200 metres at the Olympics
Games Gold Silver Bronze
1900 Paris details Walter Tewksbury United States Norman Pritchard India Stan Rowley Australia
1904 St. Louis details Archie Hahn United States Nate Cartmell United States William Hogenson United States
1908 London details Robert Kerr Canada Robert Cloughen United States Nate Cartmell United States
1912 Stockholm details Ralph Craig United States Donald Lippincott United States Willie Applegarth Great Britain
1920 Antwerp details Allen Woodring United States Charley Paddock United States Harry Edward Great Britain
1924 Paris details Jackson Scholz United States Charley Paddock United States Eric Liddell Great Britain
1928 Amsterdam details Percy Williams Canada Walter Rangeley Great Britain Helmut Körnig Germany
1932 Los Angeles details Eddie Tolan United States George Simpson United States Ralph Metcalfe United States
1936 Berlin details Jesse Owens United States Mack Robinson United States Tinus Osendarp Netherlands
1948 London details Mel Patton United States Barney Ewell United States Lloyd LaBeach Panama
1952 Helsinki details Andy Stanfield United States Thane Baker United States James Gathers United States
1956 Melbourne details Bobby Morrow United States Andy Stanfield United States Thane Baker United States
1960 Rome details Livio Berruti Italy Lester Carney United States Abdoulaye Seye France
1964 Tokyo details Henry Carr United States Paul Drayton United States Edwin Roberts Trinidad and Tobago
1968 Mexico City details Tommie Smith United States Peter Norman Australia John Carlos United States
1972 Munich details Valeriy Borzov Soviet Union Larry Black United States Pietro Mennea Italy
1976 Montreal details Don Quarrie Jamaica Millard Hampton United States Dwayne Evans United States
1980 Moscow details Pietro Mennea Italy Allan Wells Great Britain Don Quarrie Jamaica
1984 Los Angeles details Carl Lewis United States Kirk Baptiste United States Thomas Jefferson United States
1988 Seoul details Joe DeLoach United States Carl Lewis United States Robson da Silva Brazil
Medal summary -- Men
The 200 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the second edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 200 m has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 and the women's 200 m has been held continuously since its introduction at the 1948 Games. It is the most prestigious 200 m race at elite level. The competition format typically has three or four qualifying rounds leading to a final race between eight athletes. The Olympic records for the distance are 19.30 seconds for men, set by Usain Bolt in 2008, and 21.34 seconds set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988. The men's world record was set at the Olympics in 1956, 1960 (twice), 1968, 1996 (twice) and 2008. The women's world record has similarly been linked to the competition, with records coming at the Olympic Games in 1952 (twice), 1956, 1968, 1972 and 1988 (twice). Griffith-Joyner's 1988 Olympic mark remains the world record for the distance, while Bolt's Olympic record is the third fastest of all-time. Only three athletes have won the title more than once. Bärbel Wöckel of East Germany became the first to defend the title in 1980 and Veronica Campbell-Brown repeated that feat in 2008. Usain Bolt was the first person to win two Olympic 200 m gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics he defended his title to win his third Olympic 200 m gold medal. Merlene Ottey is the most decorated athlete, having won four medals in the event (though none of them gold).