| | Event type

200 metres, Men

Date	2 – 3 August 1932
Status	Olympic
Location	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Participants	25 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.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	QF	SF	Final
1	461	Eddie Tolan	USA	22.0 (2 h2)	21.5 (1 h2)	21.7 (3 h2)	21.2 (1)	Gold	OR
2	458	George Simpson	USA	29.0 (3 h5)	21.5 (2 h3)	21.5 (2 h1)	21.4 (2)	Silver
3	445	Ralph Metcalfe	USA	22.9 (2 h3)	21.5 (1 h1)	21.5 (1 h1)	21.5 (3)	Bronze
4	168	Arthur Jonath	GER	21.9 (1 h6)	21.4 (1 h4)	21.5 (1 h2)	21.5 (4)
5	2	Carlos Bianchi	ARG	22.3 (3 h6)	21.4 (1 h3)	21.6 (3 h1)	21.6 (5)
6	375	Willie Walters	RSA	21.9 (1 h2)	21.5 (2 h1)	21.7 (2 h2)	21.9 (6)
4 h1 r3/4	374	Danie Joubert	RSA	22.3 (2 h7)	21.7 (3 h3)	21.7 (4 h1)	–
4 h2 r3/4	83	Harold Wright	CAN	22.8 (1 h3)	21.7 (2 h4)	21.8 (4 h2)	–
5 h1 r3/4	159	Erich Borchmeyer	GER	22.1 (1 h1)	21.6 (3 h1)	21.8 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r3/4	351	Allan Elliot	NZL	22.2 (2 h6)	21.8 (3 h4)	21.9 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r3/4	75	Bert Pearson	CAN	22.3 (1 h7)	21.7 (2 h2)	21.9 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r3/4	6	Roberto Genta	ARG	25.3 (1 h5)	21.8 (3 h2)	22.0 (6 h2)	–
4 h1 r2/4	292	Itaro Nakajima	JPN	22.2 (1 h4)	21.9 (4 h1)	–	–
4 h2 r2/4	166	Fritz Hendrix	GER	22.9 (2 h4)	21.9 (4 h2)	–	–
4 h3 r2/4	305	Takayoshi Yoshioka	JPN	22.3 (2 h1)	21.8 (4 h3)	–	–
4 h4 r2/4	193	Stanley Engelhart	GBR	– (3 h1)	21.9 (4 h4)	–	–
5 h1 r2/4	228	Chris Berger	NED	26.1 (2 h5)	22.0 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r2/4	197	Stanley Fuller	GBR	22.4 (3 h2)	22.0 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r2/4	350	Stuart Black	NZL	23.1 (3 h3)	22.0 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r2/4	293	Teiichi Nishi	JPN	22.4 (3 h7)	22.1 (5 h4)	–	–
4 h2 r1/4	343	Enrique Sánchez	MEX	22.8 (4 h2)	–	–	–
4 h3 r1/4	97	Liu Changchun	CHN	23.4 (4 h3)	–	–	–
4 h6 r1/4	109	Andrej Engel	TCH	22.3 (4 h6)	–	–	–
4 h7 r1/4	248	Ronald Vernieux	IND	22.8 (4 h7)	–	–	–
5 h6 r1/4	335	Everardo Múzquiz	MEX	23.0 (5 h6)	–	–	–
DNS	27	José de Almeida	BRA	– (DNS h1)	–	–	–
DNS	218	Angelos Lamprou	GRE	– (DNS h1)	–	–	–
DNS	8	Carlos Hofmeister	ARG	– (DNS h2)	–	–	–
DNS	104	Leonardo Valdés	CUB	– (DNS h2)	–	–	–
DNS	336	Fernando Ortiz	MEX	– (DNS h3)	–	–	–
DNS	371	António Sarsfield	POR	– (DNS h3)	–	–	–
DNS	81	Percy Williams	CAN	– (DNS h4)	–	–	–
DNS	36	Arnaldo Ferrara	BRA	– (DNS h4)	–	–	–
DNS	23	Felix Rinner	AUT	– (DNS h4)	–	–	–
DNS	105	José Alberto Torriente	CUB	– (DNS h4)	–	–	–
DNS	217	Renos Fragkoudis	GRE	– (DNS h5)	–	–	–
DNS	204	Fred Reid	GBR	– (DNS h5)	–	–	–
DNS	226	André Théard	HAI	– (DNS h5)	–	–	–
DNS	219	Christos Mantikas	GRE	– (DNS h6)	–	–	–
DNS	40	Ricardo Guimarães	BRA	– (DNS h7)	–	–	–

Round One (2 August 1932 — 15:00)

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

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	159	Erich Borchmeyer	GER	22.1	Q
2	305	Takayoshi Yoshioka	JPN	22.3	Q
3	193	Stanley Engelhart	GBR	–	Q
DNS	27	José de Almeida	BRA	–
DNS	218	Angelos Lamprou	GRE	–

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	375	Willie Walters	RSA	21.9	21.83	Q
2	461	Eddie Tolan	USA	22.0	–	Q
3	197	Stanley Fuller	GBR	22.4	–	Q
4	343	Enrique Sánchez	MEX	22.8	–
DNS	8	Carlos Hofmeister	ARG	–	–
DNS	104	Leonardo Valdés	CUB	–	–

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	83	Harold Wright	CAN	22.8	Q
2	445	Ralph Metcalfe	USA	22.9	Q
3	350	Stuart Black	NZL	23.1	Q
4	97	Liu Changchun	CHN	23.4
DNS	336	Fernando Ortiz	MEX	–
DNS	371	António Sarsfield	POR	–

Heat Four

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	292	Itaro Nakajima	JPN	22.2	Q
2	166	Fritz Hendrix	GER	22.9	Q
DNS	81	Percy Williams	CAN	–
DNS	36	Arnaldo Ferrara	BRA	–
DNS	23	Felix Rinner	AUT	–
DNS	105	José Alberto Torriente	CUB	–

Heat Five

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	6	Roberto Genta	ARG	25.3	Q
2	228	Chris Berger	NED	26.1	Q
3	458	George Simpson	USA	29.0	Q
DNS	217	Renos Fragkoudis	GRE	–
DNS	204	Fred Reid	GBR	–
DNS	226	André Théard	HAI	–

Heat Six

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	168	Arthur Jonath	GER	21.9	21.83	Q
2	351	Allan Elliot	NZL	22.2	–	Q
3	2	Carlos Bianchi	ARG	22.3	–	Q
4	109	Andrej Engel	TCH	22.3	–
5	335	Everardo Múzquiz	MEX	23.0	–
DNS	219	Christos Mantikas	GRE	–	–

Heat Seven

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)
1	75	Bert Pearson	CAN	22.3	Q
2	374	Danie Joubert	RSA	22.3	Q
3	293	Teiichi Nishi	JPN	22.4	Q
4	248	Ronald Vernieux	IND	22.8
DNS	40	Ricardo Guimarães	BRA	–

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

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

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	445	Ralph Metcalfe	USA	21.5	21.59	QOR
2	375	Willie Walters	RSA	21.5	–	Q
3	159	Erich Borchmeyer	GER	21.6	–	Q
4	292	Itaro Nakajima	JPN	21.9	–
5	228	Chris Berger	NED	22.0	–

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	461	Eddie Tolan	USA	21.5	21.56	Q=OR
2	75	Bert Pearson	CAN	21.7	–	Q
3	6	Roberto Genta	ARG	21.8	–	Q
4	166	Fritz Hendrix	GER	21.9	–
5	197	Stanley Fuller	GBR	22.0	–

Heat Three

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	2	Carlos Bianchi	ARG	21.4	21.46	QOR
2	458	George Simpson	USA	21.5	–	Q
3	374	Danie Joubert	RSA	21.7	–	Q
4	305	Takayoshi Yoshioka	JPN	21.8	–
5	350	Stuart Black	NZL	22.0	–

Heat Four

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	168	Arthur Jonath	GER	21.4	21.48	Q
2	83	Harold Wright	CAN	21.7	–	Q
3	351	Allan Elliot	NZL	21.8	–	Q
4	193	Stanley Engelhart	GBR	21.9	–
5	293	Teiichi Nishi	JPN	22.1	–

Semi-Finals (3 August 1932 — 14:30)

Top three in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	445	Ralph Metcalfe	USA	21.5	21.52	Q
2	458	George Simpson	USA	21.5	21.54	Q
3	2	Carlos Bianchi	ARG	21.6	–	Q
4	374	Danie Joubert	RSA	21.7	–
5	159	Erich Borchmeyer	GER	21.8	–
6	75	Bert Pearson	CAN	21.9	–

Heat Two

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	168	Arthur Jonath	GER	21.5	21.51	Q
2	375	Willie Walters	RSA	21.7	–	Q
3	461	Eddie Tolan	USA	21.7	–	Q
4	83	Harold Wright	CAN	21.8	–
5	351	Allan Elliot	NZL	21.9	–
6	6	Roberto Genta	ARG	22.0	–

Final (3 August 1932 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (H)	Time (A)
1	1	Eddie Tolan	USA	21.2	21.12	OR
2	3	George Simpson	USA	21.4	–
3	2	Ralph Metcalfe	USA	21.5	–
4	6	Arthur Jonath	GER	21.5	–
5	4	Carlos Bianchi	ARG	21.6	–
6	5	Willie Walters	RSA	21.9	–