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1908 Olympic Games London, Great Britain - Men's 200 m

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Details: Parent Category: Olympic Games (Athletics); Category: 1908 Olympic Games London, Great Britain - (Athletics); Last Updated: 16 April 2016; Hits: 693

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Host City: London, Great Britain

Format: Winner in each heat advanced to the final.

Date Started: July 21, 1908

Format: Winner in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Date Finished: July 23, 1908

(Competitors: 43; Countries: 15; Finalists: 4)

Venue(s): White City Stadium, London

Overview by IAAF

All of the four finalists won their second round races in 22.6 after Kerr had been the fastest first round winner with 22.2. In the final, Kerr led by a metre off the bend, which was a generous sweeping curve on the 587 yard track. Cloughen and Cartmell closed up on Kerr, who was visibly tiring in the last few metres but won by just over 20cm, with Cartmell a further 30cm back.

Summary by Sports-reference.com

The Olympic record was 22.2, set by Walter Tewksbury (USA) in winning the gold medal at Paris in 1900. Though there was no official body to recognize world records, the fastest time on record was the 21.4 by John Maybury of the United States, set at the Western Intercollegiate Athletic Meet in 1897. Neither the United States nor Great Britain had produced a dominant long sprinter, as the most recent AAA and AAU championships had been spread among several different runners. But the 1908 AAA title had recently been won by the Irish-born Canadian, Bobby Kerr, who had also won the Canadian AAU title from 1906-08. Kerr's family had moved to Hamilton, Ontario when he was 17 years old, in 1899. By 1907 he was the greatest Canadian sprinter to date, winning over 40 events in that year alone.

The two fastest heat winners were Kerr (22.2) and the American Bill Hamilton (22.4). Both runners were drawn in the same heat in the semi-finals where Kerr was the winner in a close race and Hamilton was eliminated. Kerr went on to win the final and with the South African, Reggie Walker, winning the 100 metres, the United States failed to win either sprint for the first time. This is a relatively rare occurrence at the Olympics and has only been repeated in 1928, 1960, 1972, and 1980.

			Results

*200 m*	Men		Final	23 July
The top three were within two feet of each other, as Kerr's early lead evaporated in the straight. He was able to hang onto nine inches, however, and defeated Cloughen by that small margin.
Kerr winning the final.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.6		Bobby Kerr	Canada	CAN	25
2	22.6		Bobby Cloughen	United States	USA	19		22.6est / at 2 ft
3	22.7		Nate Cartmell	United States	USA	25		22.7est
4	22.9		George Hawkins	Great Britain	GBR	24		22.9est
*200 m*	Men		Semi-Finals Heat One	22 July
The first semifinal featured both of the runners who had won via walkover in the heats. There was very little room separating the lead three runners, with Kerr about nine inches in front of Hamilton and twelve ahead of Radoczy.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.6	Q	Bobby Kerr	Canada	CAN	25
2	22.7		Bill Hamilton	United States	USA			22.7est
3	22.8		Károly Radóczy	Hungary	HUN	22		22.8est / at 1 ft
4			Oscar Guttormsen	Norway	NOR	24
*200 m*	Men		Semi-Finals Heat Two	22 July
This all-American heat was also close, but not as close as the first. Cartmell won by about five feet.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.6	Q	Nate Cartmell	United States	USA	25
2	22.9		Nate Sherman	United States	USA	20		22.9est / at 1½ yds
3	23		Harry Huff	United States	USA	27		23.0est / close
*200 m*	Men		Semi-Finals Heat Three	22 July
Cloughen finally pulled ahead of Reed three-quarters of the way into the race, holding onto the lead until the finish.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.6	Q	Bobby Cloughen	United States	USA	19
2	22.8		Lionel Reed	Great Britain	GBR	24		22.8est / at 1 yd
3			Jack George	Great Britain	GBR	26
4			Sam Hurdsfield	Great Britain	GBR	32
*200 m*	Men		Semi-Finals Heat Four	22 July
Låftman was forced to scratch due to an injury. The three runners broke apart in the last ten metres, with Hawkins winning by a foot.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.6	Q	George Hawkins	Great Britain	GBR	24
2	22.6		Patrick Roche	Great Britain	GBR			22.6est / at 1 ft
3			Géo Malfait	France	FRA	29
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat One	21 July
George led by ten yards when he crossed the finish line.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	23.4	Q	Jack George	Great Britain	GBR	26
2	24.6		Victor Henny	Netherlands	NED	20		24.6est / at 10 yds
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Two	21 July
In a tight race, Huff barely beat Duffy, crossing the line with a lead of less than two yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.8	Q	Harry Huff	United States	USA	27
2	23.2		Eddie Duffy	South Africa	RSA	24		23.2est / at 1½ yds
3			Henk van der Wal	Netherlands	NED	21
4			Knut Stenborg	Sweden	SWE	18
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Three	21 July
Roche won by a mere yard.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.8	Q	Patrick Roche	Great Britain	GBR
2	23		Lawson Robertson	United States	USA	24		23.0est / at 1 yd
3			Frank Lukeman	Canada	CAN	22
4			Evert Koops	Netherlands	NED	23
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Four	21 July
Cartmell won by about two yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	23.0	Q	Nate Cartmell	United States	USA	25
2	23.3		Vilmos Rácz	Hungary	HUN	19		23.3est / at 2 yds
3			Ragnar Stenberg	Finland	FIN	20
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Five	21 July
Malfait had about a four-yard lead when he finished.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.6	Q	Géo Malfait	France	FRA	29
2	23.1		Robert Duncan	Great Britain	GBR	20		23.1est / at 4 yds
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Six	21 July
Laaftman won by two yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	23.8	Q	Sven Låftman	Sweden	SWE	20
2	24		Frigyes Wiesner-Mezei	Hungary	HUN	20		24.0est / at 2 yds
3			Ernestus Greven	Netherlands	NED	22
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Seven	21 July
There was no competition for Radóczy in the seventh heat.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1		Q	Károly Radóczy	Hungary	HUN	22		walkover
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Eight	21 July
Cloughen had a comfortable six-yard lead when he crossed the finish line.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	23.4	Q	Bobby Cloughen	United States	USA	19
2	24.1		Umberto Barozzi	Italy	ITA	26		24.1est / at 6 yds
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Nine	21 July
Hurdsfield led by a yard and a half at the finish.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	23.6	Q	Sam Hurdsfield	Great Britain	GBR	32
2	24		Mikhail Paskhalidis	Greece	GRE			24.0est / at 1½ yds
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Ten	21 July
Hamilton's margin of victory was three yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.4	Q	Bill Hamilton	United States	USA
2	22.8		Lou Sebert	Canada	CAN	21		22.8est / at 3 yds
3			Henry Pankhurst	Great Britain	GBR
4			Pál Simon	Hungary	HUN	16
5			Fernand Halbart	Belgium	BEL
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Eleven	21 July
Kerr's victory was by about three yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.2	Q	Bobby Kerr	Canada	CAN	25	OR
2	22.7		Willie May	United States	USA	21		22.7est / at 2½ yds
3			James Stark	Great Britain	GBR	23
4			Knut Lindberg	Sweden	SWE	26
5			Emilio Brambilla	Italy	ITA	25
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Twelve	21 July
Sherman led by two yards when he finished.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.8	Q	Nate Sherman	United States	USA	20
2	23.1		Jack Morton	Great Britain	GBR	29		23.1est / at 2 yds
3			Edi Schönecker	Austria	AUT	23
4			Cornelis den Held	Netherlands	NED	24
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Thirteen	21 July
Reed won by two and a half yards.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	23.2	Q	Lionel Reed	Great Britain	GBR	24
2	23.5		Arthur Hoffmann	Germany	GER	20		23.5est / at 2½ yds
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Fourteen	21 July
Guttormsen was the second runner to win without competition.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1		Q	Oscar Guttormsen	Norway	NOR	24		walkover
*200 m*	Men		Round One Heat Fifteen	21 July
The race was extremely tight until the final straightaway, where Hawkins pulled away to win.
Rank	Mark		Athlete	Country	NOC	Age	Records	Notes
1	22.8	Q	George Hawkins	Great Britain	GBR	24
2	23.2		Henri Meslot	France	FRA	23		23.2est / at 3 yds
3			Jacobus Hoogveld	Netherlands	NED	23