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 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.
Carlos Nuno Tavares Calado is an athlete from Portugal, Sporting CP and S.L. Benfica, who specialises in the long jump.
Holder Ocante da Silva is a Guinea-Bissauan sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. He was born in Bissau. His personal best time is 10.36 seconds, achieved in July 2009 in Lisbon.
Mauro Vinícius Hilário Lourenço da Silva, commonly known as Duda is a Brazilian long jumper. He is the 2-time World Indoor champion, winning the gold medal at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, and again at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships at Sopot, Poland, on 8 March 2014. He competed at the 2008 Olympic Games without reaching the final, but he did make the final 8 at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Renaud Lavillenie is a French pole vaulter. Lavillenie won the gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London and the silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. In addition to his Olympic success, he has won three World Indoor Championships gold medals (record), three European Championships gold medals and four European Indoor Championships gold medals. He has also won one silver medal and four bronze medals at the World Championships. As of 25 August 2016, he holds the French national records for the highest pole vault clearance both outdoors and indoors. The 6.16 was the absolute world record for the pole vault for over six years, 2014–2020. He was the pole vault overall winner of the IAAF Diamond League in seven consecutive years, from 2010 to 2016.
Fabienne Ficher is a retired French athlete who specialised in the 400 meters. She competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics as well as one outdoor and five indoor World Championships.
Thiago Braz da Silva is a Brazilian athlete specializing in the pole vault who held the Olympic record of 6.03 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
LaDonna M. Antoine-Watkins is a Canadian retired sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres. She represented Canada at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics, as well as three outdoor and one indoor World Championships.
Hana Benešová is a retired Czech sprinter who competed in the 200 and 400 metres. She represented her country at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics, as well as four consecutive World Championships, starting in 1993. In addition, she won three medals at the 1997 European U23 Championships.
Aksel Gürcan Demirtaş is Turkish athlete specialising in the sprinting events. During her long career, she has represented Turkey at multiple international competitions, including the 1997 World Championships, six World Indoor Championships, three European outdoor and five indoor championships, although with little success.
Vitória Cristina Silva Rosa is a Brazilian sprinter. South American record holder for the 200m (outdoor) and 60m (indoor).
Irene Siragusa is an Italian sprinter, who participated at the 2015, 2017 and 2019 World Athletics Championships. She won two individual medals at the 2017 Summer Universiade. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in 4 × 100 m relay.
João Batista Eugênio da Silva is a Brazilian retired sprinter who competed in 200 metres and 400 metres.
Mathias Rusterholz is a retired Swiss sprinter who specialised in the 400 metres. He represented his country at the 1996 Summer Olympics, as well as three outdoor and one indoor World Championships. In addition, he won the bronze medal at the 1994 European Championships.
Marina Filipović is a retired Serbian athlete who competed primarily in the 200 and 400 metres. She competed in the women's 200 metres at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She represented FR Yugoslavia at the 1997 World Championships and 1997 World Indoor Championships.
Monika Georgieva Gachevska is a retired Bulgarian athlete who competed in the sprinting events. She represented her country at three consecutive Olympic Games, starting in 1996, as well as three outdoor and three indoor World Championships. Her biggest achievement is the bronze medal secured at the 1997 Summer Universiade.
Christoph Pöstinger is a retired Austrian sprinter who competed primarily in the 200 metres. He represented his country at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics, as well as one outdoor and two indoor World Championships.
Ricardo Chacón is a retired Cuban sprinter. He represented his country at one outdoor and two indoor World Championships.
Rai Benjamin is an American hurdler and sprinter specializing in the 400 m and 400 m hurdles. He is the second fastest man in history in the 400 m hurdles with a personal best time of 46.17 s. He won a silver medal at his first Olympic Games in 2021 and won the 400 m hurdles race at the 2024 Summer Olympics. Benjamin also won silver medals and at the World Championships in 2019 and 2022 in the men's 400 m hurdles, and gold medals in the 4 × 400 m relay in 2019 and 2021.
Brazil 
