The women's 200 metres event at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics took place on 29–31 August (final) at the Nagai Stadium.

Having run the fastest time in the world this year, Allyson Felix entered as the favorite to retain her World Championship title. Her rival Veronica Campbell-Brown was her only threat from retaining her title.

In the final both Felix and Campbell-Brown shot out of the blocks like rockets, matching each other stride for stride, it was a bloody battle for the gold medal position. Coming into the straight, at the midpoint of the race, Veronica seemed to have a slight advantage over Allyson. Then Felix produced a display of speed and strength endurance that was simply astonishing, pulling away from the reigning olympic champion to win by a five-metre margin. Veronica and Susanthika Jayasinghe took second and third place respectively.

At 21 years old Felix ran under 22 seconds for the first time, winning in 21.81 seconds. The only athlete to run under 22 seconds for this race - making it the time of the Century at the time. Felix is the most decorated track and field athlete in history.

As of 2024, Felix's winning margin of 0.53 seconds remains the only time the women's 200 metres has been won by more than half a second at these championships.

Medalists GoldSilverBronze

Records

World record 21.34 Florence Griffith-Joyner Seoul, South Korea September 29, 1988 Championship Record 21.74 Silke Gladisch Rome, Italy September 3, 1987

Results Heats Qualification: First 4 in each heat(Q) and the next 8 fastest (q) advance to the quarterfinals.

Heat 1 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 4Allyson Felix 22.50 Q 2 8Susanthika Jayasinghe 22.55 Q, SB 3 3Sherry Fletcher 22.94 Q 4 7Roxana Díaz 23.06 Q 5 5Tahesia Harrigan 23.46 q 6 6Myriam Léonie Mani 23.66 - 2Fabienne Féraez DNS

Heat 2 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 2LaShauntea Moore 22.93 Q 2 6Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie 23.07 Q 3 5Yelena Bolsun 23.11 Q 4 4Zudikey Rodríguez 23.96 Q 5 3Kay Khine Lwin 24.50 SB 6 8Abdikarim Sheikh Fowzio 30.87 PB - 7Emily Freeman DSQ - 9Rakia Al-Gassra DNS

Heat 3 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 2Tezzhan Naimova 22.84 Q 2 4LaVerne Jones 23.04 Q 3 7Yuliya Chermoshanskaya 23.21 Q 4 3Iryna Shtanhyeyeva 23.23 Q 5 5Geraldine Pillay 23.39 q 6 6Gretta Taslakian 24.35 - 8Monika Bejnar DNS

Heat 4 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 4Sanya Richards 22.74 Q 2 8Cydonie Mothersill 22.86 Q 3 7Aleen Bailey 22.94 Q 4 2Vida Anim 23.16 Q 5 3Guzel Khubbieva 23.25 q, SB 6 6Louise Ayétotché 23.34 q 7 8Ewelina Klocek 23.38 q 8 9Kirsten Nieuwendam 24.52 NR

Heat 5 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 3Muriel Hurtis-Houairi 22.83 Q 2 2Kim Gevaert 22.91 Q 3 4Virgil Hodge 23.00 Q 4 7Cathleen Tschirch 23.30 Q 5 5Felipa Palacios 23.32 q 6 8Olena Chebanu 23.40 q, SB 7 6Kadiatou Camara 23.48

Heat 6 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 5Veronica Campbell 22.87 Q 2 2Torri Edwards 22.90 Q 3 4Joice Maduaka 23.22 Q 4 3Affoué Amandine Allou 23.24 Q, SB 5 7Natalia Rusakova 23.24 q 6 8Ionela Târlea-Manolache 23.48 7 6Sakie Nobuoka 23.74 SB

Quarterfinals First 4 of each Quarterfinal qualifies (Q).

Heat 1 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 6Sanya Richards 22.31 Q, SB 2 7Susanthika Jayasinghe 22.55 Q, SB 3 4Virgil Hodge 22.84 Q 4 5 LaVerne Jones 23.03 Q 5 8Yuliya Chermoshanskaya 23.15 6 3Olena Chebanu 23.21 SB 7 9Felipa Palacios 23.24 8 2Cathleen Tschirch 23.50

Heat 2 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 5Allyson Felix 22.61 Q 2 7Yelena Bolsun 22.80 Q 3 4Cydonie Mothersill 22.82 Q 4 6 Kim Gevaert 22.96 Q 5 3Guzel Khubbieva 23.28 6 2Tahesia Harrigan 23.52 7 8Joice Maduaka 23.62 8 9Zudikey Rodríguez 24.31

Heat 3 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 5Veronica Campbell 22.55 Q 2 6Torri Edwards 22.62 Q 3 7Tezzhan Naimova 22.87 Q 4 3 Sherry Fletcher 23.02 Q 5 8Iryna Shtanhyeyeva 23.17 6 9Ewelina Klocek 23.26 PB 7 2Vida Anim 23.47 8 3Louise Ayétotché 23.60

Heat 4 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 5Aleen Bailey 22.60 Q, SB 2 7LaShauntea Moore 22.71 Q 3 8Roxana Díaz 22.79 Q 4 6 Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie 22.81 Q 5 4Muriel Hurtis-Houairi 22.86 6 3Natalia Rusakova 22.97 7 9Affoué Amandine Allou 23.46 8 2Geraldine Pillay 23.55

Semifinals First 4 of each Semifinal qualifies (Q).

Heat 1 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 7Allyson Felix 22.21 Q 2 5Veronica Campbell 22.44 Q 3 4Torri Edwards 22.51, SB Q 4 9 Cydonie Mothersill 22.78 Q 5 8Sherry Fletcher 22.96 6 6Yelena Bolsun 23.01 7 3Virgil Hodge 23.06 - 2Kim Gevaert DNS

Heat 2 Rank Lane Athlete Nation Time (sec) Notes 1 6Sanya Richards 22.50 Q 2 7Aleen Bailey 22.65 Q 3 5Susanthika Jayasinghe 22.66 Q 4 4 LaShauntea Moore 22.73 Q 5 3Tezzhan Naimova 22.88 6 8Roxana Diaz 22.98 7 9Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie 23.27 8 2LaVerne Jones 23:34

Final 31 August 2007 Rank Athlete Nation Time Notes Allyson Felix 21.81 WL Veronica Campbell 22.34 SB Susanthika Jayasinghe 22.63 4Torri Edwards 22.65 5Sanya Richards 22.70 6Aleen Bailey 22.72 7 LaShauntea Moore 22.97 8Cydonie Mothersille 23.08

References Official results