Athletics at the 1988 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres
The Men's 200 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea had an entry list of 76 competitors, with ten qualifying heats, five second-round races and two semi-finals, before the final took off on Wednesday September 28, 1988.
Medalists
Records
These were the standing World and Olympic records prior to the 1988 Summer Olympics.| World Record | 19.72 |  Pietro Mennea | Mexico City | September 12, 1979 |
| Olympic Record | 19.80 |  Carl Lewis | Los Angeles | August 8, 1984 |
The following Olympic record was set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Athlete | Time | OR | WR |
| September 28, 1988 | Final | 19.75s | OR |
Final
Carl Lewis' time of 19.79 seconds was the fastest non-winning time until the 1996 Olympic final.Semifinals
| RANK | HEAT 2 | TIME |
| 1. | 20.06 | |
| 2. | 20.33 | |
| 3. | 20.50 | |
| 4. | 20.51 | |
| 5. | 20.57 | |
| 6. | 20.67 | |
| 7. | 20.77 | |
| 8. | 20.84 |
Quarterfinals
| RANK | HEAT 2 | TIME |
| 1. | 20.48 | |
| 2. | 20.54 | |
| 3. | 20.70 | |
| 4. | 20.79 | |
| 5. | 21.19 | |
| 6. | 21.34 | |
| 7. | 21.35 | |
| 8. | DNS |
| RANK | HEAT 3 | TIME |
| 1. | 20.49 | |
| 2. | 20.59 | |
| 3. | 20.80 | |
| 4. | 20.81 | |
| 5. | 20.94 | |
| 6. | 20.95 | |
| 7. | 21.40 | |
| 8. | 21.93 |
| RANK | HEAT 4 | TIME |
| 1. | 20.56 | |
| 2. | 20.77 | |
| 3. | 20.92 | |
| 4. | 20.98 | |
| 5. | 21.08 | |
| 6. | 21.35 | |
| 7. | 21.38 | |
| 8. | 22.25 |
| RANK | HEAT 5 | TIME |
| 1. | 20.41 | |
| 2. | 20.67 | |
| 3. | 20.74 | |
| 4. | 20.81 | |
| 5. | 20.87 | |
| 6. | 21.01 | |
| 7. | 21.18 | |
| 8. | 21.39 |
Heats
First 3 from each heat and the next 10 fastest qualified for the quarterfinals.| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Gilles Quénéhervé | 20.55 | Q | |
| 1 | 3 | Atlee Mahorn | 20.55 | Q | |
| 3 | 1 | Roy Martin | 20.65 | Q | |
| 3 | 8 | Cyprian Enweani | 20.65 | Q | |
| 5 | 10 | Stefano Tilli | 20.68 | Q | |
| 6 | 8 | Daniel Sangouma | 20.70 | Q | |
| 7 | 10 | Carl Lewis | 20.72 | Q | |
| 8 | 10 | Olapade Adeniken | 20.77 | Q | |
| 9 | 6 | Kennedy Ondiek | 20.79 | Q | |
| 10 | 3 | Ralf Lübke | 20.81 | Q | |
| 11 | 8 | Patrick Stevens | 20.84 | Q | |
| 12 | 8 | Norbert Dobeleit | 20.86 | q | |
| 13 | 4 | John Regis | 20.90 | Q | |
| 14 | 6 | Troy Douglas | 20.91 | Q | |
| 15 | 4 | Clive Wright | 20.94 | Q | |
| 16 | 1 | Michael Rosswess | 20.95 | Q | |
| 17 | 2 | Kenji Yamauchi | 20.98 | Q | |
| 17 | 5 | Joe DeLoach | 20.98 | Q | |
| 17 | 6 | Attila Kovács | 20.98 | Q | |
| 20 | 10 | John Myles-Mills | 21.04 | q | |
| 21 | 7 | Linford Christie | 21.05 | Q | |
| 22 | 5 | Mark Garner | 21.09 | Q | |
| 23 | 5 | Edgardo Guilbe | 21.09 | Q | |
| 24 | 2 | Iziaq Adeyanju | 21.10 | Q | |
| 24 | 6 | Pietro Mennea | 21.10 | q | |
| 26 | 7 | Bruno Marie-Rose | 21.11 | Q | |
| 27 | 9 | Robson da Silva | 21.12 | Q | |
| 28 | 10 | Mostefa-Kamel Selmi | 21.24 | q | |
| 29 | 2 | Jang Jae-keun | 21.27 | q | |
| 30 | 5 | Andreas Berger | 21.29 | q | |
| 31 | 9 | Luís Barroso | 21.31 | Q | |
| 32 | 1 | Harouna Pale | 21.33 | Q | |
| 32 | 8 | Li Feng | 21.33 | q | |
| 32 | 9 | Jimmy Flemming | 21.33 | Q | |
| 35 | 1 | Nchinda Samuel-Kaya | 21.45 | q | |
| 35 | 7 | Courtney Brown | 21.45 | Q | |
| 37 | 2 | Lee Shiunn-Long | 21.53 | q | |
| 38 | 8 | Ousmane Diarra | 21.55 | q | |
| 39 | 3 | Oliver Daniels | 21.59 | Q | |
| 40 | 1 | Henri Ndinga | 21.66 | ||
| 41 | 1 | Fabian Muyaba | 21.66 | ||
| 42 | 4 | Ibrahima Tamba | 21.68 | Q | |
| 43 | 3 | Leung Wing Kwong | 21.69 | ||
| 44 | 7 | Luís Cunha | 21.72 | ||
| 45 | 4 | Issa Alassane Ousséni | 21.74 | ||
| 46 | 6 | Lindel Hodge | 21.78 | ||
| 47 | 3 | Sunday Olweny | 21.79 | ||
| 48 | 6 | Abdullah Al-Khalidi | 21.82 | ||
| 49 | 2 | Aouf Abdul Rahman Youssef | 21.88 | ||
| 49 | 6 | André François | 21.88 | ||
| 51 | 3 | Muhammad Afzal | 21.89 | ||
| 52 | 2 | Takale Tuna | 21.95 | ||
| 53 | 5 | Henriko Atkins | 21.98 | ||
| 54 | 10 | Jerry Jeremiah | 22.01 | ||
| 55 | 1 | Markus Büchel | 22.02 | ||
| 56 | 3 | Mohamed Fahd Al-Bishi | 22.09 | ||
| 57 | 8 | Abdullah Ali Ahmed | 22.11 | ||
| 58 | 7 | Carlos Moreno | 22.13 | ||
| 59 | 9 | Alexandre Yougbare | 22.14 | ||
| 60 | 7 | Odia Silweya | 22.24 | ||
| 61 | 9 | Gustavo Envela Mahua | 22.33 | ||
| 62 | 4 | Maloni Bole | 22.44 | ||
| 63 | 7 | Peauope Suli | 22.49 | ||
| 64 | 1 | Mohamed Shah Alam | 22.52 | ||
| 65 | 4 | Claude Roumain | 22.60 | ||
| 65 | 10 | Howard Lindsay | 22.60 | ||
| 67 | 8 | Minh Nguyen Dinh | 22.65 | ||
| 68 | 5 | Robert Loua | 22.78 | ||
| 69 | 9 | Benny Kgarametso | 22.79 | ||
| 70 | 2 | Sahim Saleh Mehdi | 22.95 | ||
| 71 | 6 | Ismail Asif | 23.17 | ||
| 9 | Gaspar Fernandes | ||||
| 4 | Samuel Birch | ||||
| 5 | Simon Kipkemboi | ||||
| 7 | Boeviyoulou Lawson |