| | Event type
200 metres, Men
| Date | 2 – 3 August 1948 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Empire Stadium, Wembley, London |
| Participants | 51 from 28 countries |
Mel Patton had expected to win the 100 metres in London but placed only fifth in that final. He had never won an American title at 200/220 and faced Barney Ewell, the 1946-47 AAU Champion. In the final, Ewell started the fastest and led off the curve, but Patton moved ahead at the top of the stretch and maintained a slight lead to the finish. In third place was Panama’s Lloyd LaBeach, who had also finished third in the 100. The 1946 European Champion was Soviet Nikolay Karakulov, who could not compete because the USSR declined to enter the Olympics.
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | R1 | QF | SF | Final | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71 | Mel Patton |  USA | 21.6 (1 h6) | 21.4 (1 h4) | 21.6 (2 h1) | 21.1 (1) | Gold | ||
| 2 | 70 | Barney Ewell | USA | 21.6 (1 h4) | 21.8 (2 h1) | 21.8 (3 h1) | 21.1 (2) | Silver | ||
| 3 | 57 | Lloyd LaBeach |  PAN | 21.4 (1 h12) | 21.7 (1 h3) | 21.6 (2 h2) | 21.2 (3) | Bronze | ||
| 4 | 90 | Herb McKenley |  JAM | 21.3 (1 h1) | 21.3 (1 h1) | 21.4 (1 h1) | 21.3est (4) | |||
| 5 | 91 | Cliff Bourland | USA | 21.3 (1 h8) | 21.3 (1 h2) | 21.5 (1 h2) | 21.3est (5) | |||
| 6 | 50 | Les Laing | JAM | 21.8 (2 h6) | 21.8 (2 h3) | 21.6 (3 h2) | 21.8est (6) | |||
| 4 h1 r3/4 | 14 | Haroldo da Silva |  BRA | 21.9 (2 h8) | 22.0 (3 h2) | – (4 h1) | – | |||
| 4 h2 r3/4 | 6 | John Treloar |  AUS | 21.7 (1 h9) | 21.5 (2 h2) | – (4 h2) | – | |||
| 5 h1 r3/4 | 64 | Abram van Heerden |  RSA | 21.8 (2 h4) | 22.9 (3 h3) | – (5 h1) | – | |||
| 5 h2 r3/4 | 36 | Alastair McCorquodale |  GBR | 22.3 (1 h10) | 21.8 (2 h4) | – (5 h2) | – | |||
| 6 h1 r3/4 | 86 | Paul Vallé | GBR | 22.3 (1 h2) | 22.1 (3 h1) | – (6 h1) | – | |||
| 6 h2 r3/4 | 25 | Rafael Fortún |  CUB | 21.9 (1 h3) | 22.0 (3 h4) | – (6 h2) | – | |||
| 4 h1 r2/4 | 87 | Jan Lammers |  NED | 22.0 (2 h12) | – (4 h1) | – | – | |||
| 4 h2 r2/4 | 1 | Gerardo Bönnhoff |  ARG | 22.2 (1 h7) | – (4 h2) | – | – | |||
| 4 h3 r2/4 | 85 | John Fairgrieve | GBR | 22.2 (2 h7) | – (4 h3) | – | – | |||
| 4 h4 r2/4 | 15 | Ivan Hausen | BRA | 22.2 (2 h11) | 22.3 (4 h4) | – | – | |||
| 5 h1 r2/4 | 84 | Julien Le Bas |  FRA | 22.0 (1 h5) | – (5 h1) | – | – | |||
| 5 h2 r2/4 | 63 | Dennis Shore | RSA | 22.1 (2 h3) | – (5 h2) | – | – | |||
| 5 h3 r2/4 | 309 | Santiago Ferrando |  PER | 22.5 (2 h10) | – (5 h3) | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r2/4 | 18 | Ted Haggis |  CAN | 22.2 (2 h1) | – (5 h4) | – | – | |||
| 6 h1 r2/4 | 80 | Rosalvo Ramos | BRA | 22.2 (2 h5) | – (6 h1) | – | – | |||
| 6 h2 r2/4 | 21 | John De Saram |  SRI | 23.1 (2 h2) | – (6 h2) | – | – | |||
| 6 h4 r2/4 | 56 | Sharif Butt |  PAK | 22.8 (2 h9) | – (6 h4) | – | – | |||
| 1 h11 r1/4 | 72 | Juan López |  URU | 22.1 (1 h11) | – (DNS h3) | – | – | |||
| 3 h1 r1/4 | 45 | Haukur Clausen |  ISL | 22.2 (3 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h2 r1/4 | 59 | Bernabe Lovina |  PHI | 23.2 (3 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h3 r1/4 | 61 | Nuno Morais |  POR | 22.6 (3 h3) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h4 r1/4 | 26 | Ángel García | CUB | 22.2 (3 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h5 r1/4 | 51 | Basil McKenzie | JAM | 22.4 (3 h5) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h6 r1/4 | 76 | Guillermo Geary | ARG | 23.0 (3 h6) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h7 r1/4 | 27 | Raúl Mazorra | CUB | 23.0 (3 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h8 r1/4 | 66 | Georgie Lewis |  TTO | 22.4 (3 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h9 r1/4 | 68 | Raşit Öztaş |  TUR | 23.0 (3 h9) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h10 r1/4 | 77 | Fernand Bourgaux |  BEL | 22.9 (3 h10) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h11 r1/4 | 88 | Gabe Scholten | NED | 22.2 (3 h11) | – | – | – | |||
| 3 h12 r1/4 | 81 | Don Pettie | CAN | 22.0 (3 h12) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h1 r1/4 | 11 | Stanley Lines |  BER | – (4 h1) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h2 r1/4 | 38 | Stefanos Petrakis |  GRE | – (4 h2) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h4 r1/4 | 78 | Fernand Linssen | BEL | – (4 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h6 r1/4 | 22 | Duncan White | SRI | – (4 h6) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h7 r1/4 | 67 | Kemal Aksur | TUR | – (4 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h8 r1/4 | 73 | Walter Pérez | URU | – (4 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h9 r1/4 | 10 | Perry Johnson | BER | – (4 h9) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h10 r1/4 | 31 | Étienne Bally | FRA | – (4 h10) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h11 r1/4 | 17 | Sein Pe |  MYA | – (4 h11) | – | – | – | |||
| 4 h12 r1/4 | 74 | Mario Fayos | URU | – (4 h12) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h4 r1/4 | 79 | Hazzard Dill | BER | – (5 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h7 r1/4 | 54 | Gonzalo Rodríguez |  MEX | – (5 h7) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h8 r1/4 | 55 | Peter Bloch |  NOR | – (5 h8) | – | – | – | |||
| 5 h12 r1/4 | 33 | Joseph Stéphan | FRA | – (5 h12) | – | – | – | |||
| 6 h4 r1/4 | 49 | Ali Salman |  IRQ | – (6 h4) | – | – | – | |||
| 60 | Bogdan Lipski |  POL | – (DNS h1) | – | – | – | ||||
| 48 | Eric Prabhakar |  IND | – (DNS h3) | – | – | – | ||||
| 65 | Ricardo Sáenz |  ESP | – (DNS h6) | – | – | – | ||||
| 30 | John O'Donnell |  IRL | – (DNS h9) | – | – | – | ||||
| 20 | Jack Parry | CAN | – (DNS h10) | – | – | – | ||||
| 75 | Alberto Biderman | ARG | – (DNS h3) | – | – | – | ||||
| 4 | John Bartram | AUS | – (DNS h2) | – | – | – | ||||
| 5 | Morris Curotta | AUS | – (DNS h5) | – | – | – | ||||
| 89 | Ferenc Tima |  HUN | – (DNS h11) | – | – | – | ||||
| 62 | Tomás Paquete | POR | – (DNS h5) | – | – | – |
Round One (2 August 1948 — 14:30)
Top two in each heat advanced to the quarter-finals.
Heat One
| Wind | 0.5 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Herb McKenley | JAM | 21.3 | 21.4 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Ted Haggis | CAN | 22.2 | – | |||
| 3 | 2 | Haukur Clausen | ISL | 22.2 | – | |||
| 4 | 3 | Stanley Lines | BER | – | – | |||
| 60 | Bogdan Lipski | POL | – | – |
Heat Two
| Wind | <0.0 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Paul Vallé | GBR | 22.3 | – | |||
| 2 | 3 | John De Saram | SRI | 23.1 | – | |||
| 3 | 5 | Bernabe Lovina | PHI | 23.2 | – | |||
| 4 | 4 | Stefanos Petrakis | GRE | – | – | |||
| 1 | John Bartram | AUS | – | – |
Heat Three
| Wind | 1.2 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Rafael Fortún | CUB | 21.9 | – | |||
| 2 | 1 | Dennis Shore | RSA | 22.1 | – | |||
| 3 | 5 | Nuno Morais | POR | 22.6 | – | |||
| 4 | Eric Prabhakar | IND | – | – | ||||
| 2 | Alberto Biderman | ARG | – | – |
Heat Four
| Wind | 0.8 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Barney Ewell | USA | 21.6 | – | |||
| 2 | 5 | Abram van Heerden | RSA | 21.8 | – | |||
| 3 | 3 | Ángel García | CUB | 22.2 | – | |||
| 4 | 6 | Fernand Linssen | BEL | – | – | |||
| 5 | 2 | Hazzard Dill | BER | – | – | |||
| 6 | 4 | Ali Salman | IRQ | – | – |
Heat Five
| Wind | 0.1 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Julien Le Bas | FRA | 22.0 | – | |||
| 2 | 2 | Rosalvo Ramos | BRA | 22.2 | – | |||
| 3 | 4 | Basil McKenzie | JAM | 22.4 | – | |||
| 1 | Morris Curotta | AUS | – | – | ||||
| 5 | Tomás Paquete | POR | – | – |
Heat Six
| Wind | 1.0 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Mel Patton | USA | 21.6 | – | |||
| 2 | 4 | Les Laing | JAM | 21.8 | – | |||
| 3 | 2 | Guillermo Geary | ARG | 23.0 | – | |||
| 4 | 3 | Duncan White | SRI | – | – | |||
| 5 | Ricardo Sáenz | ESP | – | – |
Heat Seven
| Wind | 0.6 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Gerardo Bönnhoff | ARG | 22.2 | – | |||
| 2 | 1 | John Fairgrieve | GBR | 22.2 | – | |||
| 3 | 3 | Raúl Mazorra | CUB | 23.0 | – | |||
| 4 | 5 | Kemal Aksur | TUR | – | – | |||
| 5 | 4 | Gonzalo Rodríguez | MEX | – | – |
Heat Eight
| Wind | 0.2 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Cliff Bourland | USA | 21.3 | 21.7 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Haroldo da Silva | BRA | 21.9 | – | |||
| 3 | 5 | Georgie Lewis | TTO | 22.4 | – | |||
| 4 | 3 | Walter Pérez | URU | – | – | |||
| 5 | 4 | Peter Bloch | NOR | – | – |
Heat Nine
| Wind | 0.4 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | John Treloar | AUS | 21.7 | 21.8 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Sharif Butt | PAK | 22.8 | – | |||
| 3 | 5 | Raşit Öztaş | TUR | 23.0 | – | |||
| 4 | 2 | Perry Johnson | BER | – | – | |||
| 3 | John O'Donnell | IRL | – | – |
Heat Ten
| Wind | 0.5 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Alastair McCorquodale | GBR | 22.3 | 22.3 | |||
| 2 | 5 | Santiago Ferrando | PER | 22.5 | – | |||
| 3 | 4 | Fernand Bourgaux | BEL | 22.9 | – | |||
| 4 | 1 | Étienne Bally | FRA | – | – | |||
| 2 | Jack Parry | CAN | – | – |
Heat Eleven
| Wind | 0.2 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Juan López | URU | 22.1 | 22.2 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Ivan Hausen | BRA | 22.2 | – | |||
| 3 | 1 | Gabe Scholten | NED | 22.2 | – | |||
| 4 | 2 | Sein Pe | MYA | – | – | |||
| 4 | Ferenc Tima | HUN | – | – |
Heat Twelve
| Wind | 0.4 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Lloyd LaBeach | PAN | 21.4 | 21.7 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Jan Lammers | NED | 22.0 | – | |||
| 3 | 3 | Don Pettie | CAN | 22.0 | – | |||
| 4 | 5 | Mario Fayos | URU | – | – | |||
| 5 | 2 | Joseph Stéphan | FRA | – | – |
Quarter-Finals (2 August 1948 — 16:15)
Top three in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.
Heat One
| Wind | <0.0 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 90 | Herb McKenley | JAM | 21.3 | 21.6 | |||
| 2 | 70 | Barney Ewell | USA | 21.8 | – | |||
| 3 | 86 | Paul Vallé | GBR | 22.1 | – | |||
| 4 | 87 | Jan Lammers | NED | – | – | |||
| 5 | 84 | Julien Le Bas | FRA | – | – | |||
| 6 | 80 | Rosalvo Ramos | BRA | – | – |
Heat Two
| Wind | <0.0 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 91 | Cliff Bourland | USA | 21.3 | – | |||
| 2 | 6 | John Treloar | AUS | 21.5 | – | |||
| 3 | 14 | Haroldo da Silva | BRA | 22.0 | – | |||
| 4 | 1 | Gerardo Bönnhoff | ARG | – | – | |||
| 5 | 63 | Dennis Shore | RSA | – | – | |||
| 6 | 21 | John De Saram | SRI | – | – |
Heat Three
| Wind | <0.0 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 57 | Lloyd LaBeach | PAN | 21.7 | – | |||
| 2 | 50 | Les Laing | JAM | 21.8 | – | |||
| 3 | 64 | Abram van Heerden | RSA | 22.9 | – | |||
| 4 | 85 | John Fairgrieve | GBR | – | – | |||
| 5 | 309 | Santiago Ferrando | PER | – | – | |||
| 72 | Juan López | URU | – | – |
Heat Four
| Wind | <0.0 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Nr | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 71 | Mel Patton | USA | 21.4 | – | |||
| 2 | 36 | Alastair McCorquodale | GBR | 21.8 | – | |||
| 3 | 25 | Rafael Fortún | CUB | 22.0 | – | |||
| 4 | 15 | Ivan Hausen | BRA | 22.3 | – | |||
| 5 | 18 | Ted Haggis | CAN | – | – | |||
| 6 | 56 | Sharif Butt | PAK | – | – |
Semi-Finals (3 August 1948 — 15:30)
Top three in each heat advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Wind | 0.4 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Herb McKenley | JAM | 21.4 | 21.4 | |||
| 2 | 2 | Mel Patton | USA | 21.6 | 21.66 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Barney Ewell | USA | 21.8 | 21.96 | |||
| 4 | 4 | Haroldo da Silva | BRA | – | 22.22 | |||
| 5 | 6 | Abram van Heerden | RSA | – | 22.25 | |||
| 6 | 5 | Paul Vallé | GBR | – | 22.49 |
Heat Two
| Wind | <0.0 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Cliff Bourland | USA | 21.5 | 21.6 | |||
| 2 | 3 | Lloyd LaBeach | PAN | 21.6 | 21.79 | |||
| 3 | 5 | Les Laing | JAM | 21.6 | 21.80 | |||
| 4 | 2 | John Treloar | AUS | – | 21.99 | |||
| 5 | 4 | Alastair McCorquodale | GBR | – | 22.19 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Rafael Fortún | CUB | – | 22.51 |
Final (3 August 1948 — 17:15)
| Wind | <0.0 m/s |
|---|
| Pos | Lane | Athlete | NOC | Time (H) | Time (A) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Mel Patton | USA | 21.1 | 21.3 | |||
| 2 | 4 | Barney Ewell | USA | 21.1 | 21.35 | |||
| 3 | 3 | Lloyd LaBeach | PAN | 21.2 | 21.50 | |||
| 4 | 1 | Herb McKenley | JAM | 21.3est | 21.54 | |||
| 5 | 5 | Cliff Bourland | USA | 21.3est | 21.57 | |||
| 6 | 6 | Les Laing | JAM | 21.8est | 22.02 |