Men's 200 metres world record progression


The following table shows the world record progression in the men's 200 metres, as ratified by the IAAF. The current record of 19.19 seconds was set by Usain Bolt at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.
The IAAF maintained separate records for 200 m over a straight track and over a curved track until 1976, when records for the former were discarded. The IAAF ratified the first record for 200 m on a curved track in 1951. "y" denotes times for 220 yards which were also ratified for the event.
As of 2018, the IAAF has ratified 24 world records in the event.

Records 1951–1976

TimeWindAutoAthleteNationalityLocation of raceDate
20.6yAndy StanfieldPhiladelphia, United StatesMay 26, 1951
20.6Andy StanfieldLos Angeles, United StatesJune 28, 1952
20.60.0Thane BakerBakersfield, United StatesJune 23, 1956
20.620.75Bobby MorrowMelbourne, AustraliaNovember 27, 1956
20.6Manfred GermarWuppertal, GermanyOctober 1, 1958
20.6y−1.6Ray NortonBerkeley, United StatesMarch 19, 1960
20.6Ray NortonPhiladelphia, United StatesApril 30, 1960
20.5yPeter RadfordWolverhampton, United KingdomMay 28, 1960
20.50.020.75Stone JohnsonStanford, United StatesJuly 2, 1960
20.50.0Ray NortonStanford, United StatesJuly 2, 1960
20.520.65Livio BerrutiRome, ItalySeptember 3, 1960
20.520.62Livio BerrutiRome, ItalySeptember 3, 1960
20.5y−1.120.67Paul DraytonWalnut, United StatesJune 23, 1962
20.3y−0.1Henry CarrTempe, United StatesMarch 23, 1963
20.2y0.5Henry CarrTempe, United StatesApril 4, 1964
20.0y0.0Tommie SmithSacramento, United StatesJune 11, 1966
19.8A0.919.83ATommie SmithMexico City, MexicoOctober 16, 1968
19.8A0.919.86ADonald QuarrieCali, ColombiaAugust 3, 1971
19.8+1.3Donald QuarrieEugene, Oregon, United StatesJune 7, 1975

plus sign denotes en route time during longer race
The "Time" column indicates the ratified mark; the "Wind" column indicates the wind assistance in metres per second, 2.0 m/s the current maximum allowable, a negative indicates the mark was set running into a wind; the "Auto" column indicates a fully automatic time that was also recorded in the event when hand-timed marks were used for official records, or which was the basis for the official mark, rounded to the 10th or 100th of a second, depending on the rules then in place.
John Carlos ran 19.7A seconds , at altitude, at the 1968 US Olympic Trials in Echo Summit. The run was not ratified as a world record because Carlos was wearing shoes with 'brush' spikes which did not have sanction as official footwear.
Henry Carr's winning time at the 1964 Olympics was a hand timed 20.3 seconds. The electronic time was 20.36 seconds, which was the fastest auto time to that date. Tommie Smith ran 20.26 for 220 yards at Provo in 1967. By deducting.12 seconds for the 200 metre equivalent, he is estimated to have run 20.14 for that distance.

Records post-1977

Beginning in 1975, the IAAF accepted separate automatically electronically timed records for events up to 400 metres. Starting on January 1, 1977, the IAAF required fully automatic timing to the hundredth of a second for these events.
Tommie Smith's 1968 Olympic gold medal victory was the fastest recorded fully electronic 200 metre sprint up to that time.
TimeWindAutoAthleteNationalityLocation of raceDate
19.83 A0.9Tommie SmithMexico City, MexicoOctober 16, 1968
19.72 A1.8Pietro MenneaMexico City, MexicoSeptember 12, 1979
19.661.7Michael JohnsonAtlanta, United StatesJune 23, 1996
19.320.419.313Michael JohnsonAtlanta, United StatesAugust 1, 1996
19.30−0.919.296Usain BoltBeijing, ChinaAugust 20, 2008
19.19−0.319.190Usain BoltBerlin, GermanyAugust 20, 2009

The record progressions for automatic times at low altitude were 20.30 seconds by Valeriy Borzov at Helsinki in 1971, then Larry Black 20.28, 1972 at Munich, 20.00, 19.96, 19.75, 19.75 and 19.73, before Michael Johnson ran 19.66 in 1996.