The men's 200 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium, Berlin, Germany on August 18 and August 20. The winning margin was 0.62 seconds which as of 2024 is the only time the men's 200 metres has been won by more than half a second at these championships.

The race favourites were Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt. Gay entered the competition as the reigning world champion, championship record holder, and 200 m world leader with 19.58 seconds. Bolt, the current Olympic champion and world record holder, had a season's best of 19.59 seconds. The last time the two athletes raced was at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, where Gay beat Bolt by a margin of 0.15 seconds. Osaka bronze medallist Wallace Spearmon was the only other athlete to run under twenty seconds that season and former Olympic champion Shawn Crawford was also competing. Up-and-coming athletes Alonso Edward, Steve Mullings and Ramil Guliyev were among the season's fastest sprinters prior to the championships.Mulkeen, Jon (2009-08-09).Men's 200m - PREVIEW. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-09. Archived 2009-09-08.

After hurting his groin during his American record run in the 100 metres two days earlier, Gay withdrew from the race, effectively rescinding his second world title. The withdrawal of Dwain Chambers, Churandy Martina and Jaysuma Saidy Ndure also reduced the quality of the field. There were no surprise eliminations in the heats, where Crawford, Mullings, Robert Hering, and Martial Mbandjock were the fastest qualifiers,Mulkeen, Jon (2009-08-18).Event Report - Men's 200m - Heats . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-09. and Mullings had the fastest time of the quarter-finals round, with all the favourite athletes progressing.Mulkeen, Jon (2009-08-18). Event Report - Men's 200m - Quarter-Final . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-21. On the second day of competition, German number one Hering was eliminated. Bolt and Spearmon were the two semi-final winners, while the third-fastest, 19-year-old Alonso Edward, demonstrated medal winning form.Mulkeen, Jon (2009-08-19). Event Report - Men's 200m - Semi-Final . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-21.

In the final race, Usain Bolt, the clear favourite, had another world record-breaking run following his 9.58 second record in the 100 metres four days earlier. After having the fastest reaction time of the race, Bolt came out of the bend in first place and extended his lead further in the home straight, beating his previous mark of 19.30 seconds set at the Olympics by 0.11 seconds to take the gold medal and Championship record. Crawford, second fastest at the bend, was overtaken by Edward and Spearmon and eventually finished fourth. Edward vastly improved his previous best to set a South American record of 19.81, while Spearmon was third with 19.85 seconds.Mulkeen, Jon (2009-08-20). Event Report - Men's 200m - Final . IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-21. At 19 years, 255 days old, silver medallist Edward became the youngest ever world medallist for the men's 200 m.

Although the race between Gay and Bolt had not materialised, Bolt's world record of 19.19 seconds was a highlight of the championships. The overall quality of the event was also high: Edward had improved from 20.62 to 19.81 seconds over the course of one year. Also, with Crawford running 19.89 seconds, it was the first ever 200 m race to see four athletes run under 19.9 seconds. Bolt's winning margin of 0.62 seconds over second-placed Edward was the biggest in World Championship history. He received a $100,000 bonus for his performance, which was 0.13 seconds faster than Michael Johnson's former world record, a mark that had been regarded as one of the best records in the history of athletics.Hart, Simon (2009-08-20). World Athletics: Usain Bolt breaks 200 metres world record in 19.19 seconds. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2009-08-21.

Medalists GoldSilverBronzeUsain BoltAlonso EdwardWallace Spearmon

Records Prior to the competition, the following records were as follows.

World record19.30Beijing, China20 August 2008Championship record19.76Osaka, Japan30 August 2007World leading19.58New York, United States30 May 2009African record19.68Atlanta, United States1 August 1996Asian Record20.03Yokohama, Japan7 June 2003North American record19.30Beijing, China20 August 2008South American record19.89Munich, Germany11 September 1999European record19.72Mexico, Mexico12 September 1979Oceanian record20.06Mexico, Mexico16 October 1968

Qualification standards

A timeB time 20.59 20.75

Schedule Date Time RoundAugust 18, 2009 10:05 HeatsAugust 18, 2009 18:55 QuarterfinalsAugust 19, 2009 19:25 SemifinalsAugust 20, 2009 20:35 Final

Results KEY:qFastest non-qualifiersQQualifiedWRWorld recordARArea recordNRNational recordPBPersonal bestSBSeasonal best

Heats Qualification: First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 5 fastest(q) advance to the quarterfinals.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes 1 Shawn Crawford 20.60 Q 3 Steve Mullings 20.62 Q 9 Robert Hering 20.64 Q 7 Martial Mbandjock 20.65 Q 3 Paul Hession 20.66 Q 9 Wallace Spearmon 20.66 Q 3 Kenji Fujimitsu 20.69 Q 5 Usain Bolt 20.70 Q 6 Alonso Edward 20.71 Q 9 Gavin Smellie 20.71 Q 11 3 David Alerte 20.72 q 12 5 Rondel Sorrillo 20.74 Q 13 6 Marc Schneeberger 20.76 Q 14 7 Marco Cribari 20.80 Q 14 5 Sam Effah 20.80 Q 16 2 Brendan Christian 20.81 Q 16 6 Emmanuel Callander 20.81 Q 18 8 Jared Connaughton 20.82 Q 19 7 Rolando Palacios 20.83 Q 19 7 Kim Collins 20.83 q 21 2 Aleixo-Platini Menga 20.84 Q 22 1 Roman Smirnov 20.85 Q 23 8 Shinji Takahira 20.86 Q 24 2 Charles Clark 20.87 Q 25 9 Thuso Mpuang 20.91 q 26 4 Marlon Devonish 20.92 Q 27 2 Ben Youssef Meité 20.93 q 28 2 Omar Jouma Bilal Al-Salfa 20.94 q 29 1 Brian Dzingai 20.97 Q 29 9 Ramone McKenzie 20.97 31 7 Alexander Kosenkow 20.99 32 8 Stéphan Buckland 21.00 Q 32 6 Ihor Bodrov 21.00 32 6 Hamed Hamadan Al-Bishi 21.00 35 9 Seth Amoo 21.04 36 8 Patrick van Luijk 21.05 37 4 Ramil Guliyev 21.12 Q 38 5 Sandro Viana 21.18 39 4 Marek Niit 21.21 Q 40 5 Eddy De Lépine 21.23 41 3 Khalid Idrissi Zougari 21.24 42 4 Nathaniel McKinney 21.26 43 1 Adam Harris 21.28 44 6 Ramon Gittens 21.33 45 4 Joel Redhead 21.37 45 7 Ángel David Rodríguez 21.37 47 1 Aaron Armstrong 21.38 SB 47 4 Ronalds Arājs 21.38 47 5 Hitoshi Saito 21.38 50 2 Niko Verekauta 21.43 SB 51 2 Amr Ibrahim Mostafa Seoud 21.44 52 6 Vyacheslav Muravyev 21.48 53 8 Fanuel Kenosi 21.75 SB 54 3 Franklin Nazareno 21.84 55 4 Sibusiso Matsenjwa 21.93 PB 56 1 Khalil Al Hanahneh 21.98 57 8 Nikolai Portelli 22.11 58 4 Andrew Hinds 22.60 59 8 Gabriel Mvumvure 22.67 2 Desislav Gunev 8 Arnaldo Abrantes 1 Dwain Chambers 7 Tyson Gay 9 Churandy Martina 5 Obinna Metu 3 Gerald Phiri 1 Jaysuma Saidy Ndure

Quarterfinals Qualification: First 3 in each heat(Q) and the next 4 fastest(q) advance to the semifinals.

Rank Heat Name Nationality Time Notes 3 Steve Mullings 20.23 Q 4 Alonso Edward 20.33 Q 2 Shawn Crawford 20.37 Q 3 Ramil Guliyev 20.40 Q 1 Usain Bolt 20.41 Q 4 Wallace Spearmon 20.44 Q 3 Paul Hession 20.48 Q 1 David Alerte 20.51 Q, SB 1 Martial Mbandjock 20.55 Q, PB 1 Charles Clark 20.55 q 11 4 Robert Hering 20.58 Q 11 3 Brendan Christian 20.58 q 11 1 Rondel Sorrillo 20.58 q 14 3 Emmanuel Callander 20.62 q 15 2 Marlon Devonish 20.66 Q 16 3 Aleixo-Platini Menga 20.68 17 2 Rolando Palacios 20.69 Q, SB 17 2 Shinji Takahira 20.69 19 2 Roman Smirnov 20.72 SB 20 3 Ben Youssef Meité 20.78 21 4 Marco Cribari 20.81 22 1 Kim Collins 20.84 23 4 Thuso Mpuang 20.87 24 1 Marc Schneeberger 20.91 25 2 Omar Jouma Bilal Al-Salfa 20.97 25 4 Kenji Fujimitsu 20.97 25 4 Sam Effah 20.97 28 1 Gavin Smellie 21.27 29 3 Stéphan Buckland 21.33 2 Jared Connaughton 2 Brian Dzingai 4 Marek Niit

Semifinals First 4 of each Semifinal will be directly qualified (Q) for the Finals.

Semifinal 1

Rank Lane Name Nationality React Time Notes 1 3 Usain Bolt 0.177 20.08 Q 2 5 Alonso Edward 0.164 20.22 Q 3 6 Shawn Crawford 0.140 20.35 Q 4 4 David Alerte 0.147 20.45 Q, SB 5 7 Robert Hering 0.157 20.52 6 2 Rondel Sorrillo 0.128 20.63 7 8 Rolando Palacios 0.191 20.67 SB 8 1 Brendan Christian 0.138 20.79

Semifinal 2

Rank Lane Name Nationality React Time Notes 1 5 Wallace Spearmon 0.164 20.14 Q 2 3 Steve Mullings 0.156 20.26 Q 3 2 Charles Clark 0.163 20.27 Q, SB 4 4 Ramil Guliyev 0.154 20.28 Q 5 7 Martial Mbandjock 0.155 20.43 PB 6 8 Paul Hession 0.166 20.48 7 6 Marlon Devonish 0.154 20.62 8 1 Emmanuel Callander 0.145 20.70

Final

Rank Lane Name Nationality React Time Notes 5 Usain Bolt 0.133 19.19 WR 6 Alonso Edward 0.179 19.81 AR 4 Wallace Spearmon 0.152 19.85 SB 4 8 Shawn Crawford 0.148 19.89 SB 5 3 Steve Mullings 0.146 19.98 PB 6 7 Charles Clark 0.158 20.39 7 1 Ramil Guliyev 0.165 20.61 8 2 David Alerte 0.161 20.68

References General 200 metres results. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-08-18. Specific