results

Heats

Seven heats were held; the fastest three runners advanced to the quarterfinal round.

Heat 1

Rank	Athlete	Time
1		22.1
2	Takayoshi Yoshioka	22.3
3	Stanley Engelhart

Heat 2

Rank	Athlete	Time
1		21.9
2	Eddie Tolan	22.0
3	Stanley Fuller	22.4
4	Enrique Sánchez	22.8

Heat 3

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
1			22.8
2	Ralph Metcalfe		22.9
3	Stuart Black		23.1
4	Liu Changchun	China	23.4

Heat 4

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1			22.2
2	Fritz Hendrix		22.9

Heat 5

Rank	Athlete	Time	Notes
1		25.3	Q
2	Chris Berger	26.1	Q
3	George Simpson	29.0	Q

Heat 6

Rank	Athlete	Time
1		21.9
2	Allan Elliot	22.2
3	Carlos Bianchi	22.3
4	Andrej Engel	22.3
5	Everardo Múzquiz	23.0

Heat 7

Rank	Athlete	Time
1		22.3
2	Danie Joubert	22.3
3	Teiichi Nishi	22.4
4	Ronald Vernieux	22.8

Quarterfinals

Four heats were held; the three fastest runners in each heat advanced to the semifinal round.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Time	Notes
1		21.5	,
2	Willie Walters	21.5
3	Erich Borchmeyer	21.6
4	Itaro Nakajima	21.9
5	Chris Berger	22.0

Quarterfinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Time	Notes
1		21.5	,
2	Bert Pearson	21.7
3	Roberto Genta	21.8
4	Fritz Hendrix	21.9
5	Stanley Fuller	22.0

Quarterfinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Time	Notes
1		21.4	,
2	George Simpson	21.5
3	Danie Joubert	21.7
4	Takayoshi Yoshioka	21.8
5	Stuart Black	22.0

Quarterfinal 4

Rank	Athlete	Time	Notes
1		21.4	,
2	Harold Wright	21.7
3	Allan Elliot	21.8
4	Stanley Engelhart	21.9
5	Teiichi Nishi	22.1

Semifinals

Two heats were held; the fastest three runners advanced to the final round.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Time
1		21.5
2	George Simpson	21.5
3	Carlos Bianchi	21.6
4	Danie Joubert	21.7
5	Erich Borchmeyer	21.8
6	Bert Pearson	21.9

Semifinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Time
1		21.5
2	Willie Walters	21.7
3	Eddie Tolan	21.7
4	Harold Wright	21.8
5	Allan Elliot	21.9
6	Roberto Genta	22.0

Final

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
			21.2
			21.4
			21.5
4			21.5
5			21.6
6			21.9

Notes and References

Web site: Athletics at the 1932 Los Angeles Summer Games: Men's 200 metres . https://web.archive.org/web/20200417174357/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1932/ATH/mens-200-metres.html . dead . 17 April 2020 . 8 July 2017 . Sports Reference.
Official Report, p. 377.
Web site: 200 metres, Men . Olympedia . 29 December 2020.
Official Report, p. 386.