Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres

The women's 200 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 19–21 August (final) at the Beijing National Stadium. The winning margin was 0.19 seconds. The winner had the second fastest reaction time in the final.

Allyson Felix, the young American athlete and already a double World champion, entered the 200m race in Beijing as a favorite for the gold. Defending champion Veronica Campbell-Brown of Jamaica also appeared to be in great form, setting a new personal best of 21.94 seconds at the Olympic trials.

In the final, Campbell-Brown had the quickest start and made up the stagger very quickly on Allyson Felix, who had been drawn in the lane outside of her. Running a stellar curve and accelerating out of the bend, the Jamaican athlete held her form to cross the line in 21.74 seconds, the fastest time of the decade and a new personal best.

Veronica Campbell-Brown, who suffered from injuries that led to disappointment in the 200m in the 2007 World Championships, returned to form to become only the second woman in history to win back-to-back Olympic 200m titles. Allyson Felix was once again relegated to the silver medal in a seasonal best of 21.93, the second-fastest time of her career. Jamaican Kerron Stewart won the bronze medal by just a hundredth of a second.

The qualifying standards were 23.00 s (A standard) and 23.20 s (B standard).

Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows:

No new world or Olympic records were set for this event.

Round 1
Qualification: First 4 in each heat (Q) and the next 8 fastest (q) advance to the Round 2.

Round 2
Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 4 fastest (q) advance to the Semifinals.

Semifinals
Qualification: First 4 in each heat (Q) advance to the Final.

Semifinal 1
20 August 2008 - 21:55 Wind: 0.0 m/s

Semifinal 2
20 August 2008 - 22:04 Wind: -0.2 m/s

Final
21 August 2008 - Wind: 0.6 m/s