The men's 200 metre freestyle event at the 1996 Summer Olympics took place on 20 July at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center in Atlanta, United States.

[2] The event was won by Danyon Loader of New Zealand, the nation's first medal in the men's 200 metre freestyle.

At the 1994 World Aquatics Championships, Kasvio (gold), Holmertz (silver), and Danyon Loader of New Zealand (bronze) had been on the podium.

[2] Croatia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan each made their debut in the event.

This would have resulted in a second swimoff between the pair, but Sievinen elected to withdraw from the race, allowing the former to advance to the final A by default.

Because Sievinen scratched out from the competition, the vacant spot in Final B was distributed to the next best-ranked swimmer, not yet qualified, in the heats.