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.
Joan Jeanetta Baptiste is a former British sprinter who competed mainly in the 100 metres, 200 metres and 4 x 100 metres relay. She won a silver medal at the inaugural World Championships in 1983 in the 4 × 100 m relay and competed in the 200 metres at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Kirani James is a Grenadian professional sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. He won the 400 m at the World Championships in 2011, and the 2012 London Olympics. In the 400 metres, James also won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, thus becoming the first man to earn the full set of three medals in the centennial history of the event. He is Grenada's first and only Olympic medalist.
Jodie Alicia Williams is a British sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres, having begun her career concentrating on 100 and 200 metres. A prodigious junior, she is the 2009 World Youth Champion at 100 and 200 m, the 2010 World Junior Champion at 100 m, the 2011 European Junior Champion at 100 and 200 m, and the 2013 European U23 Champion at 200 m.
Mujinga Kambundji is a Swiss sprinter. She won the bronze medal in the 200 metres at the 2019 World Championships. Kambundji is the 60 metres 2022 World indoor champion, becoming the joint fourth-fastest woman of all time in the event, after earning a bronze in 2018. She is a three-time European Championships medallist, with gold for the 200 m and silver for the 100 m in 2022, and bronze for the 100 m in 2016. At the European Indoor Championships, she earned gold in the 60 m in 2023 and bronze in 2017.
Leon Baptiste is a retired English sprint runner who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres events. On the 4th of November 2021 he visited Rood End Primary School for the morning. He became the 100 m European junior champion in 2004 and won his first major title six years later by taking the 200 m gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi. He competes domestically for Enfield and Haringey Athletic Club and is coached by Michael Khmel at Loughborough University alongside the likes of Harry Aikines Aryeetey, Tim Abeyu and James Dasaolu.
Dafne Schippers is a Dutch retired track and field athlete who competed in sprinting and the combined events. She holds the European record in the 200 metres with a time of 21.63 seconds, making her the sixth-fastest woman of all time at this distance. She also holds the Dutch records in the 100 metres and long jump, and shares the Dutch records in the 60 metres indoor and 4 × 100 metres relay.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo is a Bahamian track and field sprinter who competes in the 200 and 400 metres. She is a two-time Olympic champion after winning the women's 400 metres at the 2016 Rio Olympics and again at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Anna Kiełbasińska is a Polish sprinter who competed occasionally also in hurdling events. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres as well as silver medals in the 4 x 100 m and 4 x 400 m relays at the 2022 European Championships. Kiełbasińska earned bronze for the 400 m at the 2023 European Indoor Championships. She won several major medals as part of Polish 4 x 400 m relay teams and also individual medals at European Under-20 and U23 Championships.
Geraldina "Dina" Rachel Asher-Smith, OLY is a British sprinter.
Jermaine Brown is a Jamaican track and field sprinter. He competes in distances from 60 metres to 400 metres. He has a 200 metres best of 20.29 seconds and a 400 m best of 46.24 seconds. He mainly competes internationally in relay competitions.
Yorgelis Rodríguez García is a Cuban track and field athlete specialising in the heptathlon. She represented her country at the 2013 World Championships finishing twelfth overall. Earlier she won several medals at the World Junior and Youth Championships, including the gold at the 2012 World Junior Championships.
Ewa Nikola Swoboda is a Polish track and field sprinter who specialises in the short sprints. She is a three-time European Indoor Championships medallist in the 60 metres, having won the gold medal in 2019 and silvers in 2017 and 2023.
Kendra "Keni" Harrison is an American hurdler. Harrison held the world record in the women's 100 metres hurdles with a time of 12.20 seconds, set on July 22, 2016 at the London Müller Anniversary Games, breaking the previous world record of 12.21 seconds achieved nearly 28 years earlier by Bulgarian athlete Yordanka Donkova.
Nadine Visser is a Dutch track and field athlete who competed in the combined events until 2017 and specialises in short hurdling since 2018.
Janet Amponsah is a Ghanaian sprinter. She represented her country at the 2013 World Championships without qualifying for the semifinals. She won medals in the 4 × 100 metres relay at two African Championships and at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She was selected as Ghana's flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and voted the 2015 Ghanaian Female Athlete of the Year. She missed the 2015 World Championships in China due to problems with her entry visa. At the 2016 Olympics, she competed in the 200 m and 4 × 100 m relay events.
Elaine Sandra-Lee Thompson-Herah OD is a Jamaican sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres. Regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time, she is a five-time Olympic champion, the fastest woman alive in the 100 m, and the second fastest alive in the 200 m.
Gina Lückenkemper is a German track and field athlete who competes in the sprints. She won gold medals in the 100 metres and for the 4 × 100 m relay at the 2022 European Athletics Championships.
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.
Noah Lyles is an American professional track and field sprinter competing in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic 200 m bronze medalist and a six-time World champion, having won the 200 m and 4 x 100 m at the 2019 World Championships, the 200 m at the 2022 World Championships, and the 100 m, 200 m, and 4 x 100 m events at the 2023 World Championships, becoming the first man since Usain Bolt in 2015 to complete the sprint treble at a World Championships. At the 2022 Championships, Lyles also earned a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay. He holds personal bests of 9.83 seconds for the 100 m and 19.31 seconds for the 200 m, the latter being an American record making him the third fastest on the respective world all-time list.
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