Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres
These are the official results of the women's 200 metres event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. There were a total number of 47 participating athletes, with two rounds, two semifinals and a final.Records
These were the standing world and Olympic records prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Results
Heats
Top four in each heat and next eight fastest advanced to the quarterfinals.
Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Carlette Guidry | | 22.37 | 5 |
| 2 | Mary Onyali | | 22.42 | 8 |
| 3 | Melanie Paschke | | 22.93 | 3 |
| 4 | Patricia Rodríguez | | 23.13 | 2 |
| 5 | Yan Jiankui | | 23.21 | 1 |
| 6 | Myra Mayberry | | 23.23 | 7 |
| 7 | Zlatka Georgieva | | 24.05 | 4 |
| 8 | Laure Kuetey | | 25.57 | 6 |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Dannette Young | | 22.65 | 2 |
| 2 | Melinda Gainsford-Taylor | | 22.70 | 7 |
| 3 | Lucrécia Jardim | | 22.95 | 5 |
| 4 | Viktoriya Fomenko | | 23.18 | 1 |
| 5 | Sandy Myers | | 23.18 | 6 |
| 6 | Calister Ubah | | 23.34 | 3 |
| 7 | Dora Kyriakou | | 23.85 | 4 |
| 8 | Sylla M'Mah Touré | | 26.64 | 8 |
Heat three
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Juliet Cuthbert | | 23.03 | 6 |
| 2 | Irina Privalova | | 23.16 | 2 |
| 3 | Cathy Freeman | | 23.25 | 1 |
| 4 | Sanna Hernesniemi | | 23.35 | 7 |
| 5 | Mireille Donders | | 23.52 | 8 |
| 6 | Maia Azarashvili | | 23.63 | 5 |
| 7 | Felipa Palacios | | 24.12 | 4 |
| 8 | Lineo Shoai | | 26.25 | 3 |
Heat four
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Merlene Ottey | | 22.92 | 7 |
| 2 | Katharine Merry | | 23.14 | 1 |
| 3 | Monika Gachevska | | 23.30 | 6 |
| 4 | Heather Samuel | | 23.34 | 5 |
| 5 | Ameerah Bello | | 23.45 | 4 |
| 6 | Du Xiujie | | 23.69 | 3 |
| 7 | Guilhermina da Cruz | | 24.92 | 8 |
| 8 | Marina Trandenkova | | DNS | 2 |
Heat five
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Galina Malchugina | | 22.63 | 1 |
| 2 | Chandra Sturrup | | 22.63 | 7 |
| 3 | Beverly McDonald | | 23.04 | 6 |
| 4 | Zhanna Pintusevych | | 23.15 | 5 |
| 5 | Simmone Jacobs | | 23.36 | 2 |
| 6 | Tara Perry | | 23.46 | 3 |
| 7 | Marina Živković | | 23.51 | 4 |
| 8 | Kaltouma Nadjina | | 24.47 | 8 |
Heat six
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Marie-José Pérec | | 22.62 | 5 |
| 2 | Inger Miller | | 22.74 | 3 |
| 3 | Alenka Bikar | | 22.88 | 7 |
| 4 | Katerina Koffa | | 23.09 | 4 |
| 5 | Natallia Safronnikava | | 23.14 | 8 |
| 6 | Sevatheda Fynes | | 23.39 | 2 |
| 7 | Georgette N’Koma | | 23.68 | 1 |
| 8 | Lyudmila Dmitriady | | 24.88 | 6 |
Quarterfinals
Top four in each heat advanced to the semifinals.
Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Carlette Guidry | | 22.51 | 3 |
| 2 | Chandra Sturrup | | 22.81 | 6 |
| 3 | Melinda Gainsford-Taylor | | 22.91 | 4 |
| 4 | Natallia Safronnikava | | 23.15 | 2 |
| 5 | Sanna Hernesniemi | | 23.38 | 1 |
| 6 | Monika Gachevska | | 23.44 | 8 |
| 7 | Ameerah Bello | | 23.66 | 7 |
| 8 | Beverly McDonald | | DNS | 5 |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Merlene Ottey | | 22.61 | 4 |
| 2 | Galina Malchugina | | 22.69 | 3 |
| 3 | Melanie Paschke | | 22.84 | 5 |
| 4 | Katerina Koffa | | 23.04 | 7 |
| 5 | Katharine Merry | | 23.17 | 6 |
| 6 | Sevatheda Fynes | | 23.26 | 8 |
| 7 | Yan Jiankui | | 23.30 | 1 |
| 8 | Viktoriya Fomenko | | 23.44 | 2 |
Heat three
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Marie-José Pérec | | 22.24 | 3 |
| 2 | Mary Onyali | | 22.37 | 5 |
| 3 | Inger Miller | | 22.57 | 6 |
| 4 | Cathy Freeman | | 22.74 | 1 |
| 5 | Lucrécia Jardim | | 22.88 | 4 |
| 6 | Simmone Jacobs | | 22.96 | 7 |
| 7 | Sandy Myers | | 23.20 | 2 |
| 8 | Heather Samuel | | 23.54 | 8 |
Heat four
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Dannette Young | | 22.53 | 6 |
| 2 | Juliet Cuthbert | | 22.62 | 4 |
| 3 | Irina Privalova | | 22.82 | 3 |
| 4 | Alenka Bikar | | 22.89 | 5 |
| 5 | Myra Mayberry | | 23.48 | 8 |
| 6 | Patricia Rodríguez | | 23.50 | 1 |
| 7 | Calister Ubah | | 23.62 | 7 |
| 8 | Zhanna Pintusevych | | 23.68 | 2 |
Semifinals
Top four from each heat advanced to the finals.
Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Marie-José Pérec | | 22.07 | 4 |
| 2 | Mary Onyali | | 22.16 | 3 |
| 3 | Juliet Cuthbert | | 22.24 | 5 |
| 4 | Inger Miller | | 22.33 | 7 |
| 5 | Dannette Young | | 22.49 | 6 |
| 6 | Cathy Freeman | | 22.78 | 2 |
| 7 | Natallia Safronnikava | | 22.98 | 1 |
| 8 | Irina Privalova | | DNS | 8 |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Merlene Ottey | | 22.08 | 4 |
| 2 | Galina Malchugina | | 22.35 | 6 |
| 3 | Chandra Sturrup | | 22.54 | 5 |
| 4 | Carlette Guidry | | 22.56 | 3 |
| 5 | Melinda Gainsford-Taylor | | 22.76 | 2 |
| 6 | Melanie Paschke | | 22.81 | 7 |
| 7 | Alenka Bikar | | 22.82 | 8 |
| 8 | Katerina Koffa | | 23.20 | 1 |
Final
in the finals = 0.3 m/s
Notes: DNS = did not start
Florence Griffith Joyner