AthleticsAthletics world record
200 m, women
21.34 s
- Holder
- Florence Griffith Joyner
- Date
- Place
- Seoul
- Standing since
- 1988 (38 years)
How the record evolved
The last record set in each decade, up to the current record (highlighted).
| Year | Record | Holder |
|---|---|---|
| 21.34 s | Florence Griffith Joyner | |
| 21.56 s | Florence Griffith Joyner | |
| 21.71 s | Marita Koch | |
| 22.1 s | Renate Stecher | |
| 22.5 s | Irena Szewińska | |
| 23.2 s | Betty Cuthbert | |
| 23.6 s | Stanislawa Walasiewicz | |
| 25.4 s | Eileen Edwards |
Put them in order
Sort these records from the oldest to the most recent.
- 21.34 sFlorence Griffith Joyner
- 21.71 sMarita Koch
- 25.4 sEileen Edwards
- 23.2 sBetty Cuthbert
What to remember
In the Olympic final in Seoul on September 29, 1988, Florence Griffith Joyner covered half a lap of the track in 21.34 s, with a following wind of 1.3 m/s. The 200 m starts on the bend and finishes on the home straight, so it rewards both cornering technique and the ability to hold top speed to the line.
That same season, at the US Olympic trials in Indianapolis, the sprinter known as Flo-Jo had set the 100 m world record. Born and raised in California, she had won 200 m silver at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
In 1927 the record belonged to Eileen Edwards, at 25.4 s. It later passed to Stanislawa Walasiewicz (23.6 s in 1935), Betty Cuthbert (23.2 s in 1956), Irena Szewińska (22.5 s in 1968) and Marita Koch (21.71 s in 1979). Griffith Joyner had also run 21.56 s in 1988. Across 61 years, the time came down by 16%.
Related records
Sources and licences
- Value, holder and date: Wikipedia article “List of world records in athletics” (revision used 1378411308). Data from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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