The

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

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 200 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the second edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 200 m has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 and the women's 200 m has been held continuously ...

. 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 Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight- ...

in 2009, and 21.45 seconds for women, set by

Shericka Jackson Shericka Jackson, OD (born 16 July 1994) is a Jamaican Sprint (running), sprinter competing in the 100 metres, 100 m, 200 metres, 200 m, and 400 metres, 400 metres. She is the fastest woman alive and second fastest woman of all time in ...

in 2022. 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 2015. 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 Allyson Michelle Felix (born November 18, 1985) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. She specialized in the 200 meters from 2003 to 2013, then gradually shifted to the 400 me ...

is the most successful woman, having won three straight titles (2005 to 2009). Two-time champion

Merlene Ottey Merlene Joyce Ottey (born 10 May 1960) is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978, and continued to do so for 24 years, before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 2012. She is ran ...

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 Calvin Smith (born January 8, 1961) is a former sprint track and field athlete from the United States. He is a former world record holder in the 100-meter sprint with 9.93 seconds in 1983 and was twice world champion over 200 metres, in 1983 and ...

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, with two golds, is the only other nation to have provided multiple gold medallists.

Age

*All information from IAAF *

Gervais Kirolo Gervais may refer to: People * Gervais (name), list of people with the given name or surname Places * Gervais, Oregon * Gervais Lake, a lake in Minnesota * Gervais Township, Minnesota * Gervais Road, part of 170 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada ...

, who ran in 1983, could be younger but his birthdate is not known more exactly than the year (1966).

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 Kelli White (born April 1, 1977, in Oakland, California) is an American former sprinter. She won two gold medals in the World Championships in Paris in 2003. However, on June 18, 2004, she was stripped of her medals, because she tested positive ...

met the same fate.

Debbie Ferguson Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie (born 16 January 1976) is a former Bahamian sprint athlete who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres. Ferguson-McKenzie participated in five Olympi ...

, the sole remaining original medalist, was elevated to the gold medal. A third female athlete,

Yekaterina Leshchova Yekaterina Leshcheva-Grigoryeva or Ekaterina Grigorieva (russian: Екатерина Григорьева; born April 21, 1974, Volgograd) is a Russian sprint athlete. She became the Summer Universiade champion in the 200 metres at the 1997 Games. ...

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 Ramon Clay (born June 29, 1975) is a retired American sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee. As a senior at Nashville's Hunters Lane High School, despite having the flu during the State Championships, Cla ...

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 Zhanna Pintusevich-Block ( uk, Жанна Пінтусевич-Блок; Tarnopolskaya; born 6 July 1972) is a Ukrainian former world champion sprinter who competed in the Olympic Games. Early life Zhanna Pintusevich-Block comes from a Jewish ...

, fourth in 2003, was also disqualified.

Anastasiya Kapachinskaya Anastasiya Alexandrovna Kapachinskaya (russian: Анастасия Александровна Капачинская; born November 20, 1979) is a Russian former sprint athlete. She was the 2003 World champion in the 200 m. She was disqualifie ...

(herself banned for steroids in 2004) was promoted to the position of 2003 world champion. The next 200 m athlete to be disqualified for doping was

Ruqaya Al-Ghasra Ruqaya Al-Ghasra ( ar, رقية الغسرة; born September 6, 1982), is a Bahraini athlete. She was one of the first women to represent Bahrain at the Olympic Games, by Bahrain at the 2004 Summer Olympics, taking part in the women's 100 metres s ...

(a competitor in the heats only). Two positive drug tests were recorded by 200 m athletes at the

2013 World Championships in Athletics The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (Moscow 2013) () was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Initially, Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 200 ...

: Yelena Ryabova, who ran in the heats, and semi-finalist

Yelyzaveta Bryzhina Yelyzaveta Viktorivna Bryzhina ( uk, Єлизавета Вікторівна Бризгіна; born November 28, 1989 in Voroshilovgrad) is a Ukrainian sprint athlete, who specializes in the 100 metres. Her personal best times are 11.42 seconds ...

Age

Doping

Medalists

Men

Multiple medalists

Medalists by country

Women

Multiple medalists

Medalists by country

Championship record progression

Men

Women

Finishing times

Top ten fastest World Championship times

References

Bibliography

External links