Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres was a track and field athletics event held as part of the Athletics at the 1912 Summer Olympics programme. It was the fourth appearance of the event, which has appeared at every edition of the Summer Olympics since the 1900 Summer Olympics. The competition was held on July 10, 1912, and on July 11, 1912. 61 runners from 19 nations competed.^[1] NOCs could enter up to 12 athletes.^[2] The event was won by Ralph Craig of the United States, the nation's third victory in four Games. Another American, Donald Lippincott, took silver. Great Britain earned its first medal in the 200 metres with Willie Applegarth's bronze.

Men's 200 metres at the Games of the V Olympiad
The finish of the final.
Venue	Stockholm Olympic Stadium
Dates	July 10, 1912 (heats, semifinals) July 11, 1912 (final)
Competitors	61 from 19 nations
Winning time	21.7
Medalists
Ralph Craig  United States Donald Lippincott  United States Willie Applegarth  Great Britain
← 1908 1920 →

Background

This was the fourth 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 finalists from the 1908 Games returned. There was no clear favorite. None of the four different AAU champions since 1908 competed. Willie Applegarth of Great Britain was the 1912 AAA champion and closest thing to a favorite before the Games. American Ralph Craig had set the world record for 220 yards in 1910, won the eastern U.S. trials, and started out in Stockholm by winning the 100 metres.^[3]

Australasia, Bohemia, Chile, Japan, Portugal, and Russia each made their debut in the event. The United States made its fourth appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the 200 metres to date.

Competition format

There were three rounds: quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final. The quarterfinals consisted of 18 heats of between 2 and 5 athletes each; the two fastest men in each heat advanced to the semifinals. There were 6 semifinals, each with 6 runners. In that round, only the top athlete advanced. The final had 6 runners.^[3]

The race was run on a 383-metre track.^[3]

Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1912 Summer Olympics.

World record	Jack Donaldson (AUS)*	21.3	Glasgow, United Kingdom	26 July 1911
Olympic record	Archie Hahn (USA)**	21.6	St. Louis, United States	31 August 1904

^* unofficial 220 yards (= 201.17 m)

^** straight course

Ralph Craig's 21.7 second performance in the final was 1⁄10 of a second off the Olympic record of 21.6 seconds, set in 1904.

Schedule

Date	Time	Round
Wednesday, 10 July 1912	10:30 16:00	Quarterfinals Semifinals
Thursday, 11 July 1912	15:00	Final

Results

Quarterfinals

All quarterfinal heats were held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912.

Quarterfinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Charles Reidpath	United States	22.6	Q
2	Georges Rolot	France	22.7	Q
3	Knut Stenborg	Sweden	Unknown
4	Václav Labík	Bohemia	Unknown

Quarterfinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Ralph Craig	United States	22.8	Q
2	Richard Rice	Great Britain	23.0	Q
3	Charles Poulenard	France	Unknown
4	Karl Lindblom	Sweden	Unknown

Quarterfinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Ira Courtney	United States	22.7	Q
2	Duncan Macmillan	Great Britain	Unknown	Q
3	Léon Aelter	Belgium	Unknown
4	Haralds Hāns	Russia	Unknown
—	Herberts Baumanis	Russia	DNF

Quarterfinal 4

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Charles Luther	Sweden	23.6	Q
2	Jan Grijseels	Netherlands	Unknown	Q

Quarterfinal 5

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Willie Applegarth	Great Britain	24.7	Q
2	Harold Heiland	United States	24.7	Q

Quarterfinal 6

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Richard Rau	Germany	22.5	Q
2	Arthur Anderson	Great Britain	Unknown	Q
3	Rudolf Rauch	Austria	Unknown

Quarterfinal 7

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Carl Cooke	United States	22.5	Q
2	Reuben Povey	South Africa	Unknown	Q
3	Joseph Wells	Great Britain	Unknown
4	Harry Beasley	Canada	Unknown
5	Georges Malfait	France	Unknown

Quarterfinal 8

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	John Howard	Canada	25.0	Q
2	Franco Giongo	Italy	25.0	Q

Quarterfinal 9

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Knut Lindberg	Sweden	23.1	Q
2	Frigyes Wiesner	Hungary	Unknown	Q
3	Charles Lelong	France	Unknown

Quarterfinal 10

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Peter Gerhardt	United States	22.9	Q
2	Victor d'Arcy	Great Britain	22.9	Q
3	Gustav Möller	Sweden	Unknown

Quarterfinal 11

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Donald Lippincott	United States	22.8	Q
2	Ivan Möller	Sweden	Unknown	Q
3	Pierre Failliot	France	Unknown
4	Ernest Haley	Great Britain	Unknown
5	Pablo Eitel	Chile	Unknown

Quarterfinal 12

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Alvah Meyer	United States	24.1	Q
2	Robert Duncan	Great Britain	Unknown	Q

Quarterfinal 13

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Donnell Young	United States	22.8	Q
2	Cyril Seedhouse	Great Britain	Unknown	Q
3	Fritz Fleischer	Austria	Unknown
4	Heinrich Wenseler	Germany	Unknown
5	Yahiko Mishima	Japan	Unknown

Quarterfinal 14

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	George Patching	South Africa	22.3	Q
2	Clement Wilson	United States	Unknown	Q
3	Frank McConnell	Canada	Unknown
4	Ervin Szerelemhegyi	Hungary	Unknown
5	Emil Grandell	Sweden	Unknown

Quarterfinal 15

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Max Herrmann	Germany	22.9	Q
2	István Déván	Hungary	Unknown	Q
3	Herman Sotaaen	Norway	Unknown
4	Wladyslaw Ponurski	Austria	Unknown

Quarterfinal 16

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	William Stewart	Australasia	26.0	Q
2	Henry Macintosh	Great Britain	Unknown	Q

Quarterfinal 17

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	David Jacobs	Great Britain	23.2	Q
2	Skotte Jacobsson	Sweden	23.2	Q

Quarterfinal 18

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Ture Person	Sweden	23.2	Q
2	Robert Schurrer	France	Unknown	Q
3	António Stromp	Portugal	Unknown

Semifinals

All semi-finals were held on Wednesday, July 10, 1912.

Semifinal 1

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Ralph Craig	United States	21.9	Q
2	David Jacobs	Great Britain	Unknown
3	Ira Courtney	United States	Unknown
4	Ture Person	Sweden	Unknown
5	Frigyes Wiesner	Hungary	Unknown
—	Arthur Anderson	Great Britain	DNF

Semifinal 2

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Willie Applegarth	Great Britain	21.9	Q
2	Clement Wilson	United States	Unknown
3	Cyril Seedhouse	Great Britain	Unknown
4	Harold Heiland	United States	Unknown
5	Skotte Jacobsson	Sweden	Unknown
—	William Stewart	Australasia	DNF

Semifinal 3

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Donnell Young	United States	21.9	Q
2	Carl Cooke	United States	Unknown
3	Georges Rolot	France	Unknown
4	Max Herrmann	Germany	Unknown
—	Henry Macintosh	Great Britain	DNF
	George Patching	South Africa	DNF

Semifinal 4

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Donald Lippincott	United States	21.8	Q
2	Alvah Meyer	United States	Unknown
3	John Howard	Canada	Unknown
4	Ivan Möller	Sweden	22.4
5	Duncan Macmillan	Great Britain	Unknown
6	Jan Grijseels	Netherlands	Unknown

Semifinal 5

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Richard Rau	Germany	22.1	Q
2	Peter Gerhardt	United States	Unknown
3	Charles Luther	Sweden	22.3
4	Franco Giongo	Italy	Unknown
5	Reuben Povey	South Africa	Unknown
—	Richard Rice	Great Britain	DNF

Semifinal 6

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Notes
1	Charles Reidpath	United States	22.1	Q
2	Victor d'Arcy	Great Britain	Unknown
3	Knut Lindberg	Sweden	22.5
4	István Déván	Hungary	Unknown
5	Robert Schurrer	France	Unknown
—	Robert Duncan	Great Britain	DNF

Final

The start of the final.

The final was held on Thursday, July 11, 1912.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
	Ralph Craig	United States	21.7
	Donald Lippincott	United States	21.8
	Willie Applegarth	Great Britain	22.0
4	Richard Rau	Germany	22.2
5	Charles Reidpath	United States	22.3
6	Donnell Young	United States	22.3

References

1. "Athletics at the 1912 Stockholm Summer Games: Men's 200 metres". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
2. Official report, p. 61.
3. "200 metres, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 December 2020.

Notes

• Bergvall, Erik (ed.) (1913). Adams-Ray, Edward (trans.). (ed.). The Official Report of the Olympic Games of Stockholm 1912. Stockholm: Wahlström & Widstrand. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
• Wudarski, Pawel (1999). "Wyniki Igrzysk Olimpijskich" (in Polish). Retrieved 26 August 2006.