Women's 200 metres world record progression explained

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 world records in the event.

Records 1922–36; 1951–76

Time	Wind	Auto	Athlete	Venue	Date
27.8+			Alice Cast	Paris, France	August 20, 1922^[1]
26.8y			Mary Lines	Waddon, United Kingdom	September 23, 1922
26.2y			Eileen Edwards	London, United Kingdom	August 20, 1924
26.0			Eileen Edwards	Paris, France	October 3, 1926
25.4			Eileen Edwards	Berlin, Germany	June 12, 1927
24.6			Tollien Schuurman	Brussels, Belgium	August 13, 1933
23.6			Stanislawa Walasiewicz^[2]	Warsaw, Poland	August 4, 1935
23.6		23.73	Marjorie Jackson	Helsinki, Finland	July 25, 1952
23.4		23.59	Marjorie Jackson	Helsinki, Finland	July 25, 1952
23.2			Betty Cuthbert	Sydney, Australia	September 16, 1956
23.2y			Betty Cuthbert	Hobart, Tasmania	March 7, 1960
22.9	1.4		Wilma Rudolph	Corpus Christi, USA	July 9, 1960
22.9y	0.0		Margaret Burvill	Perth, Australia	February 22, 1964
22.7	0.8		Irena Szewińska	Warsaw, Poland	August 8, 1965
22.5A	2.0	22.58A	Irena Szewińska	Mexico City, Mexico	October 18, 1968
22.4	0.8	22.62	Chi Cheng	Munich, Germany	July 12, 1970
22.4	1.1	22.40	Renate Stecher	Munich, Germany	September 7, 1972
22.1	1.6	22.38	Renate Stecher	Dresden, Germany	July 21, 1973
22.1	1.9	22.21	Irena Szewińska	Potsdam, Germany	June 13, 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.^[1]

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

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

Notes and References

Web site: 12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009. . IAAF Media & Public Relations Department . Monte Carlo . Pages 546, 640, 641 . pdf . 2009 . August 2, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20110629134819/http://www.iaaf.org/mm/document/competitions/competition/05/15/63/20090706014834_httppostedfile_p345-688_11303.pdf . June 29, 2011 .
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