Final | time | | 1. Eddie Tolan | United States | 21.12s | Or | 2. George Simpson | United States | 21.4s | | 3. Ralph Metcalfe | United States | 21.5s | | 4. Arthur Jonath | Germany | 21.5s | | 5. Carlos Bianchi Luti | Argentina | 21.6s | | 6. William Walters | South Africa | 21.9s | |
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| Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 100,000. 25 competitors from 13 nations. |
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| First 3 from each Semi advanced to Final. |
Semi 1 | time | | 1. Ralph Metcalfe | United States | 21.5s | | 2. George Simpson | United States | 21.5s | | 3. Carlos Bianchi Luti | Argentina | 21.6s | | 4. Daniel Joubert | South Africa | 21.7s | | 5. Erich Borchmeyer | Germany | 21.8s | | 6. Birchall Pearson | Canada | 21.9s | |
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Semi 2 | time | | 1. Arthur Jonath | Germany | 21.5s | | 2. William Walters | South Africa | 21.7s | | 3. Eddie Tolan | United States | 21.7s | | 4. Harold Wright | Canada | 21.8s | | 5. Allan John Elliot | New Zealand | 21.9s | | 6. Roberto Genta | Argentina | 22.0s | |
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Quarter 1 | time | | 1. Ralph Metcalfe | United States | 21.5s | Or | 2. William Walters | South Africa | 21.5s | | 3. Erich Borchmeyer | Germany | 21.6s | | 4. Itaro Nakajima | Japan | 21.9s | | 5. Christian Davis Berger | Netherlands | 22.0s | |
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Quarter 2 | time | | 1. Eddie Tolan | United States | 21.5s | =OR | 2. Birchall Pearson | Canada | 21.7s | | 3. Roberto Genta | Argentina | 21.8s | | 4. Fritz Hendrix | Germany | 21.9s | | 5. Stanley Charles Fuller | Great Britain | 22.0s | |
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Quarter 3 | time | | 1. Carlos Bianchi | Argentina | 21.4s | Or | 2. George Simpson | United States | 21.5s | | 3. Daniel Joubert | South Africa | 21.7s | | 4. Takayoshi Yoshioka | Japan | 21.8s | | 5. Stuart Alexander Black | New Zealand | 22.0s | |
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Quarter 4 | time | | 1. Arthur Jonath | Germany | 21.4s | | 2. Harold Wright | Canada | 21.7s | | 3. Allan John Elliot | New Zealand | 21.8s | | 4. Stanley Eric Engelhart | Great Britain | 21.9s | | 5. Teiichi Nishi | Japan | 22.1s | |
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Heat 1 | time | | 1. Erich Borchmeyer | Germany | 22.1s | | 2. Takayoshi Yoshioka | Japan | 22.3s | | 3. Stanley Eric Engelhart | Great Britain | | |
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Heat 2 | time | | 1. William Walters | South Africa | 21.9s | | 2. Eddie Tolan | United States | 22.0s | | 3. Stanley Charles Fuller | Great Britain | 22.4s | | 4. Enrique Sánchez | Mexico | 22.8s | |
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Heat 3 | time | | 1. Harold Wright | Canada | 22.8s | | 2. Ralph Metcalfe | United States | 22.9s | | 3. Stuart Alexander Black | New Zealand | 23.1s | | 4. Liu Changchun | China | 23.4s | |
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Heat 4 | time | | 1. Itaro Nakajima | Japan | 22.2s | | 2. Fritz Hendrix | Germany | 22.9s | |
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Heat 5 | time | | 1. Roberto Genta | Argentina | 25.3s | | 2. Chris Berger | Netherlands | 26.1s | | 3. George Simpson | United States | 29.0s | |
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Heat 6 | time | | 1. Arthur Jonath | Germany | 21.9s | | 2. Allan John Elliot | New Zealand | 22.2s | | 3. Carlos Bianchi | Argentina | 22.3s | | 4. Andrej Engel | Czechoslovakia | 22.3s | | 5. Everardo Múzquiz | Mexico | 23.0s | |
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Heat 7 | time | | 1. Birchall Pearson | Canada | 22.3s | | 2. Daniel Joubert | South Africa | 22.3s | | 3. Teiichi Nishi | Japan | 22.4s | | 4. Ronald Alfred Vernieux | India | 22.8s | |
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