Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres
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The women's 200 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on 19–21 August (final) at the Beijing National Stadium.[1] The winning margin was 0.19 seconds. The winner had the second fastest reaction time in the final.
Women's 200 metres at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | Beijing National Stadium | |||||||||
Dates | August 19 August 20 August 21 (final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 46 from 36 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 21.74 s | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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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).[2]