Men 's 200 metres World record progression - wikipedia Men 's 200 metres World record progression World record progression for the men 's 200 m. 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 ( 201.17 m ) which were also ratified for the event. As of 2018, the IAAF has ratified 24 world records in the event. Contents 1 Records 1951 -- 1976 2 Records post-1977 3 See also 4 Notes Records 1951 -- 1976 Time Wind Auto Athlete Nationality Location of race Date 20.6 y Andy Stanfield United States Philadelphia, United States May 26, 1951 20.6 Andy Stanfield United States Los Angeles, United States June 28, 1952 20.6 0.0 Thane Baker United States Bakersfield, United States June 23, 1956 20.6 20.75 Bobby Morrow United States Melbourne, Australia November 27, 1956 20.6 Manfred Germar West Germany Wuppertal, Germany October 1, 1958 20.6 y − 1.6 Ray Norton United States Berkeley, United States March 19, 1960 20.6 Ray Norton United States Philadelphia, United States April 30, 1960 20.5 y Peter Radford United Kingdom Wolverhampton, United Kingdom May 28, 1960 20.5 0.0 20.75 Stone Johnson United States Stanford, United States July 2, 1960 20.5 0.0 Ray Norton United States Stanford, United States July 2, 1960 20.5 20.65 Livio Berruti Italy Rome, Italy September 3, 1960 20.5 20.62 Livio Berruti Italy Rome, Italy September 3, 1960 20.5 y − 1.1 20.67 Paul Drayton United States Walnut, United States June 23, 1962 20.3 y − 0.1 Henry Carr United States Tempe, United States March 23, 1963 20.2 y 0.5 Henry Carr United States Tempe, United States April 4, 1964 20.0 y 0.0 Tommie Smith United States Sacramento, United States June 11, 1966 19.8 A 0.9 19.83 A Tommie Smith United States Mexico City, Mexico October 16, 1968 19.8 A 0.9 19.86 A Donald Quarrie Jamaica Cali, Colombia August 3, 1971 19.8 + 1.3 Donald Quarrie Jamaica Eugene, Oregon, United States June 7, 1975 ( + ) plus sign denotes en route time during longer race John Carlos ran 19.7 A seconds ( 19.92 A auto ) ( 1.9 ms wind ), 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 ( 17 October ) was a hand timed 20.3 seconds. The electronic time was 20.36 seconds, which was probably the fastest to that time. 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. Time Wind Auto Athlete Nationality Location of race Date 19.83 A 0.9 Tommie Smith United States Mexico City, Mexico October 16, 1968 19.72 A 1.8 Pietro Mennea Italy Mexico City, Mexico September 12, 1979 19.66 1.7 Michael Johnson United States Atlanta, United States June 23, 1996 19.32 0.4 19.313 Michael Johnson United States Atlanta, United States August 1, 1996 19.30 − 0.9 19.296 Usain Bolt Jamaica Beijing, China August 20, 2008 19.19 − 0.3 19.190 Usain Bolt Jamaica Berlin, Germany August 20, 2009 The best automatic times at low altitude were 20.00 seconds by Valeriy Borzov at Munich in 1972, then 19.96 ( Mennea, 1980 ), 19.75 ( Carl Lewis, 1983 ) and 19.73 ( Michael Marsh, 1992 ), before Michael Johnson ran 19.66 in 1996. See also Women 's 200 metres world record progression Men 's 100 metres world record progression Notes ^ Jump up to : `` IAAF World Championships : IAAF Statistics Handbook. Daegu 2011 '' ( PDF ). Monte Carlo : IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2011. pp. Pages 595, 596. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on October 1, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2011. ^ Jump up to : `` 12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics : IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009 '' ( PDF ). Monte Carlo : IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 547. Archived from the original ( pdf ) on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2009. Jump up ^ original source has the correct year -- 1966, not 1968 Jump up ^ Clarey, Christopher ( August 20, 2009 ). `` Bolt Needs Little Urging to Crush His 200 World Record ''. New York Times. Jump up ^ `` World records set at Berlin World Championships have been ratified ''. IAAF. 2009 - 09 - 20. Retrieved 2010 - 05 - 02. 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Question: who held the 200m world record before usain bolt
Answer: Michael Johnson