The 200 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the second edition of the multi-sport event. The men's 200 m has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 and the women's 200 m has been held continuously since its introduction at the 1948 Games. It is the most prestigious 200 m race at elite level. The competition format typically has three or four qualifying rounds leading to a final race between eight athletes.
The Olympic records for the distance are 19.30 seconds for men, set by Usain Bolt in 2008, and 21.34 seconds set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988. The men's world record was set at the Olympics in 1956, 1960 (twice), 1968, 1996 and 2008. The women's world record has similarly been linked to the competition, with records coming at the Olympic Games in 1952 (twice), 1956, 1968, 1972 and 1988 (twice). Griffith-Joyner's 1988 Olympic mark remains the world record for the distance, while Bolt's Olympic record is the third fastest of all-time.
