Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres

The men's 200 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 24 to 26.[1]

Men's 200 metres at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad
Venue	Athens Olympic Stadium
Dates	24–26 August
Competitors	55 from 46 nations
Winning time	19.79
Medalists
Shawn Crawford  United States Bernard Williams  United States Justin Gatlin  United States

Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Track events
100 m	men	women
200 m	men	women
400 m	men	women
800 m	men	women
1500 m	men	women
5000 m	men	women
10,000 m	men	women
100 m hurdles		women
110 m hurdles	men
400 m hurdles	men	women
3000 m steeplechase	men
4×100 m relay	men	women
4×400 m relay	men	women
Road events
Marathon	men	women
20 km walk	men	women
50 km walk	men
Field events
Long jump	men	women
Triple jump	men	women
High jump	men	women
Pole vault	men	women
Shot put	men	women
Discus throw	men	women
Javelin throw	men	women
Hammer throw	men	women
Combined events
Heptathlon		women
Decathlon	men
Wheelchair races

The top four runners in each of the initial seven heats automatically qualified for the second round. The next four fastest runners from across the heats also qualified. Those 32 runners competed in four heats in the second round, with the top three runners from each heat and the four next fastest runners qualifying for the semifinals. There were two semifinal heats, and only the top four from each heat advanced to the final.

Barely turned eighteen, Usain Bolt came to the Olympics injured and was not able to compete at the level he had achieved earlier in the season. He was eliminated in the heats in his only Olympic defeat. He would eventually go on to win double gold at the Beijing, triple at London and Rio Olympics.

The final pool looked similar to the 100 metres final pool, with the favorites, Justin Gatlin, Francis Obikwelu and Shawn Crawford in the center of the track. Bernard Williams also was in the final, along with perennial silver medalist Frankie Fredericks. From the gun, Williams near the inside got a clearly better start, quickly making up a step on the stagger to Crawford to his outside. But through the turn, Crawford maintained the distance while running the further distance. Crawford and Gatlin ran about even last portion of the turn looked more powerful than Williams and Gatlin on either side. By the end of the turn, it was the three Americans in the lead, led by Crawford, Obikwelu the closest challenger a step behind. Crawford separated from Gatlin at the head of the straight and the race was for second. Gatlin held the edge down the straight until the last ten metres when Gatlin seemed to struggle and Williams cruised to silver. Next to last at the beginning of the straight, veteran Fredericks gained steadily and was able to dip past Obikwelu for fourth,[2][3] but not enough to break up the American sweep.