Ato Boldon (Trinidad & Tobago) easily won the 200m after his big disappointment in 100m. The fastest in the world this year, Boldon won with a relatively modest 20.04 (wind-aided). Frank Fredericks (Namibia) finished second in 20.23w.
The fastest out of the blocks was Ivan Garcia (Cuba), who had a clear lead at the 50m point. At 100m, Garcia ran even with Georgios Panagiotopuolos of Greece. Pulling even at the same time were Boldon and Jon Drummond (USA), who had to overcome the difficulty of running in lane one.
On the straight, Boldon powered away from the others and by 50m had an insurmountable lead. Fredericks broke away for 2nd, and a tight mass of bodies fought to the line for bronze. While the audience roared for Panagiotopoulos, Claudinei da Silva (Brazil), who was slowest out of the blocks, nabbed the medal in 20.26w. Garcia, the early leader, finished 4th in 20.31w, with Panagiotopoulos inches behind in 20.32w.
The wind reading showed an assisting wind of 2.3 m/s, however, that measurement can sometimes be misleading. In this case, the runners dealt with a wind coming from the side.
