The first world record in the 200 m for women (athletics) was recognised by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) in 1922. The FSFI was absorbed by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1936. However, the IAAF did not maintain a record category for 200 m (bend) as opposed to 200 m (straight) until after 1951. The IAAF eliminated the 200 m (straight) record after 1976. "y" denotes times set at 220 yards (201.17 m) which were ratified as world records.

To June 21, 2009, the IAAF (and the FSFI before it) have ratified 26 outdoor world records in the event.

Indoor Indoor records are run on a shorter 200 metres track. "y" indicates marks were set over the imperial distance, and an asterisk indicates a record was repeated. All records since Koch's 22.39 in 1983 were ratified by the IAAF.

Time Athlete Nationality Location of race Date Manual timing 28.8y Ellen Brough New York 9 December 1925 28.6y Ellen Brough Newark 10 March 1927 26.1y Stanislawa Walasiewicz New York 13 February 1930 26.0 Stanislawa Walasiewicz New York 14 April 1934 25.8y Stanislawa Walasiewicz Cleveland 16 March 1941 25.7 Stanislawa Walasiewicz Atlantic City 12 April 1941 25.7y Wilma Rudolph Chicago 16 April 1960 25.0y Wilma Rudolph Columbus 11 March 1961 24.8y* Marylin White Columbus 23 March 1963 24.8y Vivian Brown Columbus 23 March 1963 24.7 Kirsten Roggenkamp Stuttgart 6 March 1965 24.5y Edith McGuire Albuquerque 5 March 1966 24.4y Edith McGuire Albuquerque 5 March 1966 24.1y Edith McGuire Albuquerque 5 March 1966 24.1 Anneliese Wilden Berlin Est 21 February 1971 23.6 Annegret Richter Dortmund 8 February 1975 23.4 Rita Wilden Stuttgart 15 February 1975 23.4y Rosalyn Bryant New York 25 February 1977 Automatic timing 23.70 Rita Wilden Stuttgart 26 February 1972 23.51 Rita Wilden Stuttgart 22 February 1975 23.38 Marita Koch Berlin East 9 February 1977 23.22 Annegret Richter Sindelfingen 26 February 1977 23.19 Jarmila Kratochvilova Wien 4 February 1979 23.15 Angela Taylor-Issajenko Downsview 24 February 1980 22.76 Jarmila Kratochvilova Wien 28 January 1981 22.64 Gesine Walther Budapest 20 February 1982 22.64* Marita Koch Budapest 26 February 1983 22.39 Marita Koch Budapest 5 March 1983 22.27 Heike Drechsler Indianapolis 7 March 1987 22.24 Merlene Ottey Sindelfingen 3 March 1991 22.24* Merlene Ottey Sevilla 10 March 1991 21.87 Merlene Ottey Liévin 13 February 1993

Outdoor Records 1922–36; 1951–76 Time Wind Auto Athlete Nationality Venue Date 27.8 Alice Cast Paris, France 20 August 1922 26.8 Mary Lines Waddon, United Kingdom 23 September 1922 26.2 Eileen Edwards London, United Kingdom 20 August 1924 26.0 Eileen Edwards Paris, France 3 October 1926 25.4 Eileen Edwards Berlin, Germany 12 June 1927 24.6 Tollien Schuurman Brussels, Belgium 13 August 1933 23.6 Stanislawa WalasiewiczIntersex Warsaw, Poland 4 August 1935 23.6 23.73 Marjorie Jackson Helsinki, Finland 25 July 1952 23.4 23.59 Marjorie Jackson Helsinki, Finland 25 July 1952 23.2 Betty Cuthbert Sydney, Australia 16 September 1956 23.2 Betty Cuthbert Hobart, Tasmania 7 March 1960 22.9 +1.4 Wilma Rudolph Corpus Christi, United States 9 July 1960 22.9 ±0.0 Margaret Burvill Perth, Australia 22 February 1964 22.7 +0.8 Irena Szewińska Warsaw, Poland 8 August 1965 22.5 +2.0 22.58 Irena Szewińska Mexico City, Mexico 18 October 1968 22.4 +0.8 22.62 Chi Cheng Munich, Germany 12 July 1970 22.4 +1.1 22.40 Renate Stecher Munich, Germany 7 September 1972 22.1 +1.6 22.38 Renate Stecher Dresden, Germany 21 July 1973 22.1 +1.9 22.21 Irena Szewińska Potsdam, Germany 13 June 1974 (+) denotes en route time set during longer race

The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Wind" column indicates the wind assistance in metres per second, 2.0 m/s the current maximum allowable, a negative indicates the mark was set running into a wind; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th or 100th of a second, depending on the rules then in place. A "y" indicates a distance measured in yards and ratified as a world record in this event.

Records from 1977

From 1975, the IAAF accepted separate automatically electronically timed records for events up to 400 metres. Starting January 1, 1977, the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second for these events.

Irena Szewińska's 22.21 from 1974 was the fastest eligible 200 metre performance at that time.

Time Wind Athlete Nationality Venue Date 22.21 +1.9 Irena Szewińska Potsdam, East Germany 13 June 1974 22.06 +1.2 Marita Koch Erfurt, East Germany 28 May 1978 22.02 −1.4 Marita Koch Leipzig, East Germany 3 June 1979 21.71 +0.7 Marita Koch Karl Marx Stadt, East Germany 10 June 1979 21.71 +0.3 Marita Koch Potsdam, East Germany 21 July 1984 21.71 +1.9 Heike Drechsler Jena, East Germany 29 June 1986 21.71 −0.8 Heike Drechsler Stuttgart, West Germany 29 August 1986 21.56 +1.7 Florence Griffith Joyner Seoul, South Korea 29 September 1988 21.34 +1.2 Florence Griffith Joyner Seoul, South Korea 29 September 1988

See also Men's 200 metres world record progression Women's 100 metres world record progression

References