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200m Records

The 200m has been contested at the Olympics since 1900 for men and 1948 for women.

The event used to be contested at the IAAF World Indoor Championships but was removed after 2004 due to the perceived disadvantage of drawing an inside lane assignment being a bigger factor than talent in determining results.

To be valid for a record, a time must be run with a wind reading of +2.0 or less.

Notes on records

For 200m, electronic times are required. Some historical times that predate this requirement may be hand-times (h). Where it is not readily evident that a historical hand timed record or electronic time is faster, both will be listed. [I believe any time given with a single decimal is hand timed but unless marked it is not explicitly expressed.]

WellingtonNorth Island
Champs
South Island
Champs
NZMA ChampsNZ NationalNZ IndoorOceania Champs
M3523.50
R Ward
22.9
Laurie Malcolmson (1986)
24.3
Jeff Barnfield (1993)
23.0h
M Brooking (1984)

23.21
Laurie Malcolmson (1987)
22.14
B Potter (2017)
no record22.80
Max Warlow AUS (1984)
20.11
Linford Christie GBR (1995)
20.59
Doug Turner GBR (2002)
M4024.47
Graham McPhail (2008)
24.2
Laurie Malcolmson (1990)
24.3
Jeff Barnfield (1995)
22.9h
Bruce McPhail (1981*)

*1981 Champs held in calendar year 1980
22.80
James Nightingale (2019)
no record22.80
Brendon Wilson AUS (1984)
20.64
Troy Douglas NED (2003)
21.71
Darren Scott GBR (2010)
M4524.84
Gary Rawson
23.90
Mark Lambert(2018)
24.1
Bruce McPhail (1983)
23.27
Bruce McPhail (1983)
23.0h
Bruce McPhail (1983)

23.14
Bruce McPhail (1983)
no record22.60
Reg Austin AUS (1984)
21.65
Alexander Kosenkow GER (2022)
22.30
Alexander Kosenkow GER  (2022)
M5025.16
Alessandro Pinna (2018)
24.80
Bruce Solomon (2013)
24.7
Bruce McPhail (1987)
24.25
Laurie Malcolmson (2000)
23.77
Bruce McPhail (1987)
no record24.37
Gary Parkinson AUS (2019)
22.44
Willie Gault USA (2011)
22.99
Bill Collins USA (2002)
M5526.79
Gary Rawson (2015)
26.79
Dennis O’Leary (2012)

Gary Rawson (2015)
24.96
John Campbell (2020)
24.7h
Bruce McPhail (1992)
24.32
John Campbell (2021)
25.42
John Campbell (2019)
25.20
Rob Mayston AUS (2014)
23.24
Willie Gault USA (2016)
23.36
Bill Collins USA (2006)
M6027.63
Mark Macfarlane (2024)
26.77
Laurie Malcolmson (2009)
27.9
Brien Halpin (1993)
26.25
Tony Deleiros (2008)
25.71
Bruce McPhail (1997)
27.79
A Deleiros (2010)
26.11
Laurie Malcolmson NZL (2010)
24.00
Ronald Taylor GBR (1994)
24.32
Bill Collins USA (2011)
M6530.35
Rupert Watson (2014)
28.06
Laurie Malcolmson (2015)
29.11
Malcolm Fraser (2006)
27.76
Laurie Malcolmson (2015)
27.25
Trevor Guptill (2014)
28.43
Alan Dougall (2017)
26.20
Colin Buyers AUS (2008)
24.65
Charles Allie USA (2013)
24.94
Bill Collins USA (2016)
M7032.25
Bill Nicholson
29.72
John Lester (2012)
31.21
Vincent Paddam (2020)
29.25
Alan Dougall (2020)
27.98
Trevor Guptill (2016)
28.58
Trevor Guptill (2019)
28.10
Hugh Coogan AUS (2006)
25.75
Chares Allie USA (2018)
26.11
Chares Allie USA (2019)
M7530.70
Bernie Kaiser
31.65
Stewart Foster (2012)
31.05
Barry Baxter (2020)
30.7h
Bernie Kaiser (1991)
30.61
Tony Deleiros (2022)
53.92
Peter Hanson (2016)
29.89
David Trantrill AUS (2014)
27.73
Bob Lida USA (2012)
27.64
Robert Lida USA (2012)
M8032.63
David Reade (2017)
34.6
Bernie Kaiser (1992)
36.4
Alistair Mackay (2008)
35.09
Bernie Kaiser (1994)
32.63
David Reade (2017)
no record32.49
Mike Johnston AUS (2002)
29.54
Hisamitsu Hijiya JPN (2012)
29.15
Robert Lida USA (2017)
M8541.00
Bernie Kaiser
40.7
Eric de Lautour (2006)
no record40.60
Jim Jones (2020)
39.67
Jim Jones (2020)
no record39.08
Jim Sinclair AUS (2012)
31.69
Hisamitsu Hijiya JPN (2016)
33.76
Hiroo Tanaka JPN (2017)
M90no record50.07

Eric de Lautour (2012)
no record52.38

Syd Taylor (2006)
47.38

Syd Taylor (2006)
no record46.79

Jim Sinclair AUS (2015)
36.02

Hiroo Tanaka JPN (2021)
40.19

Herbert Muller GER (2020)
M95no recordno recordno recordno record59.95
Eric de Lautour (2015)
no record59.96
Eric de Lautour NZL (2015)
48.09
Toshio Kamehama JPN (2022)
54.77
Charles Eugster GBR (2015)
M100no recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno record1:17.59
Philip Rabinowitz RSA (2004)
1:40.94
Orville Rogers USA (2018)
WellingtonNorth Island
Champs
South Island
Champs
NZMA ChampsNZ NationalNZ IndoorOceania ChampsWorld
 World Indoor
W3526.36
Penny Hunt
26.6
Wendy Brown (1980)
27.19
Joeline Jones (2020)
25.72
Wendy Brown (1987)
24.89
B Peterson (1993)
no record25.70
Eileen Hindle AUS (1984)
21.81
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce JAM (2022)
22.59

Allyson Felix USA (2021)
W4027.21
Vanessa Story (2016)
27.5
C Turner (1987)
27.23
Joeline Jones (2021)
25.7h
Wendy Brown (1991)
25.7h
Wendy Brown (1991)

26.00
Wendy Brown (1991)
27.10
Vanessa Story (2017)
26.15
Julie Brims AUS (2006)
22.72
Merlene Ottey SLO (2004)
23.93

Merlene Ottey SLO (2003)
W4527.54
Penny Hunt (1993)
28.1
Wendy Brown (1996)
28.02
Elizabeth Wilson (2011)
26.58
C Mills (1979)
26.58
C Mills (1979)
no record26.55
Marie Kay AUS (2006)
23.82
Merlene Ottey SLO (2006)
25.44

Maryvonne Icarre FRA (2011)
W5029.18
Petra Stoeveken (2018)
28.70
Anne Hunter (1998)
27.45
Elizabeth Wilson (2014)
27.44
Elizabeth Wilson (2016)
26.83
Elizabeth Wilson (2016)
no record26.69
Gianna Mogentale AUS (2014)
24.33
Merlene Ottey SLO (2010)
25.94

Maryvonne Icarre FRA (2016)
W5530.26
Veronica Gould
28.83
Sheryl Gower (2002)
29.8 (h)
Shirley Peterson (1986) 29.85

Liz Mitchell (2021)
28.84
Elizabeth Wilson (2019)
27.74
Elizabeth Wilson (2018)
no record28.16
Elizabeth Wilson NZL (2018)
25.07
Julie Brims AUS (2021)
26.13

Nicole Alexis FRA (2015)
W6031.90
Judy Hammond
31.5
Chris Waring (2004)
33.67
Janis Russell
(2020)
30.1
Margaret Peters (1994)
30.00
Shirley Peterson (1989)
36.46
A Hunter (2010)
30.79
Ann Cooper AUS (1990)
27.78
Nicole Barilly Alexis FRA (2022)
28.23

Karla Del Grande CAN (2014)
W6533.09

Veronica Gould (2017)
31.8

Margaret Peters (1998)
34.69

Gail Kirkman (2021)
31.38

Shirley Peterson (1994)
31.00

Margaret Peters (1999)
no record30.55

Jeannette Flynne NZL (2018)
28.53

Karla Del Grande CAN (2018)
29.73

Karla Del Grande CAN (2019)
W7034.73
Veronica Gould (2020)
33.22
Margaret Peters (2005)
39.4
Shirley Peterson (2000)
32.22
Margaret Peters (2004)
31.45
Margaret Peters (2004)
34.13
Sheryl Gower (2019)
33.46
Sheryl Gower NZL (2019)
31.30
Ingrid Meier GER (2017)
31.86

Kathy Bergen USA (2012)
W7541.53
Judy Hammond (2017)
35.80
Margaret Peters (2009)
no record35.53
Margaret Peters (2009)
34.55
Margaret Peters (2009)
37.50
Chris Waring  (2019)
35.99
Chris Waring  NZL (2019)
31.56
Carol LaFayette-Boyd CAN (2018)
32.26

Carol LaFayette-Boyd CAN (2019)
W8043.48
Judy Hammond (2018)
45.13
Judy Hammond (2017)
no record44.70
Shirley Peterson (2010)
43.48
Judy Hammond (2018)
no record40.27
Margaret Peters NZL (2014)
35.00
Carol LaFayette-Boyd CAN (2022)
35.66

Kathy Bergen USA (2020)
W85no recordno recordno record54.58
Marcia Petley (2015)
52.21
Marcia Petley (2015)
no recordno record40.20
Christa Bortignon CAN (2022)
42.09

Christia Bortignon CAN (2022)
W90no recordno recordno recordno recordno record1:03.52
Marcia Petley (2019)
no record53.35
Emiko Saito JPN (2022)
1:00.72

Olga Kotelko CAN (2010)
W95no recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno record1:12.99
Diane Friedman USA (2017)
1:14.14

Olga Kotelko CAN (2014)
W100no recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno recordno record1:29.79
Diane Friedman USA (2021)
no record