200 metres at the World Championships in Athletics


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 21.63 seconds for women, set by Dafne Schippers in 2015. 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 is the most successful woman, having won three straight titles. 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, with two golds, is the only other nation to have provided multiple gold medallists.

Age

DistinctionMale athleteAgeFemale athleteAge
Youngest championNoah Lyles22 years, 75 daysAllyson Felix19 years, 267 days
Youngest medalistAlonso Edward19 years, 255 daysAllyson Felix19 years, 267 days
Youngest participantAbdul Hakim Sani Brown16 years, 172 daysAbdikarim Sheikh Fowzio15 years, 323 days
Oldest championUsain Bolt29 years, 6 daysMerlene Ottey35 years, 92 days
Oldest medalistJustin Gatlin33 years, 198 daysMerlene Ottey37 years, 90 days
Oldest participantTroy Douglas40 years, 270 daysMerlene Ottey43 years, 108 days

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 was promoted to the position of 2003 world champion.
The next 200 m athlete to be disqualified for doping was Ruqaya Al-Ghasra. 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.

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

RankTime AthleteNationGamesDate
119.19Usain Bolt20092009-08-20
219.40Usain Bolt20112011-09-03
319.55Usain Bolt20152015-08-27
419.66Usain Bolt20132013-08-17
519.70Walter Dix20112011-09-03
619.74Justin Gatlin20152015-08-27
719.76Tyson Gay20072007-08-30
8=19.79Michael Johnson19951995-08-11
8=19.79Warren Weir20132013-08-17
1019.80Christophe Lemaitre20112011-09-03

RankTime AthleteNationGamesDate
121.63Dafne Schippers20152015-08-27
221.66Elaine Thompson20152015-08-27
321.74Silke Gladisch-Moller19871987-09-03
421.77Inger Miller19991999-08-27
521.81Allyson Felix20072007-08-31
621.88Dina Asher-Smith20192019-10-02
721.96Florence Griffith Joyner19871987-09-03
821.97Veronica Campbell-Brown20152015-08-27
921.98Merlene Ottey19931993-08-19
1022.00Gwen Torrence19931993-08-19