Joseph Loua (born 15 November 1976) is a retired Guinean sprinter who specialized in the 200 metres.
He won a silver medal in this event at the 1996 African Championships. [1] He also entered the World Championships in 1995, [2] 1997 [3] and 1999 [4] as well as the Olympic Games in 1996 and 2000, [5] but never reached the final round.
Frank "Frankie" Fredericks is a former track and field athlete from Namibia. Running in the 100 metres and 200 metres, he won four silver medals at the Olympic Games, making him Namibia's only Olympic medalist until Christine Mboma's silver medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. He also won gold medals at the World Championships, World Indoor Championships, All-Africa Games and Commonwealth Games. He is the world indoor record-holder for 200 metres, with a time of 19.92 seconds set in 1996.
Obadele "Oba" Thompson BSS is a Barbados-born former sprinter, lawyer, author, and speaker. He won Barbados's first and only Olympic medal as an independent country by placing third in the 100 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. He is a three-time Olympian, and a finalist at each Olympics. His personal best performances are 9.87 seconds for the 100 m, 19.97 seconds for the 200 metres, and 45.38 seconds for the 400 metres. He has held the indoor 55 metres world record since 1997.
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and race in separate lanes for the entire course. In many countries, athletes previously competed in the 440-yard dash (402.336 m)—which is a quarter of a mile and was referred to as the "quarter-mile"—instead of the 400 m (437.445 yards), though this distance is now obsolete.
Moses Kiptanui is a Kenyan middle and long distance athlete mostly famous for 3000 metres steeplechase in which he was the number one ranked athlete from 1991 to 1995 and three time IAAF World Champion. Kiptanui was the first man to ever run the 3000m steeplechase in under eight minutes. He is also known for his coaching role in his later years with Tarbert GAA.
The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first recorded event at the ancient Olympic Games. The 200 m places more emphasis on speed endurance than shorter sprint distances as athletes predominantly rely on anaerobic energy system during the 200 m sprint. Similarly to other sprint distances, the 200 m begins from the starting blocks. When the sprinters adopt the 'set' position in the blocks they are able to adopt a more efficient starting posture and isometrically preload their muscles. This enables them to stride forwards more powerfully when the race begins and start faster.
The World Athletics U20 Championships is a biennial world championships for the sport of athletics organised by the World Athletics, contested by athletes in the under-20 athletics age category (19 years old or younger on 31 December in the year of the competition.
Olusoji Adetokunbo Fasuba is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. He was the African record holder in the event with 9.85 seconds until Akani Simbine broke it in July 2021 with 9.84 seconds.
Sunday Bada was a Nigerian sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres event. He won three medals at the World Indoor Championships, including a gold medal in 1997. His personal best time was 44.63 seconds, and with 45.51 seconds indoor he holds the African indoor record. He set a national record in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 2000 Olympics, where the Nigerian team also won gold medals after the disqualification of the US team who had finished first.
Jaysuma Saidy Ndure is a Gambian-Norwegian sprinter. He is of Serer heritage of the noble Ndure family. In 2002, he went to Oslo, aged 18 and settled with his father who has lived in Norway since the 1970s. Having changed nationality from Gambia to Norway in 2006, he holds Norwegian records in the 100 and in the 200 metres, and is the seventh and fourth fastest European of all times on the two distances. He has a bronze medal from the African Championships and several top-three placings in IAAF Golden League meets and the IAAF World Athletics Final.
Louis Jacobus van Zyl, better known as L. J. van Zyl, is a South African athlete competing in the 400 metre hurdles. He is the South African record holder in the event with a personal best of 47.66 seconds, which he achieved twice, three months apart. His time ranks him in the all-time top 25. He is a three-time African Champion in the event and competed for his country at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Blessing Oghnewresem Okagbare-Otegheri is a former Nigerian track and field athlete who specialized in long jump and sprints. She is an Olympic and World Championships medallist in the long jump and a world medalist in the 200 metres. Okagbare also holds the women's 100 metres Commonwealth Games record at 10.85 seconds. She is currently serving a 10-year ban for breaching multiple World Athletics anti-doping rules. Her ban expires on 30 July 2032.
Simon Kemboi is a retired sprinter from Kenya. He specialised in 400 metres. He is a World Championships and African Championships medalist, and competed at the Olympics.
Mark David Hylton is a former British 400 metres sprinter. Hylton won a silver medal in the relay at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Wayde van Niekerk is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. In the 400 metres, he is the current world and Olympic record holder, having set the record when he won the event at the 2016 Olympics.
Ejowvokoghene Divine Oduduru is a Nigerian sprinter specializing in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash. He holds personal bests of 9.86 seconds for the 100 m and 19.73 seconds for the 200 m. The latter is a Nigerian national record.
Aron Kifle Teklu is an Eritrean long-distance runner. He is the bronze medallist from the 2018 World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia. Aron is also the silver medallist in the 10000m from both the 2016 World U20 Championships and the 2019 All-African Games.
Christian Coleman is an American professional track and field sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. The 2019 world champion in the 100 meters, he also won gold as part of men's 4 × 100-meter relay. He holds personal bests of 9.76 seconds for the 100 m, which made him the 6th fastest all-time in the history of 100 metres event, and 19.85 for the 200 m. Coleman is the world record holder for the indoor 60 meters with 6.34 seconds. He was the Diamond League champion in 2018 and 2023 and the world number one ranked runner in the men's 100 m for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 seasons.
Joseph Paul Amoah is a Ghanaian sprinter specializing in the 100 metres and the 200 metres. He competed at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in the 100 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay, and at the 2019 African Games, he won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay. He was also a 100 metres finalist at the 2019 African Games, finishing fourth.
Retshidisitswe Mlenga is a South African track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. He holds a personal best of 10.37 seconds for the 100 m and 20.88 seconds for the 200 m. He was the gold medallist in the 200 m at the IAAF World U18 Championships in 2017.
The following table is an overview of national records in the 200 metres.