| Final | time | L | 100m | 200m | | 1. Calvin Smith |  USA | 20.16s | 8 | 10.63s | 9.53s | | 2. Gilles Queneherve |  FRA | 20.16s | 6 | 10.57s | 9.59s | | 3. John Regis |  GBR | 20.18s | 2 | 10.53s | 9.65s | | 4. Robson Caetano Da Silva |  BRA | 20.22s | 4 | 10.51s | 9.71s | | 5. Vladimir Krylov |  URS | 20.23s | 5 | 10.49s | 9.74s | | 6. Floyd Heard | USA | 20.25s | 6 | 10.66s | 9.59s | | 7. Pierfrancesco Pavoni |  ITA | 20.45s | 7 | 10.60s | 9.85s | | 8. Atlee Mahorn |  CAN | 20.78s | 1 | 10.85s | 9.93s |
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A thrilling final in which three men finished in a line with another three less than one metre back. Former 400 star Krylov ran the best bend but in the middle of the finishing straight, 20 year-old Regis (lane 2) went to the front along with Quenéhervé (lane 6). In lane 8, defending champion Smith looked as if he would not even get a medal, lying fifth at 150m. But he finished the quickest, whereas Regis not only dipped too soon at the line but also looked over to his right. Regis, Quenéhervé and Smith all took turns in thinking they had won after the finish. It was then confirmed that Smith had retained his title despite sharing the same time as the Frenchman. Regis was third, just two hundredths behind the leading pair. “The time differences that decided the final placements were infinitesimal,” stated the IAF’s Scientific Report of the championships. “The time analysis of the final shows that the fast finish (the last 50m section) was decisive. Smith would not have had such a tough time contesting the first place with Quenéhervé if he had clocked a better time in the first 100m section, which was fully within his potential.” In fact, the American was not able to run a faster bend because of a groin injury picked up in the semi-final.
| Semi 1 | time | | 1. John Regis | GBR | 20.54s | | 2. Calvin Smith | USA | 20.54s | | 3. Atlee Mahorn | CAN | 20.69s | | 4. Pierfrancesco Pavoni | ITA | 20.78s | | 5. Wallace Spearmon | USA | 20.87s | | 6. Andreas Berger |  AUT | 20.99s | | 7. Istvan Nagy |  HUN | 21.22s | | 8. Andrey Fedoriv | URS | 21.28s |
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| Semi 2 | time | | 1. Gilles Queneherve | FRA | 20.31s | | 2. Floyd Heard | USA | 20.31s | | 3. Vladimir Krylov | URS | 20.34s | | 4. Robson Caetano Da Silva | BRA | 20.38s | | 5. Attila Kovacs | HUN | 20.47s | | 6. Clive Wright |  JAM | 20.50s | | 7. Stefano Tilli | ITA | 20.86s | | 8. Simon Kipkemboi |  KEN | 20.90s |
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| Heat 1 | time | | 1. Floyd Heard | USA | 20.56s | | 2. Vladimir Krylov | URS | 20.79s | | 3. Istvan Nagy | HUN | 21.11s | | 4. Daniel Sangouma | FRA | 21.11s | | 5. Peter Klein |  FRG | 21.12s | | 6. Sergio Querol |  CUB | 21.37s | | 7. Achmed De Kom |  NED | 21.39s | | 8. Neville Hodge |  ISV | 21.68s |
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| Quarter 2 | time | | 1. Calvin Smith | USA | 20.38s | | 2. Atlee Mahorn | CAN | 20.64s | | 3. Simon Kipkemboi | KEN | 20.88s | | 4. Stefano Tilli | ITA | 20.89s | | 5. Christian Haas | FRG | 20.94s | | 6. Luis Barroso |  POR | 21.20s | | 7. Bruno Marie-Rose | FRA | 26.25s | | -. Nelson Boateng |  GHA | DNS |
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| Quarter 3 | time | | 1. Gilles Queneherve | FRA | 20.48s | | 2. Wallace Spearmon | USA | 20.55s | | 3. John Regis | GBR | 20.60s | | 4. Andreas Berger | AUT | 20.86s | | 5. Andrey Fedoriv | URS | 20.87s | | 6. Volker Westhagemann | FRG | 20.98s | | 7. Arnaldo Oliveira Silva | BRA | 21.15s | | 8. Robert Stone |  AUS | 21.23s |
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| Quarter 4 | time | | 1. Robson Caetano Da Silva | BRA | 20.48s | | 2. Attila Kovacs | HUN | 20.61s | | 3. Pierfrancesco Pavoni | ITA | 20.65s | | 4. Clive Wright | JAM | 20.67s | | 5. Besik Gotsiridze | URS | 20.90s | | 6. Jindrich Roun |  TCH | 21.12s | | 7. Mustapha Kamel Selmi |  ALG | 21.26s | | 8. Harouna Pale |  BKF | 21.46s |
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| Heat 1 | time | | 1. Floyd Heard | USA | 20.37s | | 2. Vladimir Krylov | URS | 20.77s | | 3. Peter Klein | FRG | 20.89s | | 4. Mustapha Kamel Selmi | ALG | 21.14s | | 5. Nelson Boateng | GHA | 21.19s | | 6. Harouna Pale | BKF | 21.26s | | 7. Dazel Jules |  TRI | 21.53s | | -. Linford Christie | GBR | DNS |
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| Heat 2 | time | | 1. Attila Kovacs | HUN | 20.77s | | 2. Bruno Marie-Rose | FRA | 20.82s | | 3. Besik Gotsiridze | URS | 20.89s | | 4. Sergio Querol | CUB | 20.94s | | 5. Stefano Tilli | ITA | 21.01s | | 6. Feng Li |  CHN | 21.47s | | 7. Felix Sandy |  SLE | 21.67s | | 8. Yaya Seyba |  MLI | 21.93s |
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| Heat 3 | time | | 1. Gilles Queneherve | FRA | 20.59s | | 2. Clive Wright | JAM | 20.88s | | 3. Achmed De Kom | NED | 21.11s | | 4. Volker Westhagemann | FRG | 21.15s | | 5. Neville Hodge | ISV | 21.33s | | 6. Haron Mundir |  SIN | 21.51s | | 7. John Dinan | AUS | 21.62s | | 8. Mark Sherwin |  CKI | 23.41s |
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| Heat 4 | time | | 1. Robson Caetano Da Silva | BRA | 20.56s | | 2. Atlee Mahorn | CAN | 20.62s | | 3. Andreas Berger | AUT | 20.82s | | 4. Andrey Fedoriv | URS | 20.93s | | 5. Istvan Nagy | HUN | 21.06s | | 6. Luis Barroso | POR | 21.15s | | 7. Wing-Kwong Leung |  HKG | 21.48s | | 8. Sahim Saleh Mehdy |  YEM | 23.07s |
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| Heat 5 | time | | 1. Calvin Smith | USA | 20.62s | | 2. Daniel Sangouma | FRA | 20.80s | | 3. Simon Kipkemboi | KEN | 20.84s | | 4. Christian Haas | FRG | 20.96s | | 5. Jindrich Roun | TCH | 21.04s | | 6. Ian Morris | TRI | 21.36s | | 7. Takale Tuna |  PNG | 22.06s | | 8. Suli Peauope |  TON | 22.45s |
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| Heat 6 | time | | 1. John Regis | GBR | 20.76s | | 2. Pierfrancesco Pavoni | ITA | 20.80s | | 3. Wallace Spearmon | USA | 20.82s | | 4. Arnaldo Oliveira Silva | BRA | 21.03s | | 5. Robert Stone | AUS | 21.23s | | 6. Alvin Daniel | TRI | 21.37s | | 7. Secundino Boratoba |  GEQ | 23.66s |
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