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200 metres at the World Athletics Championships
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200 metres Campbell Jeter 200 m final Daegu 2011.jpg 250 Veronica Campbell-Brown and Carmelita Jeter in the 2011 final Men and women 1983 2025 1983 2025 19.19 Usain Bolt (2009) 21.41 Shericka Jackson (2023) Noah Lyles USA Melissa Jefferson-Wooden USA
The 200 metres at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by both men and women since the inaugural edition in 1983. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 200 metres at the Olympics. The competition format typically has two or three qualifying rounds leading to a final between eight athletes.
The championship records for the event are 19.19 seconds for men, set by Usain Bolt in 2009, and 21.41 seconds for women, set by Shericka Jackson in 2023. The men's world record has been broken at the competition on one occasion, and Bolt's championship record set in 2009 remains the world record as of 2025.IAAF World Championships: IAAF Statistics Handbook Daegu 2011, pp. 595–6 (archived). IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-07-06. The women's world record has never been broken at the competition.
Usain Bolt is the most successful athlete of the event, having won four successive titles from 2009 to 2015, and also a silver in 2007. Allyson Felix is the most successful woman, having won three straight titles (2005 to 2009). Two-time champion Merlene Ottey has won more medals in the 200 m than any other athlete, reaching the podium six times in a period stretching from 1983 to 1997. Calvin Smith and Michael Johnson are the only others to have won two world titles over the distance.
The United States is the most successful nation in the discipline, with twelve gold medals among a total of 31. Jamaica is the next most successful with seventeen medals and seven titles. East Germany and the Netherlands, with two golds, are the only other nations to have provided multiple gold medallists.
Age records
All information from World Athletics.World Athletics Championships - Budapest 23 Statistical Booklet https://iaafmedia.s3.amazonaws.com/competitiondocuments/Statistics/WCH23%20BUDAPEST%20-%20STATISTICAL%20BOOKLET.pdf www.worldathletics.org 42–45
DistinctionMaleFemaleAthleteAgeDateAthleteAgeDateYoungest championNoah Lyles USA22 years, 75 days1 Oct 2019Allyson Felix USA19 years, 267 days12 Aug 2005Youngest medalistErriyon Knighton USA2004 1 29 2022 7 2121 Jul 2022Allyson Felix USA19 years, 267 days12 Aug 2005Youngest finalistAbdul Hakim Sani Brown JPN18 years, 157 days10 Aug 2017Shaunae Miller BAH19 years, 123 days16 Aug 2013Youngest participantAbdul Hakim Sani Brown JPN16 years, 172 days25 Aug 2015Fowzio Abdikarim Sheikh SOM15 years, 323 days29 Aug 2007Oldest championUsain Bolt JAM29 years, 6 days27 Aug 2015Merlene Ottey JAM35 years, 92 days10 Aug 1995Oldest medalistJustin Gatlin USA33 years, 198 days27 Aug 2015Merlene Ottey JAM37 years, 90 days8 Aug 1997Oldest finalistFrankie Fredericks NAM35 years, 331 days29 Aug 2003Merlene Ottey JAM37 years, 90 days8 Aug 1997Oldest participantTroy Douglas NED40 years, 270 days27 Aug 2003Merlene Ottey SLO43 years, 108 days26 Aug 2003
Doping
The first instances of doping bans affecting the 200 m at the World Championships came at the 2001 edition. The champion Marion Jones was stripped of her gold medal and bronze medalist Kelli White met the same fate. Debbie Ferguson, the sole remaining original medalist, was elevated to the gold medal. A third female athlete, Yekaterina Leshchova who ran in the heats, was also disqualified for doping. The first male doping disqualifications happened the same year, with quarter-finalists Christophe Cheval and Ramon Clay being the offenders. Doping persisted at the 2003 World Championships – White was the champion that year and her retrospective ban also affected this result. The 1997 champion Zhanna Block, fourth in 2003, was also disqualified. Anastasiya Kapachinskaya (herself banned for steroids in 2004) was promoted to the position of 2003 world champion.Butler 2013 67–92004-05-29 Kapachinskaya given ban en-GB http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/3760023.stm 2022-09-24
The next 200 m athlete to be disqualified for doping was Ruqaya Al-Ghasra (a competitor in the heats only).Butler 2013 67–9 Two positive drug tests were recorded by 200 m athletes at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics: Yelena Ryabova, who ran in the heats, and semi-finalist Yelyzaveta Bryzhina.More than 1900 blood samples collected – Moscow 2013 PRESS-RELEASE World Athletics https://www.worldathletics.org/news/press-release/more-than-1900-blood-samples-collected-mosc 2022-09-24 www.worldathletics.org
Medalists
Men
Multiple medalists
Rank Athlete Nation PeriodGoldSilverBronze Total 1 Usain Bolt JAM 2007–2015 4 1 0 5 2 Noah Lyles USA 2019–2025 4 0 0 4 3 Calvin Smith USA 1983–1987 2 0 0 2Michael Johnson Michael Johnson (sprinter) USA 1995–1999 2 0 0 2 5 Frankie Fredericks NAM 1991–1997 1 3 0 4 6 Justin Gatlin USA 2005–2017 1 1 0 2 7 John Capel USA 2003–2005 1 0 1 28Kenny BednarekUSA2022-20250202 9 Wallace Spearmon USA 2005–2009 0 1 2 3 10 John Regis John Regis (athlete) GBR 1987–1993 0 1 1 2Claudinei da Silva BRA 1997–1999 0 1 1 2Erriyon KnightonUSA2022-20230112
Women
Multiple medalists
Rank Athlete Nation PeriodGoldSilverBronze Total 1 Allyson Felix USA 2005–2011 3 0 1 4 2 Merlene Ottey JAM 1983–1997 2 1 3 63Shericka JacksonJAM2022-20252013 4 Dafne Schippers NED 2015–2017 2 0 0 2 5 Veronica Campbell-Brown JAM 2007–2015 1 2 1 4 6 Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce JAM 2013–2022 1 1 0 2 7 Debbie Ferguson BAH 2001–2009 1 0 1 2Dina Asher-Smith GBR 2019–2022 1 0 1 2 9 Gwen Torrence USA 1991–1993 0 2 0 2 10 Irina Privalova RUS 1993–1995 0 1 1 2Susanthika Jayasinghe SRI 1997–2007 0 1 1 2
Championship record progression
Men
+ Men's 200 metres World Championships record progressionTrack and Field Statistics http://trackfield.brinkster.net/RecProgression.asp?RecCode=WC&EventCode=MA2&P=F 2022-09-24 trackfield.brinkster.netTimeAthleteNationYearRoundDate 20.95 Frank Emmelmann GDR 1983 Heats 1983-08-12 20.80 Pietro Mennea ITA 1983 Heats 1983-08-12 20.76 Carlo Simionato ITA 1983 Heats 1983-08-12 20.75 Carlo Simionato ITA 1983 Quarter-finals 1983-08-12 20.68 Pietro Mennea ITA 1983 Quarter-finals 1983-08-12 20.29 Calvin Smith USA 1983 Semi-finals 1983-08-12 20.14 Calvin Smith USA 1983 Final 1983-08-12 20.05 Michael Johnson Michael Johnson (sprinter) USA 1991 Quarter-finals 1991-08-26 20.01 Michael Johnson Michael Johnson (sprinter) USA 1991 Final 1991-08-27 19.85 Frankie Fredericks NAM 1993 Final 1993-08-20 19.79 Michael Johnson Michael Johnson (sprinter) USA 1995 Final 1995-08-11 19.76 Tyson Gay USA 2007 Final 2007-08-30 19.19 WR Usain Bolt JAM 2009 Final 2009-08-20
Women
+ Women's 200 metres World Championships record progressionTrack and Field Statistics http://trackfield.brinkster.net/RecProgression.asp?RecCode=WC&EventCode=WA2&P=F 2022-09-24 trackfield.brinkster.netTimeAthleteNationYearRoundDate 23.34 Joan Baptiste GBR 1983 Heats 1983-08-12 23.05 Florence Griffith Joyner USA 1983 Heats 1983-08-12 23.01 Randy Givens USA 1983 Heats 1983-08-12 22.78 Kathy Smallwood-Cook GBR 1983 Quarter-finals 1983-08-12 22.38 Merlene Ottey JAM 1983 Quarter-finals 1983-08-12 22.13 Marita Koch GDR 1983 Final 1983-08-14 21.74 Silke Möller GDR 1987 Final 1987-09-03 21.63 Dafne Schippers NED 2015 Final 2015-08-2821.45 Shericka Jackson JAM 2022 Final 2022-07-2121.41 Shericka Jackson JAM 2023 Final 2023-08-25
Finishing times
Top ten fastest World Championship times
+ Fastest men's times at the World Championshipshttp://www.alltime-athletics.com/m_200ok.htm Men's 200mRankTime (sec)AthleteNationGamesDate 1 19.19 Usain Bolt 2009 2009-08-20 2 19.31 Noah Lyles 2022 2022-07-21 3 19.40 Usain Bolt 2011 2011-09-03 4 19.51 Noah Lyles 2025SF 2025-09-185 19.52 Noah Lyles 2023 2023-08-25Noah Lyles 2025 2025-09-19 7 19.55 Usain Bolt 2015 2015-08-27 8 19.58 Kenny Bednarek 2025 2025-09-19 9 19.62 Noah Lyles 2022 2022-07-21 10 19.64 Bryan Levell 2025 2025-09-19
+ Fastest women's times at the World Championshipshttp://www.alltime-athletics.com/w_200ok.htm Women's 200mRankTime (sec)AthleteNationGamesDate 1 21.41 Shericka Jackson 2023 2023-08-25 2 21.45 Shericka Jackson 2022 2022-07-21 3 21.63 Dafne Schippers 2015 2015-08-27 4 21.66 Elaine Thompson 2015 2015-08-27 5 21.67 Shericka Jackson 2022SF 2022-07-19 6 21.68 Melissa Jefferson-Wooden 2025 2025-09-19 7 21.74 Silke Gladisch-Moller 1987 1987-09-03 8 21.77 Inger Miller 1999 1999-08-27921.81Allyson Felix 2007 2007-08-31Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce 2022 2022-07-21Gabrielle Thomas 2023 2023-08-25
References
Bibliography
Butler Mark IAAF Statistics Book Moscow 2013 2013 IAAF http://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/Moscow-2013-Statistics/sources/projet/IAAF-Moscow.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20141012091910/http://iaaf-ebooks.s3.amazonaws.com/Moscow-2013-Statistics/sources/projet/IAAF-Moscow.pdf 12 October 2014
External links
Official IAAF website
World Championships in Athletics
Category:Events at the World Athletics Championships