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A '200 metre' race is a sprint running event. Despite the fact that it is often a faster race than the 100 m, it is less popular than the 100 m, and often attracts runners from that event who wish to "double up" and claim both titles. This feat has been achieved eight times at the Olympic Games, the last by Carl Lewis in 1984. An Olympic double of 200 m and 400 m was first achieved by Valerie Brisco-Hooks in 1984, and later by Michael Johnson and Marie-José Perec in 1996.
On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. To most trained runners, this is a pure power race. A slightly shorter race, run on a straight track, was the first recorded event at the Ancient Olympics. Despite being twice as long as the 100 m, the best 200 m runners can run a 200 m in a time similar to or even faster than double their 100 m time. This is primarily because the athlete comes into the final straight at full speed already, therefore enabling them to run the second half of the 200 m faster than an athlete can usually run a regular 100 m. For example, Michael Johnson's world record represents an average speed of 10.35 m/s (37.3 km/h or 23.1 mph), faster than the average speed for the current 100 m world record of 9.77 s, which represents an average speed of 10.24 m/s (36.9 km/h or 22.9 mph).
The current men's world record holder is Michael Johnson, who ran 19.32 seconds at the 1996 Olympic Games. The current women's world record holder is Florence Griffith-Joyner, who ran 21.34 seconds at the 1988 Olympic Games. The reigning Olympic champions are Shawn Crawford and Veronica Campbell.

Contents

Famous 200 m runners

Men

Women

All-time fastest 200 m athletes

Men

Women

Olympic medalists

Men

Women

World Championship medalists

Men

Women

Famous 200 m runners

Men

★ Shawn Crawford

★ Michael Johnson (World Record Holder)

★ Konstantinos Kenteris

★ Carl Lewis

★ Michael Marsh

★ Pietro Mennea

★ Jesse Owens

★ Tommie Smith

★ Frank Fredericks

★ Tyson Gay

★ Wallace Spearmon

★ John Regis

Women

★ Fanny Blankers-Koen

★ Florence Griffith-Joyner ( World Record Holder)

★ Marion Jones

★ Marie-José Perec

★ Gwen Torrence

★ Allyson Felix

★ Veronica Campbell

★ Valerie Brisco-Hooks

★ Merlene Ottey

All-time fastest 200 m athletes

Men

Updated June 24 2007.
Only the fastest time for each athlete is listed.

Rank	Res.	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place
1.	'19.32'	Michael Johnson		1 August 1996	Atlanta
2.	'19.62'	Tyson Gay		24 June 2007	Indianapolis
3.	'19.63'	Xavier Carter		11 July 2006	Lausanne
4.	'19.65'	Wallace Spearmon		28 September 2006	Daegu
5.	'19.68'	Frank Fredericks		1 August 1996	Atlanta
6.	'19.69'	Walter Dix		26 May 2007	Gainesville
7.	'19.72'	Pietro Mennea		12 September 1979	Mexico City
8.	'19.73'	Michael Marsh		5 august 1992	Barcelona
9.	'19.75'	Carl Lewis		19 june 1983	Indianapolis
		Joe DeLoach		28 September 1988	Seoul
		Usain Bolt		24 June 2007	Kingston

Women

Updated June 10, 2005

Rank	Res.	Athlete	Nation	Date	Place
1.	'21.34'	Florence Griffith-Joyner		29 September 1988	Seoul
2.	'21.62'	Marion Jones		11 September 1998	Johannesburg
3.	'21.64'	Merlene Ottey		13 September 1991	Brussels
4	'21.71'	Marita Koch		10 June 1979	Karl-Marx-Stadt
		Heike Drechsler		29 June 1986	Jena
6	'21.72'	Grace Jackson		29 September 1988	Seoul
		Gwen Torrence		15 August 1992	Barcelona
8	'21.74'	Marlies Göhr		3 June 1984	Erfurt
		Silke Gladisch-Möller		3 September 1987	Rome
10.	'21.75'	Juliet Cuthbert		5 August 1992	Barcelona

Olympic medalists

Men

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1900	Walter Tewksbury (USA)	Norman Pritchard (IND)	Stanley Rowley (AUS)
1904	Archie Hahn (USA)	Nate Cartmell (USA)	William Hogenson (USA)
1908	Bobby Kerr (CAN)	Robert Cloughen (USA)	Nate Cartmell (USA)
1912	Ralph Craig (USA)	Don Lippincott (USA)	William Applegarth (GBR)
1920	Allen Woodring (USA)	Charles Paddock (USA)	Harry Edward (GBR)
1924	Jackson Scholz (USA)	Charles Paddock (USA)	Eric Liddell (GBR)
1928	Percy Williams (CAN)	Walter Rangeley (GBR)	Helmut Körnig (GER)
1932	Thomas Edward Tolan (USA)	George Simpson (USA)	Ralph Metcalfe (USA)
1936	Jesse Owens (USA)	Mack Robinson (USA)	Tinus Osendarp (NED)
1948	Mel Patton (USA)	Barney Ewell (USA)	Lloyd LaBeach (PAN)
1952	Andy Stanfield (USA)	Thane Baker (USA)	James Gathers (USA)
1956	Bobby Morrow (USA)	Andy Stanfield (USA)	Thane Baker (USA)
1960	Livio Berruti (ITA)	Lester Carney (USA)	Abdoulaye Seye (SEN)
1964	Henry Carr (USA)	Otis Drayton (USA)	Edwin Roberts (TRI)
1968	Tommie Smith (USA)	Peter Norman (AUS)	John Carlos (USA)
1972	Valeri Borzov (URS)	Larry Black (USA)	Pietro Mennea (ITA)
1976	Don Quarrie (JAM)	Millard Hampton (USA)	Dwayne Evans (USA)
1980	Pietro Mennea (ITA)	Allan Wells (GBR)	Don Quarrie (JAM)
1984	Carl Lewis (USA)	Kirk Baptiste (USA)	Thomas Jefferson (USA)
1988	Joe DeLoach (USA)	Carl Lewis (USA)	Robson da Silva (BRA)
1992	Mike Marsh (USA)	Frankie Fredericks (NAM)	Michael Bates (USA)
1996	Michael Johnson (USA)	Frankie Fredericks (NAM)	Ato Boldon (TRI)
2000	Konstantinos Kenteris (GRE)	Darren Campbell (GBR)	Ato Boldon (TRI)
2004	Shawn Crawford (USA)	Bernard Williams (USA)	Justin Gatlin (USA)

Women

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1948	Fanny Blankers-Koen (NED)	Audrey Williamson (GBR)	Audrey Patterson (USA)
1952	Marjorie Jackson (AUS)	Puck Brouwer (NED)	Nadezhda Khnykina (URS)
1956	Betty Cuthbert (AUS)	Christa Stubnick (DDR)	Marlene Matthews (AUS)
1960	Wilma Rudolph (USA)	Jutta Heine (GER)	Dorothy Hyman (GBR)
1964	Edith McGuire (USA)	Irena Kirszenstein (POL)	Marilyn Black (AUS)
1968	Irena Szewińska (POL)	Raelene Boyle (AUS)	Jenny Lamy (AUS)
1972	Renate Stecher (DDR)	Raelene Boyle (AUS)	Irena Szewińska (POL)
1976	Bärbel Eckert (DDR)	Annegret Richter (GER)	Renate Stecher (DDR)
1980	Bärbel Wöckel (DDR)	Natalya Bochina (URS)	Merlene Ottey (JAM)
1984	Valerie Brisco-Hooks (USA)	Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA)	Merlene Ottey (JAM)
1988	Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA)	Grace Jackson (JAM)	Heike Drechsler (DDR)
1992	Gwen Torrence (USA)	Juliet Cuthbert (JAM)	Merlene Ottey (JAM)
1996	Marie-José Perec (FRA)	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	Mary Onyali (NGR)
2000	Marion Jones (USA)	Pauline Davis-Thompson (BAH)	Susanthika Jayasinghe (SRI)
2004	Veronica Campbell (JAM)	Allyson Felix (USA)	Debbie Ferguson (BAH)

World Championship medalists

Men

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1983	Calvin Smith (USA)	Elliot Quow (USA)	Pietro Mennea (ITA)
1987	Calvin Smith (USA)	Gilles Queneherve (FRA)	John Regis (GBR)
1991	Michael Johnson (USA)	Frankie Fredericks (NAM)	Atlee Mahorn (CAN)
1993	Frankie Fredericks (NAM)	John Regis (GBR)	Carl Lewis (USA)
1995	Michael Johnson (USA)	Frankie Fredericks (NAM)	Jeff Williams (USA)
1997	Ato Boldon (TRI)	Frankie Fredericks (NAM)	Claudinei da Silva (BRA)
1999	Maurice Greene (USA)	Claudinei da Silva (BRA)	Francis Obikwelu (NIG)
2001	Konstantinos Kenteris (GRE)	Christopher Williams (JAM)	Shawn Crawford (USA)
2003	John Capel (USA)	Darvis Patton (USA)	Shingo Suetsugu (JPN)
2005	Justin Gatlin (USA)	Wallace Spearmon (USA)	John Capel (USA)
2007	Tyson Gay (USA)	Usain Bolt (JAM)	Wallace Spearmon (USA)

Women

Year	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1983	Marita Koch (GDR)	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	Kathy Smallwood-Cook (GBR)
1987	Silke Gladisch (GDR)	Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA)	Merlene Ottey (JAM)
1991	Katrin Krabbe (GER)	Gwen Torrence (USA)	Merlene Ottey (JAM)
1993	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	Gwen Torrence (USA)	Irina Privalova (RUS)
1995	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	Irina Privalova (RUS)	Galina Malchugina (RUS)
1997	Zhanna Pintusevich-Block (UKR)	Susanthika Jayasinghe (SRI)	Merlene Ottey (JAM)
1999	Inger Miller (USA)	Beverly McDonald (JAM)	Merlene Frazer (JAM)Andrea Philipp (GER)
2001	Marion Jones (USA)	Debbie Ferguson (JAM)	LaTasha Jenkins (USA)
2003	Anastasiya Kapachinskaya (RUS)	Torri Edwards (USA)	Muriel Hurtis (FRA)
2005	Allyson Felix (USA)	Rachelle Boone-Smith (USA)	Christine Arron (FRA)
2007	Allyson Felix (USA)	Veronica Campbell (JAM)	Susanthika Jayasinghe (SRI)