Men · World record

200 Metres

The current record and its documented progression: 25 ratified records from 1951 to 2009.

Current record

19.19-0.3

Usain BoltJAMBerlin · 20 Aug 2009

17 years standing0.11 s improvementAll-time top 50 →

Record progression

Each step is a documented record; red marks the fully automatic timing era

1951 · 20.6 Andy Stanfield1952 · 20.6 Andy Stanfield1956 · 20.6 Thane Baker1956 · 20.6 Bobby Morrow1958 · 20.6 Manfred Germar1960 · 20.6 Ray Norton1960 · 20.6 Ray Norton1960 · 20.5 Peter Radford1960 · 20.5 Stone Johnson1960 · 20.5 Ray Norton1960 · 20.5 Livio Berruti1960 · 20.5 Livio Berruti1962 · 20.5 Paul Drayton1963 · 20.3 Henry Carr1964 · 20.2 Henry Carr1966 · 20.0 Tommie Smith1968 · 19.8 Tommie Smith1971 · 19.8 Don Quarrie1975 · 19.8 Don Quarrie1968 · 19.83 Tommie Smith1979 · 19.72 Pietro Mennea1996 · 19.66 Michael Johnson1996 · 19.32 Michael Johnson2008 · 19.30 Usain Bolt2009 · 19.19 Usain Bolt 19.1920.60

19511960 · Norton 20.61962 · Drayton 20.51975 · Quarrie 19.82009 · Bolt 19.19

Documented records

25 ratified · 4 at altitude · most recent first · Wikipedia (EN) revision 1355192623, imported 2 Sep 2026

MarkWindAthleteNationVenueDateStood
19.8 +1.3 Don Quarrie JAM Eugene, United States 7 Jun 1975 4 yrs
19.8A +0.9 Don Quarrie JAM Cali, Colombia 3 Aug 1971 3 yrs
19.8A +0.9 Tommie Smith USA Mexico City, Mexico 16 Oct 1968 0 d
20.0 ±0.0 Tommie Smith USA Sacramento, United States 11 Jun 1966 2 yrs
20.2 +0.5 Henry Carr USA Tempe, United States 4 Apr 1964 2 yrs
20.3 −0.1 Henry Carr USA Tempe, United States 23 Mar 1963 1 yr
20.5 −1.1 Paul Drayton USA Walnut, United States 23 Jun 1962 273 d
20.5 ±0.0 Livio Berruti ITA Rome, Italy 3 Sep 1960 1 yr
20.5 Livio Berruti ITA Rome, Italy 3 Sep 1960 0 d
20.5 ±0.0 Ray Norton USA Stanford, United States 2 Jul 1960 63 d
20.5 ±0.0 Stone Johnson USA Stanford, United States 2 Jul 1960 0 d
20.5 Peter Radford GBR Wolverhampton, United Kingdom 28 May 1960 35 d
20.6 Ray Norton USA Philadelphia, United States 30 Apr 1960 28 d
20.6 −1.6 Ray Norton USA Berkeley, United States 19 Mar 1960 42 d
20.6 Manfred Germar FRG Wuppertal, Germany 1 Oct 1958 1 yr
20.6 Bobby Morrow USA Melbourne, Australia 27 Nov 1956 1 yr
20.6 ±0.0 Thane Baker USA Bakersfield, United States 23 Jun 1956 157 d
20.6 Andy Stanfield USA Los Angeles, United States 28 Jun 1952 3 yrs
20.6 Andy Stanfield USA Philadelphia, United States 26 May 1951 1 yr

Rows link to a profile only where the athlete appears on a published list. Struck marks were rescinded or never ratified, and A marks a performance at altitude; both come from the source article's own key and markers, and eras are kept as it lists them. Nothing is inferred.