Athletics at the 1936 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

This was the ninth 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 1932 Games returned. Jesse Owens was the favorite coming into the Games. He had already won both the 100 metres and the long jump in Berlin.[1]

Liechtenstein made its debut in the event. The United States made its ninth appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the 200 metres to date.

The competition used the four round format introduced in 1920: heats, quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. There were 8 heats of between 4 and 6 runners each, with the top 3 men in each advancing to the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals consisted of 4 heats of 6 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.[1]

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

World record		20.6*
Olympic record	Eddie Tolan (USA)	21.2	Los Angeles, United States	3 August 1932

^*On straightaway. No world record existed for running on a curve.[3][1]

Jesse Owens set a new Olympic record in the third heat, running in 21.1 seconds. He repeated that performance in the third quarterfinal. Mack Robinson matched Owens' new record in the first semifinal, and again in the final—but Owens finished with a time of 20.7 seconds in the final to lower the Olympic record and set an unofficial world record for curved-track running.[1]