Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres explained

Event:	Women's 200 metres
Games:	2008 Summer
Venue:	Beijing National Stadium
Dates:	August 19 August 20 August 21 (final)
Competitors:	46
Nations:	36
Longnames:	yes
Gold:	Veronica Campbell-Brown
Goldnoc:	JAM
Silver:	Allyson Felix
Silvernoc:	USA
Bronze:	Kerron Stewart
Bronzenoc:	JAM
Win Value:	21.74 s
Prev:	2004
Next:	2012

The women's 200 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 19–21 August (final) at the Beijing National Stadium.^[1] 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).^[2]

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.

Rank	Heat	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes^[3]
1	2			22.71	Q
2	2			22.72	Q
3	2			22.76	Q, SB
4	4			22.81	Q
5	6			22.91	Q, =PB
6	6			22.94	Q
7	4			22.95	Q
8	2			22.98	DSQ
9	1			23.02	Q
10	4			23.03	Q
11	5			23.04	Q
11	1			23.04	Q
13	5			23.06	Q
14	3			23.07	Q
15	6			23.09	Q
16	6			23.12	Q
17	2			23.13	q, SB
18	1			23.14	Q
19	5			23.21	Q
20	3			23.22	Q
21	4			23.24	Q
22	1			23.29	Q
23	3			23.31	Q
24	5			23.33	Q
24	4			23.33	q
26	5			23.40	q
27	6			23.43	q
28	5			23.44	q
28	4			23.44	q
30	6			23.45	q
31	1			23.50	q
32	3			23.58	Q, SB
33	6			23.59
34	4			23.62
34	3			23.62
36	5			23.67
37	3			23.72
38	3			23.83
39	2			24.05
40	3			24.07
40	2			24.07
42	1			24.31
43	4			24.37
44	1			24.46	NR
45	6			25.32	SB
46	5			32.16
	1
	2

Round 2

Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) advance to the Semifinals.

Rank	Heat	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes
1	4			22.60	Q
2	3			22.63	DSQ
3	1			22.64	Q
4	1			22.74	Q
4	3			22.74	Q
6	2			22.76	Q
6	3			22.76	Q
8	1			22.77	Q
9	4			22.83	Q
9	1			22.83	q
11	2			22.89	Q
12	2			22.94	Q
13	4			22.95	Q
14	2			22.98	q
15	3			23.03	q
16	2			23.04	q
17	3			23.06
18	4			23.15
19	4			23.17
20	1			23.22
21	2			23.27
22	4			23.28
23	1			23.35
24	1			23.37
25	2			23.40
26	2			23.48
27	3			23.51
28	3			23.56
29	3			23.61
30	4			23.77
31	4			23.77
	1

Semifinals

Qualification: First 4 in each heat (Q) advance to the Final.^[4]

Semifinal 1

20 August 2008 - 21:55 Wind: 0.0 m/s

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes	React
1	5			22.19	Q	0.187
2	7			22.29	Q	0.217
3	4			22.29	Q, PB	0.186
4	9			22.51	Q	0.165
5	6			22.57	DSQ	0.204
6	3			22.95		0.160
7	8			22.98		0.245
8	2			23.12		0.177

Semifinal 2

20 August 2008 - 22:04 Wind: -0.2 m/s

Rank	Lane	Athlete	Country	Time	Notes	React
1	7			22.33	Q	0.181
2	9			22.50	Q	0.196
3	5			22.50	Q	0.175
4	3			22.61	Q, SB	0.212
5	4			22.71		0.188
6	6			22.72		0.259
7	8			22.83		0.201
8	2			23.22		0.202

Final

21 August 2008 - Wind: 0.6 m/s

Rank	Lane	Name	Country	Reaction Time	Time	Notes
	4			0.172	21.74	PB
	5			0.193	21.93	SB
	6			0.199	22.00
4	9			0.176	22.01	PB
5	7			0.200	22.34	PB
6	8			0.167	22.36
7	2			0.175	22.61
8	3			0.206	22.68

Notes and References

1. Web site: Olympic Athletics Competition Schedule . 2008-08-04 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20080913131714/http://www.iaaf.org/OLY08/results/eventCode%3D3659/bydiscipline/index.html . 13 September 2008 . dead .
2. Web site: Entry Standards - The XXIX Olympic Games - Beijing, China - 8/24 August 2008 . 2008-08-04. IAAF. https://web.archive.org/web/20080913131730/http://www.iaaf.org/OLY08/standards/index.html. 13 September 2008 . live.
3. Web site: Olympic Games 2008 - Results 08-19-2008 - 200 Metres W Heats . 2008-08-21 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20080821125511/http://www.iaaf.org/oly08/results/eventCode%3D3659/racedate%3D08-19-2008/sex%3DW/discCode%3D200/combCode%3Dhash/roundCode%3Dh/results.html#det . 2008-08-21 . dead .
4. Web site: Iaaf.org - Olympic Games 2008 - Results 200 Metres W Semi-Final . 2008-08-26 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080826070723/http://www.iaaf.org/oly08/results/eventCode%3D3659/bydiscipline/disctype%3D4/sex%3DW/discCode%3D200/combCode%3Dhash/roundCode%3Dsf/results.html . 2008-08-26 . Retrieved 2008-08-26.