How it works
Runners race for 100m around a bend and 100m down the home straight. They start from blocks and run in lanes.
A reaction time – measured by sensors in the starting pistol and on the blocks – of less than 0.1 is deemed a false start and the runners are recalled. After one false start anyone responsible for a subsequent false start is disqualified immediately. A runner can also be disqualified if he or she steps out of their designated lane.
History
A slightly shorter race than the current 200m (192m, one length of the stadium) was part of the Ancient Olympics. The 200m (for men) was added to the Olympic programme in 1900 and has been part of all subsequent Games, except 1906.
Women have contested the distance in every Olympics since 1948.
Did you know
The average speed of an elite-level 200m is often faster than a 100m race. Michael Johnson’s world record – 19.32 – represents a 23.15mph average; Usain Bolt’s 100m world record – 9.72, set in June – equates to 23.02mph. The extra speed of the 200m is because an athlete approaches the second 100m at full speed.
Gold standard
American men have won 17 Olympic titles. The USA’s main challengers have come latterly from Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.
American women have snared three of the past six Olympic titles. Jamaica, meanwhile, has provided a medallist in six of the past seven women’s Olympic finals.
Icons
Pietro Mennea
The silky smooth Italian built a reputation as one of the world’s great half-lap runners throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. Known as the ‘Arrow of the South’, he won Olympic gold at the 1980 Games, having set a world record of 19.72 in 1979, a mark that was to stand for 16 years and nine months until Michael Johnson ran 19.66 in the US Olympic Trials.
Gwen Torrence
The American won a cluster of medals during a lengthy career. She was a two-time world champion but enjoyed her greatest moment when she won Olympic gold in 1992. She would have won a world title in 1995, too, but was disqualified for running out of her lane.