Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

Summary

2012 Olympic champion and 2015 World Champion Usain Bolt, is unbeaten over 200 m since 2007. Bolt had only competed once over 200 m in 2016 before the Olympics, recording a time of 19.89 seconds, fifth in the world in 2016. US team entries had the 3 world leading times in 2016 before the Olympics 400 metres specialist LaShawn Merritt, 2015 World runner-up and American champion Justin Gatlin and Ameer Webb. The Canadian team was Brendon Rodney, Aaron Brown and Andre De Grasse. Bolt's training partner Miguel Francis and Britain's Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake were the other athletes to have run under 20 seconds that season. The Jamaican team also featured 2012 Olympic runner-up Yohan Blake.

In the semi-final round, #1 of the year. LaShawn Merritt cruised to an easy win in the first, with Christophe Lemaitre second. The second semi saw Usain Bolt run 19.78, in the last few metres Andre De Grasse rushed up to Bolt's shoulder, the two friends looking at each other and laughing as they crossed the line. Bolt's time was his fastest the year and De Grasse set a new Canadian record of 19.80 seconds. As Bud Winter the sprint coach who influenced Glen Mills, Bolt's coach, would say; "Relax and win." Both the time qualifiers Adam Gemili and Ramil Guliyev both came from this fastest of the three semi final heats. #3 of the year, Ameer Webb was left behind. In the third semi, Alonso Edward and Churandy Martina qualified in 1st and 2nd place. World #2 in 2016 Justin Gatlin held the lead with 50 metres to go but started looking around did not keep up his speed sufficiently. He should have seen Alonso Edward as he pulled ahead of Gatlin and on the far outside, Churandy Martina closed fast to take the second qualifying position. Gatlin failed to reach the final. 2012 silver medallist and number #2 runner of all time, Yohan Blake finished sixth.

The final was held following a light rainstorm that affected the women's javelin throw. The track was still wet and conditions cooler. Still the stadium was electric to see lightning, the star Usain Bolt in what was expected to be his last individual race in the Olympics. Bolt was in lane 6, playing to the camera and to the crowd before the race. Lemaitre and Martina were to his outside. Bolt got a good start and quickly made up the stagger on Lemaitre then Martina barely half way through the turn. Inside of him, DeGrasse got out well in lane 4 while Merritt lagged in 5. As the stagger began to resolve near the end of the turn, Bolt held a two metre lead over a wall of chasers. Martina held a slight edge on DeGrasse and Edward inside of him in lane 3 who were barely ahead of Merritt and Gemili, with Lemaitre slightly behind. Bolt was 9.9 at the half way mark. Down the home stretch, Bolt was working hard, his face showing the strain. Behind him, DeGrasse was starting to separate from the row of contenders. Only Guliyev was beaten. As they approached the finish Edwards and Merritt faded. Bolt had a 3 metre gap over DeGrasse, another metre and a half back, Lemaitre, Gemili, and Martina hit the finish line together. The photo finish revealed Lemaitre to be the bronze medalist, with only six thousandths of a second separating the three runners.

Bolt's winning time equalled his time from the semi-final he was joking around in. DeGrasse and most of the field was more than 2 tenths of a second slower than the night before.

After the race, Bolt celebrated his last individual victory, kissing the finish line and doing the lightning bolt.

Records

Before this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

The following national records were established during the competition:

Schedule

All times are Brasilia Time (UTC-3)

Format

The competition featured three rounds: a round one heats stage with ten races, three semi-final races, and a single final. Each race featured eight athletes. The top two from each heat and the four fastest non-qualifiers progress to the semi-final. The top two finishers in each of the three semi-finals reach the final, alongside the two fastest non-qualifiers.

Round 1

Qualification rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) advance to the Semifinals.

Semifinals

Qualification rules: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advance to the Final.