The women's 200 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 24 to 26. The winning margin was 0.13 seconds. The winner had the second slowest reaction time in the final.

The top four runners in each of the initial seven heats automatically qualified for the second round. The next four fastest runners from across the heats also qualified. Those 32 runners competed in four heats in the second round, with the top three from each heat and the four next fastest overall advancing to the semifinals. In two semifinal heats, only the top four runners from each heat moved on to the final.

Leading up to the Olympic final, Jamaica's Veronica Campbell was considered a pre-race favorite of this event, as she had previously managed to beat her own world leading time in the semifinals. She was also expected to challenge the youngster Allyson Felix, who had quickly become the top medal contender for the Americans. From the blocks, Campbell took a commanding lead with a strong curve and kept her form in the last few strides of the track to hold off a charge from Felix for the Olympic title at 22.05 seconds. Felix closed the race quickly to get the silver medal and set the world junior record. On the outside, Bahamian sprinter Debbie Ferguson was immediately chased by Campbell's teammate Aleen Bailey, but the places were clearly decided.

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

No new records were set during the competition.

Qualification The qualification period for athletics took place from 1 January 2003 to 9 August 2004. For the women's 200 metres, each National Olympic Committee was permitted to enter up to three athletes that had run the race in 22.97 seconds or faster during the qualification period. If an NOC had no athletes that qualified under that standard, one athlete that had run the race in 23.12 seconds or faster could be entered.

Schedule All times are Eastern European Summer Time (UTC+3) Date Time RoundMonday, 23 August 2004 11:0020:25 Round 1QuarterfinalsTuesday, 24 August 2004 22:05 SemifinalsWednesday, 25 August 2004 23:20 Final

Results

Round 1 Qualification rule: The first four finishers in each heat (Q) plus the next four fastest overall runners (q) qualified.

Heat 1 Wind: +0.4 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes17 Veronica Campbell 0.252 22.59Q26 Alenka Bikar 0.217 23.09Q33 La Shauntea Moore 0.253 23.10Q44 Lucimar de Moura 0.211 23.40Q52 Heide Seyerling 0.187 23.6665 Monika Gachevska 0.175 23.71

Heat 2 Wind: +1.7 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes13 Ivet Lalova 0.168 22.88Q25 Sylviane Félix 0.295 22.94Q36 Yekaterina Kondratyeva 0.225 23.03Q42 Natallia Safronnikava 0.167 23.28Q54 Lyubov Perepelova 0.306 24.1067 Gretta Taslakian 0.260 24.30 NR

Heat 3 Wind: +1.6 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes15 Cydonie Mothersille 0.266 22.40Q, NR26 Beverly McDonald 0.191 22.90Q37 Yelena Bolsun 0.262 23.00Q43 Joice Maduaka 0.172 23.15Q54 Saraswati Saha 0.275 23.4362 Gcinile Moyane 0.230 25.62 NR

Heat 4 Wind: +2.0 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes12 Allyson Felix 0.212 22.39Q25 Abi Oyepitan 0.180 22.50Q, PB37 Maryna Maydanova 0.265 22.76Q, SB43 Muriel Hurtis 0.217 22.77Q, SB 54 Karin Mayr-Krifka 0.189 22.81q, SB66 Mary Onyali-Omagbemi 0.237 23.37q78 Gladys Thompson 0.281 27.51

Heat 5 Wind: +2.1 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes14 Muna Lee 0.197 22.57Q22 Tatyana Levina 0.187 23.05Q35 La Verne Jones 0.239 23.20Q43 Marilia Gregoriou 0.192 23.23Q56 Emma Wade 0.206 23.4367 Michelle Banga Moudzoula 0.247 24.37

Heat 6 Wind: −0.2 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes12 Aleen Bailey 0.218 22.73Q27 Kim Gevaert 0.187 22.76Q36 Olga Kaidantzi 0.284 23.11Q43 Fabienne Feraez 0.181 23.12Q, =NR54 Johanna Manninen 0.166 23.45SB65 Kadiatou Camara 0.287 23.56

Heat 7 Wind: +1.4 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes12 Debbie Ferguson 0.171 22.57Q, SB27 Christine Arron 0.252 22.60Q, SB36 Merlene Ottey 0.254 22.72Q, NR44 Lauren Hewitt 0.165 22.87Q, SB 53 Digna Murillo 0.149 22.98q, PB65 Anna Pacholak 0.283 23.00q, SB

Round 2 Qualification rule: The first three finishers in each heat (Q) plus the next four fastest overall runners (q) advanced to the semifinals.

Heat 1 Wind: +0.4 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes16 Veronica Campbell 0.182 22.49Q24 Debbie Ferguson 0.175 22.53Q, SB33 Kim Gevaert 0.169 22.68Q48 La Shauntea Moore 0.306 22.96q55 Sylviane Félix 0.217 23.08q61 La Verne Jones 0.188 23.0977 Karin Mayr-Krifka 0.239 23.1982 Lucimar de Moura 0.165 23.44

Heat 2 Wind: +0.4 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes14 Muna Lee 0.239 22.74Q23 Aleen Bailey 0.227 22.97Q38 Olga Kaidantzi 0.235 23.15Q41 Digna Murillo 0.189 23.1955 Tatyana Levina 0.177 23.2367 Muriel Hurtis 0.224 23.3376 Alenka Bikar 0.163 23.3882 Natallia Safronnikava 0.184 23.63

Heat 3 Wind: +0.2 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes14 Allyson Felix 0.196 22.69Q23 Abi Oyepitan 0.168 22.79Q36 Maryna Maydanova 0.225 22.86Q45 Christine Arron 0.278 22.90q52 Fabienne Feraez 0.213 23.2461 Yelena Bolsun 0.158 23.2678 Marilia Gregoriou 0.228 23.6587 Mary Onyali-Omagbemi 0.245 23.75

Heat 4 Wind: −0.1 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes14 Cydonie Mothersille 0.212 22.76Q23 Ivet Lalova 0.128 22.81Q35 Beverly McDonald 0.201 22.99Q46 Merlene Ottey 0.292 23.07q58 Joice Maduaka 0.219 23.3067 Anna Pacholak 0.247 23.3571 Yekaterina Kondratyeva 0.188 23.3782 Lauren Hewitt 0.149 23.44

Semifinals Qualification rule: The first four finishers in each heat (Q) moved on to the final.

Semifinal 1 Wind: +0.5 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes13 Allyson Felix 0.198 22.36Q25 Abi Oyepitan 0.125 22.56Q34 Ivet Lalova 0.160 22.56Q, SB46 Muna Lee 0.173 22.69Q58 Maryna Maydanova 0.219 22.7561 Beverly McDonald 0.172 23.0272 Christine Arron 0.184 23.05 7 Merlene Ottey 0.247

Semifinal 2 Wind: +1.1 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes15 Veronica Campbell 0.160 22.13Q, PB26 Aleen Bailey 0.283 22.33Q, PB32 Kim Gevaert 0.154 22.48Q, NR44 Debbie Ferguson 0.177 22.49Q, SB53 Cydonie Mothersille 0.297 22.7668 La Shauntea Moore 0.346 22.9371 Sylviane Félix 0.222 22.9987 Olga Kaidantzi 0.225 23.30

Final Wind: +0.8 m/s

Rank Lane Name Nationality Reaction Result Notes4 Veronica Campbell 0.216 22.05PB3 Allyson Felix 0.207 22.18WJR8 Debbie Ferguson 0.193 22.30SB46 Aleen Bailey 0.208 22.4252 Ivet Lalova 0.162 22.5761 Kim Gevaert 0.172 22.8477 Muna Lee 0.178 22.8775 Abi Oyepitan 0.259 22.87

References

External links IAAF Athens 2004 Olympic Coverage