Women · World record

200 Metres

The current record and its documented progression: 28 ratified records from 1922 to 1988.

Current record

21.34+1.3

Florence Griffith JoynerUSASeoul · 29 Sep 1988

37 years standing0.22 s improvementAll-time top 25 →

Record progression

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

1922 · 27.8 Alice Cast1922 · 26.8 Mary Lines1924 · 26.2 Eileen Edwards1926 · 26.0 Eileen Edwards1927 · 25.4 Eileen Edwards1933 · 24.6 Tollien Schuurman1935 · 23.6 Stanislawa Walasiewicz1952 · 23.6 Marjorie Jackson1952 · 23.4 Marjorie Jackson1956 · 23.2 Betty Cuthbert1960 · 23.2 Betty Cuthbert1960 · 22.9 Wilma Rudolph1964 · 22.9 Margaret Burvill1965 · 22.7 Irena Szewińska1968 · 22.5 Irena Szewińska1970 · 22.4 Chi Cheng1972 · 22.4 Renate Stecher1973 · 22.1 Renate Stecher1974 · 22.1 Irena Szewińska1974 · 22.21 Irena Szewińska1978 · 22.06 Marita Koch1979 · 22.02 Marita Koch1979 · 21.71 Marita Koch1984 · 21.71 Marita Koch1986 · 21.71 Heike Drechsler1986 · 21.71 Heike Drechsler1988 · 21.56 Florence Griffith Joyner1988 · 21.34 Florence Griffith Joyner 21.3427.80

19221952 · Jackson 23.61968 · Szewińska 22.51979 · Koch 22.021988 · Joyner 21.34

Documented records

28 ratified · 1 at altitude · most recent first · Wikipedia (EN) revision 1355192812, imported 2 Sep 2026

MarkWindAthleteNationVenueDateStood
21.34 +1.2 Florence Griffith Joyner USA Seoul, South Korea 29 Sep 1988 37 yrs
21.56 +1.7 Florence Griffith Joyner USA Seoul, South Korea 29 Sep 1988 0 d
21.71 −0.8 Heike Drechsler GDR Stuttgart, West Germany 29 Aug 1986 2 yrs
21.71 +1.9 Heike Drechsler GDR Jena, East Germany 29 Jun 1986 61 d
21.71 +0.3 Marita Koch GDR Potsdam, East Germany 21 Jul 1984 1 yr
21.71 +0.7 Marita Koch GDR Karl Marx Stadt, East Germany 10 Jun 1979 5 yrs
22.02 −1.4 Marita Koch GDR Leipzig, East Germany 3 Jun 1979 7 d
22.06 +1.2 Marita Koch GDR Erfurt, East Germany 28 May 1978 1 yr
22.21 +1.9 Irena Szewińska POL Potsdam, East Germany 13 Jun 1974 3 yrs
22.1 +1.9 Irena Szewińska POL Potsdam, Germany 13 Jun 1974 0 d
22.1 +1.6 Renate Stecher GDR Dresden, Germany 21 Jul 1973 327 d
22.4 +1.1 Renate Stecher GDR Munich, Germany 7 Sep 1972 317 d
22.4 +0.8 Chi Cheng TPE Munich, Germany 12 Jul 1970 2 yrs
22.5A +2.0 Irena Szewińska POL Mexico City, Mexico 18 Oct 1968 1 yr
22.7 +0.8 Irena Szewińska POL Warsaw, Poland 8 Aug 1965 3 yrs
22.9 ±0.0 Margaret Burvill AUS Perth, Australia 22 Feb 1964 1 yr
22.9 +1.4 Wilma Rudolph USA Corpus Christi, United States 9 Jul 1960 3 yrs
23.2 Betty Cuthbert AUS Hobart, Tasmania 7 Mar 1960 124 d
23.2 Betty Cuthbert AUS Sydney, Australia 16 Sep 1956 3 yrs
23.4 Marjorie Jackson AUS Helsinki, Finland 25 Jul 1952 4 yrs
23.6 Marjorie Jackson AUS Helsinki, Finland 25 Jul 1952 0 d
23.6 Stanislawa Walasiewicz POL Warsaw, Poland 4 Aug 1935 16 yrs
24.6 Tollien Schuurman NED Brussels, Belgium 13 Aug 1933 1 yr
25.4 Eileen Edwards GBR Berlin, Germany 12 Jun 1927 6 yrs
26.0 Eileen Edwards GBR Paris, France 3 Oct 1926 252 d
26.2 Eileen Edwards GBR London, United Kingdom 20 Aug 1924 2 yrs
26.8 Mary Lines GBR Waddon, United Kingdom 23 Sep 1922 1 yr
27.8 Alice Cast GBR Paris, France 20 Aug 1922 34 d

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.