Stanfield took a slight lead from the gun, making up the stagger on Jose Telles da Conceicao to his outside just past halfway through the turn.

Inside of him, 100 meter champion Bobby Morrow slowly accelerated and caught Stanfield.

Baker separated from Agostini and made a late run at Stanfield, coming up a couple of feet short.

[2] The Bahamas, Ethiopia, Guyana, Liberia, Malaya, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and Uganda each made their debut in the event; East and West Germany competed as the United Team of Germany for the first time.

The United States made its 12th appearance, the only nation to have competed at each edition of the 200 metres to date.

[2] Prior to the competition, the existing world (curved track) and Olympic records were as follows.