The men's 200 metres at the 2025 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Stadium in Tokyo on 17, 18 and 19 September 2025.
Summary The three-time defending champion, Noah Lyles, was aiming to match Usain Bolt's record of four World Championships gold medals in the 200. With a bye in the event, Lyles hadrun fewer races in the regular season, but still came in as the world leader. The two other favorites were Letsile Tebogo, defending Olympic champion; and Kenny Bednarek, with a collection of silvers over the last Olympics and World Championships.
In the heats, Bryan Levell was the fastest with 19.84, then Tapiwanashe Makarawu 19.91 and Courtney Lindsey in 19.95. In the last semfinal, Lyles ran a 19.51, ultimately faster than even the winning time in the final. The semis saw the elimination of several famous names including Andre De Grasse, Lindsay, Gout Gout, and Wayde van Niekerk.
The final went off with 5 men separating from the other three. Coming off the turn Levell had developed almost a 1-metre lead on Lyles and Bednarek, with Tebogo slightly behind them and Hughes still in contention. In just 10 quick steps, Lyles and Bednarek moved from behind Levell to a metre ahead. Down the straightaway, Lyles put a little more gap on Bednarek. Tebogo closed down as well but couldn't quite catch Levell.
Records Before the competition records were as follows:
Record Athlete & Location Date World record 19.19 Berlin, Germany 20 August 2009 Championship record World Leading 19.63 Eugene, United States 3 August 2025 African Record 19.46 Paris, France 8 August 2024 Asian Record 19.88 London, United Kingdom 21 July 2019 European Record 19.72 Mexico City, Mexico 12 September 1979 North, Central American and Caribbean record 19.19 Berlin, Germany 20 August 2009 Oceanian record 20.02 Ostrava, Czech Republic 24 June 2025 South American Record 19.81 Berlin, Germany 20 August 2009
Qualification standard The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 20.16.
Schedule The event schedule, in local time (UTC+9), was as follows:
Date Time Round17 September 20:15 Heats18 September 21:02 Semi-finals19 September 22:06 Final
Results Heats The heats took place on 17 September. The first three athletes in each heat ( Q ) and the next six fastest ( q ) qualified for the semi-finals.
Heat 1 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 4 Alexander Ogando 20.10 2 3 Wayde van Niekerk 20.19 3 9 Timothé Mumenthaler 20.39 4 8 Henrik Larsson 20.40 , 5 5 Robert Gregory 20.43 6 6 Shōta Iizuka 20.64 7 7 Toby Harries 20.76 8 2 Calab Law 20.91 Wind:
Heat 2 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 6 Tapiwanashe Makarawu 19.91 2 9 Courtney Lindsey 19.95 3 7 Adrian Kerr 20.13 4 5 Ryan Zeze 20.23 , 5 3 Aaron Brown 20.33 6 8 Aidan Murphy 20.54 7 4 Emmanuel Eseme 20.61 8 2 Gediminas Truskauskas 20.95 Wind:
Heat 3 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 3 Kenny Bednarek 19.98 2 2 Udodi Onwuzurike 20.27 3 7 Sinesipho Dambile 20.27 4 6 William Reais 20.38 , 5 4 Jerome Blake 20.43 6 8 Ko Seung-hwan 20.49 7 9 20.51 8 1 20.66 9 5 Animesh Kujur 20.77 Wind:
Heat 4 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 5 Noah Lyles 19.99 2 7 Zharnel Hughes 20.07 3 3 Christopher Taylor 20.26 , 4 4 Andre De Grasse 20.30 5 6 Fausto Desalu 20.43 6 8 Joseph Fahnbulleh 20.73 7 2 Ian Kerr 20.92 8 1 César Almirón 20.92 9 Hachim Maaroufou Wind:
Heat 5 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 7 Bryan Levell 19.84 2 5 Makanakaishe Charamba 20.06 3 8 Gout Gout 20.23 4 6 Blessing Afrifah 20.47 5 9 Naeem Jack 20.65 6 4 Ibrahim Fuseini 20.66 7 2 Tomáš Němejc 20.83 8 1 21.58 9 3 Tovetuna Tuna 21.59 Wind:
Heat 6 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 9 Letsile Tebogo 20.18 2 8 Xavi Mo-Ajok 20.35 3 3 Towa Uzawa 20.39 4 7 Jaleel Croal 20.46 5 4 Filippo Tortu 20.49 6 2 José Figueroa 20.62 7 5 Lidio Andrés Feliz 20.63 8 6 21.10 9 1 30.18 Wind:
Semi-finals The semi-finals took place on 18 September. The first two athletes in each heat ( Q ) and the next two fastest ( q ) qualified for the final.
Heat 1 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 7 Kenny Bednarek 19.88 2 8 Alexander Ogando 19.98 3 6 Makanakaishe Charamba 20.03 4 4 Wayde van Niekerk 20.12 5 9 Christopher Taylor 20.21 6 5 Towa Uzawa 20.23 7 2 William Reais 20.59 8 3 Aaron Brown 20.59 Wind:
Heat 2 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 8 Bryan Levell 19.78 2 6 Letsile Tebogo 19.95 3 7 Courtney Lindsey 20.30 4 4 Gout Gout 20.36 5 2 Jerome Blake 20.41 6 5 Xavi Mo-Ajok 20.55 7 9 Timothé Mumenthaler 20.66 8 3 Ryan Zeze 20.73 Wind:
Heat 3 Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 1 6 Noah Lyles 19.51 , 2 7 Zharnel Hughes 19.95 3 9 Sinesipho Dambile 19.97 , 4 8 Tapiwanashe Makarawu 19.98 5 4 Adrian Kerr 20.08 6 3 Andre De Grasse 20.13 7 5 Udodi Onwuzurike 20.26 8 2 Henrik Larsson 20.32 Wind:
Final The final took place on 19 September.
Place Lane Athlete Nation Time Notes 6 Noah Lyles 19.52 8 Kenny Bednarek 19.58 7 Bryan Levell 19.64 4 5 Letsile Tebogo 19.65 5 9 Zharnel Hughes 19.78 6 4 Alexander Ogando 20.01 7 3 Tapiwanashe Makarawu 20.12 8 2 Sinesipho Dambile 20.23 Wind:
References