# Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres

The Women's 200 metres competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom. The event was held at the Olympic Stadium on 6–8 August. The winning margin was 0.21 seconds.
The times in the three semi-finals were very close, but while Allyson Felix appeared to put a minimum of effort to hold off Murielle Ahouré in heat two, in heat one Veronica Campbell Brown dipped at the finish to edge Carmelita Jeter and in heat three Sanya Richards-Ross raced Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to the line. Semoy Hackett set the Trinidad and Tobago national record as the first time qualifier, Myriam Soumaré only one hundredth behind as the other time qualifier in 22.56.
In the final Felix took lead through the turn and extended it to the finish. Campbell-Brown was second coming into the straight but was overtaken by Fraser-Pryce and Jeter who took the silver and bronze respectively.

## Competition format

The Women's 200m competition consisted of heats (Round 1), semifinals and a Final. The fastest competitors from each race in the heats qualified for the semifinals along with the fastest overall competitors not already qualified that were required to fill the available spaces in the semifinals. A total of eight competitors qualified for the Final from the semifinals.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing World and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) | 21.34 | Seoul, Korea | 29 September 1988 |
| Olympic record | Florence Griffith Joyner (USA) | 21.34 | Seoul, Korea | 29 September 1988 |
| 2012 World leading | Allyson Felix (USA) | 21.69 | Eugene, United States | 30 June 2012 |

## Schedule

All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Monday, 6 August 2012 | 19:20 | Round 1 |
| Tuesday, 7 August 2012 | 20:25 | Semifinals |
| Wednesday, 8 August 2012 | 21:00 | Finals |

## Results
### Round 1

Qual. rule: first 3 of each heat (Q) plus the 6 fastest times (q) qualified.

#### Heat 1

Wind: Heat 1: +0.5 m/s
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Murielle Ahouré | Ivory Coast | 22.55 | Q |
| 2 | Aleksandra Fedoriva | Russia | 22.61 | Q |
| 3 | Margaret Adeoye | Great Britain | 22.94 | Q, PB |
| 4 | Allison Peter | Virgin Islands | 23.00 | q |
| 5 | Christy Udoh | Nigeria | 23.19 | |
| 6 | Andreea Ogrăzeanu | Romania | 23.46 | |
| 7 | Anna Kiełbasińska | Poland | 23.67 | |
| 8 | Hinikissia Albertine Ndikert | Chad | 26.06 | |
| | Marlena Wesh | Haiti | DNS | |

#### Heat 2

Wind: Heat 2: +1.2 m/s
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Allyson Felix | United States | 22.71 | Q |
| 2 | Semoy Hackett | Trinidad and Tobago | 22.81 | Q |
| 3 | Janelle Redhead | Grenada | 23.08 | Q, SB |
| 4 | Anyika Onuora | Great Britain | 23.23 | |
| 5 | Elizabeta Savlinis | Russia | 23.23 | |
| 6 | Gloria Hooper | Italy | 23.25 | |
| 7 | Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie | Bahamas | 23.49 | |
| 8 | Vida Anim | Ghana | 23.71 | SB |
| 9 | Ndeye Fatou Soumah | Senegal | 23.89 | |

#### Heat 3

Wind: Heat 3: +0.7 m/s
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Carmelita Jeter | United States | 22.65 | Q |
| 2 | Abiodun Oyepitan | Great Britain | 22.92 | Q |
| 3 | Sherone Simpson | Jamaica | 22.97 | Q |
| 4 | Maria Belibasaki | Greece | 23.36 | |
| 5 | Ana Claudia Silva | Brazil | 23.40 | |
| 6 | Gloria Asumnu | Nigeria | 23.43 | |
| 7 | Chisato Fukushima | Japan | 24.14 | |
| 8 | Gretta Taslakian | Lebanon | 24.49 | |
| | Cydonie Mothersill | Cayman Islands | DNS | |

#### Heat 4

Wind: Heat 4: +0.3 m/s
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sanya Richards-Ross | United States | 22.48 | Q |
| 2 | LaVerne Jones-Ferrette | Virgin Islands | 22.64 | Q, SB |
| 3 | Hrystyna Stuy | Ukraine | 22.66 | Q, PB |
| 4 | Kai Selvon | Trinidad and Tobago | 22.85 | q, PB |
| 5 | Ivet Lalova | Bulgaria | 23.01 | q, SB |
| 6 | Eleni Artymata | Cyprus | 23.09 | q, SB |
| 7 | Norma González | Colombia | 23.46 | SB |
| 8 | Nercely Soto | Venezuela | 23.54 | |
| 9 | Vladislava Ovcharenko | Tajikistan | 24.39 | |

#### Heat 5

Wind: Heat 5: +1.3 m/s
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Mariya Ryemyen | Ukraine | 22.58 | Q, PB |
| 2 | Myriam Soumaré | France | 22.70 | Q, SB |
| 3 | Veronica Campbell Brown | Jamaica | 22.75 | Q |
| 4 | Léa Sprunger | Switzerland | 23.27 | |
| 5 | Ezinne Okparaebo | Norway | 23.30 | =NR |
| 6 | Natalia Rusakova | Russia | 23.40 | |
| 7 | Erika Chávez | Ecuador | 23.70 | |
| 8 | Kirsten Nieuwendam | Suriname | 24.07 | |
| 9 | Chan Seyha | Cambodia | 26.62 | |

#### Heat 6

Wind: Heat 6: +0.8 m/s
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce | Jamaica | 22.71 | Q |
| 2 | Anthonique Strachan | Bahamas | 22.75 | Q |
| 3 | Elyzaveta Bryzgina | Ukraine | 22.82 | Q |
| 4 | Evelyn dos Santos | Brazil | 23.07 | q |
| 5 | Crystal Emmanuel | Canada | 23.10 | q, SB |
| 6 | Marielis Sánchez | Dominican Republic | 23.20 | SB |
| 7 | Viktoriya Zyabkina | Kazakhstan | 23.49 | |
| 8 | Nelkis Casabona | Cuba | 23.82 | |
| 9 | Luan Gabriel | Dominica | 24.12 | |

### Semi-final

Qual. rule: first 2 of each heat (Q) plus the 2 fastest times (q) qualified.

#### Heat 1

Wind: Heat 1: +1.0 m/s
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Veronica Campbell Brown | Jamaica | 22.32 | Q, SB |
| 2 | Carmelita Jeter | United States | 22.39 | Q |
| 3 | Myriam Soumare | France | 22.56 | q, SB |
| 4 | Mariya Ryemyen | Ukraine | 22.62 | |
| 5 | Anthonique Strachan | Bahamas | 22.82 | |
| 6 | Ivet Lalova | Bulgaria | 22.98 | SB |
| 7 | Margaret Adeoye | Great Britain | 23.28 | |
| 8 | Allison Peter | Virgin Islands | 23.35 | |

#### Heat 2

Wind: Heat 2: +1.0 m/s
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Allyson Felix | United States | 22.31 | Q |
| 2 | Murielle Ahouré | Ivory Coast | 22.49 | Q |
| 3 | Semoy Hackett | Trinidad and Tobago | 22.55 | q, =NR |
| 4 | Laverne Jones-Ferrette | Virgin Islands | 22.62 | SB |
| 5 | Elyzaveta Bryzgina | Ukraine | 22.64 | SB |
| 6 | Sherone Simpson | Jamaica | 22.71 | |
| 7 | Evelyn dos Santos | Brazil | 22.82 | PB |
| 8 | Eleni Artymata | Cyprus | 22.92 | SB |

#### Heat 3

Wind: Heat 3: +0.8 m/s
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| 1 | Sanya Richards-Ross | United States | 22.30 | Q |
| 2 | Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce | Jamaica | 22.34 | Q |
| 3 | Aleksandra Fedoriva | Russia | 22.65 | |
| 4 | Hrystyna Stuy | Ukraine | 22.76 | |
| 5 | Kai Selvon | Trinidad and Tobago | 23.04 | |
| 6 | Abiodun Oyepitan | Great Britain | 23.14 | |
| 7 | Crystal Emmanuel | Canada | 23.28 | |
| 8 | Janelle Redhead | Grenada | 23.51 | |

### Final

Wind: -0.2 m/s
| Rank | Lanes | Athlete | Nation | Time | Notes |
| | 7 | Allyson Felix | United States | 21.88 | |
| | 4 | Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce | Jamaica | 22.09 | PB |
| | 9 | Carmelita Jeter | United States | 22.14 | |
| 4 | 5 | Veronica Campbell Brown | Jamaica | 22.38 | |
| 5 | 6 | Sanya Richards-Ross | United States | 22.39 | |
| 6 | 8 | Murielle Ahouré | Ivory Coast | 22.57 | |
| 7 | 2 | Myriam Soumaré | France | 22.63 | |
| – | 3 | Semoy Hackett | Trinidad and Tobago | 22.87 | DQ |