The women's 200 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 19–21 August (final) at the Beijing National Stadium. The winning margin was 0.19 seconds. The winner had the second fastest reaction time in the final.

Allyson Felix, the young American athlete and already a double World champion, entered the 200m race in Beijing as a favorite for the gold. Defending champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica also appeared to be in great form, setting a new personal best of 21.94 seconds at the Olympic trials.

In the final, Campbell-Brown had the quickest start and made up the stagger very quickly on Allyson Felix, who had been drawn in the lane outside of her. Running a stellar curve and accelerating out of the bend, the Jamaican athlete held her form to cross the line in 21.74 seconds, the fastest time of the decade and a new personal best.

Veronica Campbell-Brown, who suffered from injuries that led to disappointment in the 200m in the 2007 World Championships, returned to form to become only the second woman in history to win back-to-back Olympic 200m titles. Allyson Felix was once again relegated to the silver medal in a seasonal best of 21.93, the second-fastest time of her career. Jamaican Kerron Stewart won the bronze medal by just a hundredth of a second.

The qualifying standards were 23.00 s (A standard) and 23.20 s (B standard).

Records Prior to this competition, the existing world record, Olympic record, and world leading time were as follows:

No new world or Olympic records were set for this event.

Results

Round 1 Qualification: First 4 in each heat (Q) and the next 8 fastest (q) advance to the Round 2. RankHeatAthleteCountryTimeNotes12 Muna Lee 22.71 Q 22 Muriel Hurtis-Houairi 22.72 Q 32 Cydonie Mothersille 22.76 Q, SB44 Roqaya Al-Gassra 22.81 Q 56 Nataliya Pyhyda 22.91 Q, =PB66 Sherone Simpson 22.94 Q 74 Emily Freeman 22.95 Q 82 Yuliya Chermoshanskaya 22.98 DSQ91 Allyson Felix 23.02 Q 104 Kerron Stewart 23.03 Q 115 Veronica Campbell-Brown 23.04 Q 111 Susanthika Jayasinghe 23.04 Q 135 Kadiatou Camara 23.06 Q 143 Marshevet Hooker 23.07 Q 156 Roxana Díaz 23.09 Q 166 LaVerne Jones-Ferrette 23.12 Q 172 Ivet Lalova 23.13 q, SB181 Virgil Hodge 23.14 Q 195 Natalia Rusakova 23.21 Q 203 Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie 23.22 Q 214 Ionela Târlea 23.24 Q 221 Aleksandra Fedoriva 23.29 Q 233 Oludamola Osayomi 23.31 Q 245 Sheniqua Ferguson 23.33 Q 244 Darlenis Obregón 23.33 q 265 Adrienne Power 23.40 q 276 Evelyn dos Santos 23.43 q 285 Vincenza Calì 23.44 q284 Guzel Khubbieva 23.44 q 306 Allison George 23.45 q 311 Inna Eftimova 23.50 q 323 Eleni Artymata 23.58 Q, SB336 Marta Jeschke 23.59 344 Jade Bailey 23.62 343 Sabina Veit 23.62 365 Isabel Le Roux 23.67 373 Gloria Kemasuode 23.72 383 Meritzer Williams 23.83 392 Mariely Sánchez 24.05403 Fabienne Feraez 24.07 402 Carol Rodríguez 24.07 421 Kia Davis 24.31 434 Lai Lai Win 24.37 441 Kirsten Nieuwendam 24.46NR456 Gretta Taslakian 25.32SB465 Samia Yusuf Omar 32.16 1 Vida Anim 2 Kim Gevaert

Round 2 Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) advance to the Semifinals. RankHeatAthleteCountryTimeNotes14 Sherone Simpson 22.60 Q 23 Yuliya Chermoshanskaya 22.63 DSQ31 Veronica Campbell-Brown 22.64 Q 41 Allyson Felix 22.74 Q 43 Kerron Stewart 22.74 Q 62 Roqaya Al-Gassra 22.76 Q 63 Marshevet Hooker 22.76 Q 81 Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie 22.77 Q 94 Muna Lee 22.83 Q 91 Cydonie Mothersille 22.83 q 112 Muriel Hurtis-Houairi 22.89 Q122 Susanthika Jayasinghe 22.94 Q 134 Emily Freeman 22.95 Q 142 Roxana Díaz 22.98 q 153 Nataliya Pyhyda 23.03 q162 Aleksandra Fedoriva 23.04 q173 Kadiatou Camara 23.06184 Ivet Lalova 23.15194 Virgil Hodge 23.17201 Ionela Târlea 23.22212 Oludamola Osayomi 23.27 224 Natalia Rusakova 23.28 231 Evelyn dos Santos 23.35 241 LaVerne Jones-Ferrette 23.37252 Darlenis Obregón 23.40 262 Inna Eftimova 23.48 273 Adrienne Power 23.51 283 Vincenza Calì 23.56 293 Sheniqua Ferguson 23.61304 Eleni Artymata 23.77 314 Allison George 23.77 1 Guzel Khubbieva

Semifinals Qualification: First 4 in each heat (Q) advance to the Final. Retrieved 2008-08-26.

Semifinal 1 20 August 2008 - 21:55 Wind: 0.0 m/s RankLaneAthleteCountryTimeNotesReact15 Veronica Campbell-Brown 22.19 Q 0.18727 Kerron Stewart 22.29 Q 0.21734 Muna Lee 22.29 Q, PB0.18649 Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie 22.51 Q 0.16556 Yuliya Chermoshanskaya 22.57DSQ0.20463 Nataliya Pyhyda 22.95 0.16078 Susanthika Jayasinghe 22.98 0.24582 Roxana Díaz 23.12 0.177

Semifinal 2 20 August 2008 - 22:04 Wind: -0.2 m/s

RankLaneAthleteCountryTimeNotesReact17 Allyson Felix 22.33 Q 0.18129 Marshevet Hooker 22.50 Q 0.19635 Sherone Simpson 22.50 Q 0.17543 Cydonie Mothersille 22.61 Q, SB0.21254 Muriel Hurtis-Houairi 22.71 0.18866 Roqaya Al-Gassra 22.72 0.25978 Emily Freeman 22.83 0.20182 Aleksandra Fedoriva 23.22 0.202

Final

21 August 2008 - Wind: 0.6 m/s

Rank Lane Name Country Reaction Time Time Notes 4 Veronica Campbell-Brown 0.172 21.74 PB 5 Allyson Felix 0.193 21.93 SB 6 Kerron Stewart 0.199 22.00 4 9 Muna Lee 0.176 22.01 PB 5 7 Marshevet Hooker 0.200 22.34 PB 6 8 Sherone Simpson 0.167 22.36 7 2 Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie 0.175 22.61 8 3 Cydonie Mothersille 0.206 22.68

References