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.
The pentathlon or women's pentathlon is a combined track and field event in which each woman competes in five separate events over one day. The distance or time for each event is converted to points via scoring tables, with the overall ranking determined by total points. Since 1949 the events have been sprint hurdling, high jump, shot put, long jump, and a flat race. The sprint hurdles distance was 80 m outdoors until 1969 and thereafter 100 m; in indoor pentathlon the distance is 60 m. The flat race was 200 m until 1976 and thereafter 800 m. In elite-level outdoor competition, the pentathlon was superseded in 1981 by the heptathlon, which has seven events, with both 200 m and 800 m, as well as the javelin throw. Pentathlon is still contested at school and masters level and indoors.
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 200 metres hurdles is a rarely run hurdling event in track and field competitions. Sometimes, this event is referred to as the low hurdles. It was run twice in the Summer Olympics, in 1900 and 1904.
2015 World Masters Athletics Championships is the 21st in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place in Lyon, France from 4 to 16 August 2015. This was the last odd year of the biennial Championships; beginning in 2016, the Championships will be held in even-numbered years. The change was made to avoid conflict with the quadrennial World Masters Games, which had been held in odd-numbered years since 2005.
2011 World Masters Athletics Championships is the nineteenth in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place in Sacramento, United States from 6 to 17 July 2011.
1999 World Masters Athletics Championships is the thirteenth in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place in Gateshead, England from 29 July to 8 August 1999. An official website was established for the first time in this series: http://www.gatesheadmbc.gov%5B%5D
1993 World Masters Athletics Championships is the tenth in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place in Miyazaki, Japan from 7 to 17 October 1993.
1991 World Masters Athletics Championships is the ninth in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place in Turku, Finland from 18 to 28 July 1991.
1983 World Masters Athletics Championships is the fifth in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from 23 to 30 September 1983.
1979 World Masters Athletics Championships is the third in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships that took place in Hannover, Germany, from 27 July to 2 August 1979.
2019 World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships is the eighth in a series of World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. This eighth edition took place in Toruń, Poland, from 24 to 30 March 2019.
Wendy Lee Brown is a former New Zealand sprinter. She represented her country at the 1974 and 1978 Commonwealth Games, Brown was selected for the 1982 Commonwealth Games, but withdrew from team due to injury. Brown was the New Zealand recordholder over 100 and 200 metres between 1974 and 1985. She won six New Zealand national sprinting titles between 1971 and 1981.
2006 World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships is the second in a series of World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships. This second edition took place in Linz, Austria, from 15 to 20 March 2006.
The following table is an overview of all national records in the 200 metres.
The women's 200 metres at the 2022 World Athletics Championships was held at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, U.S. from 18 to 21 July 2022.
United States 
Germany