# 2023 World Athletics Championships – Women's 200 metres

The women's 200 metres at the 2023 World Athletics Championships was held at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest from 23 to 25 August 2022.

## Summary

All the expected finalists qualified. The structure of the semis didn't make it easy. The third semi was loaded with the defending champion, Shericka Jackson, the newly crowned 100 metres champion, Sha'Carri Richardson, and perennial finalist, 2017 silver medalist Marie-Josée Ta Lou. With only two automatic qualifying spots, something had to give. Ta Lou had to get one of the time qualifying spots and was relegated to lane 2 in the final.
In the final, the staggers mostly held true halfway through the turn, then Jackson began to edge forward with Dina Asher-Smith and Gabrielle Thomas showing a slight advantage. As they reached the straightaway, Jackson had a clear 2 metre lead with Thomas just barely ahead of Richardson, Asher-Smith, Julien Alfred and Daryll Neita. Jackson continued to power away, the winner was not going to be in doubt. Thomas separated, with Richardson also moving forward. Jackson let off the gas a couple of steps before the finish line, her time of 21.41 improved her standing as #2 performer of all time, just .07 short of Florence Griffith-Joyner's 35 year old world record. Thomas followed 4 metres later, a step ahead of now double medalist at these championships, Richardson.

## Records

Before the competition records were as follows:
| Record | Athlete & Nat. | Perf. | Location | Date |
| World record | Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) | 21.34 | Seoul, South Korea | 29 September 1988 |
| Championship record | Shericka Jackson (JAM) | 21.45 | Eugene, United States | 21 July 2022 |
| World Leading | Gabrielle Thomas (USA) | 21.60 | Eugene, United States | 9 July 2023 |
| African Record | Christine Mboma (NAM) | 21.78 | Zürich, Switzerland | 9 September 2021 |
| Asian Record | Li Xuemei (CHN) | 22.01 | Shanghai, China | 22 October 1997 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Florence Griffith-Joyner (USA) | 21.34 | Seoul, South Korea | 29 September 1988 |
| South American Record | Vitoria Cristina Rosa (BRA) | 22.47 | Eugene, United States | 19 July 2022 |
| European Record | Dafne Schippers (NED) | 21.63 | Beijing, China | 28 August 2015 |
| Oceanian record | Melinda Gainsford (AUS) | 22.23 | Stuttgart, Germany | 13 July 1997 |

## Qualification standard

The standard to qualify automatically for entry was 22.60.

## Schedule

The event schedule, in local time (UTC+2), was as follows:
| Date | Time | Round |
| 23 August | 11:20 | Heats |
| 24 August | 19:45 | Semi-finals |
| 25 August | 21:40 | Final |

## Results
### Heats

The first 3 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 6 fastest (q) qualify for the semi-finals.
Wind: Heat 1: -0.4 m/s, Heat 2: -0.7 m/s, Heat 3: -0.4 m/s, Heat 4: -0.4 m/s, Heat 5: -1.3 m/s, Heat 6: -0.3 m/s
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Sha'Carri Richardson | United States (USA) | 22.16 | Q |
| 2 | 5 | Gabrielle Thomas | United States (USA) | 22.26 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Marie-Josée Ta Lou | Ivory Coast (CIV) | 22.26 | Q, SB |
| 4 | 1 | Anthonique Strachan | Bahamas (BAH) | 22.31 | Q |
| 5 | 4 | Julien Alfred | Saint Lucia (LCA) | 22.31 | Q |
| 6 | 1 | Daryll Neita | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 22.39 | Q |
| 7 | 4 | Natalliah Whyte | Jamaica (JAM) | 22.44 | Q |
| 8 | 6 | Dina Asher-Smith | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 22.46 | Q |
| 9 | 5 | Kevona Davis | Jamaica (JAM) | 22.49 | Q |
| 10 | 3 | Shericka Jackson | Jamaica (JAM) | 22.51 | Q |
| 11 | 6 | Maboundou Koné | Ivory Coast (CIV) | 22.55 | Q |
| 12 | 3 | Veronica Shanti Pereira | Singapore (SIN) | 22.57 | Q, NR |
| 13 | 1 | Jaël Bestué | Spain (ESP) | 22.58 | Q |
| 14 | 6 | Kayla White | United States (USA) | 22.62 | Q |
| 15 | 2 | Olivia Fotopoulou | Cyprus (CYP) | 22.65 | Q, PB |
| 16 | 1 | Favour Ofili | Nigeria (NGR) | 22.66 | q |
| 17 | 6 | Dalia Kaddari | Italy (ITA) | 22.67 | q, SB |
| 18 | 4 | Bianca Williams | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 22.67 | Q |
| 19 | 3 | Jessika Gbai | Ivory Coast (CIV) | 22.78 | Q |
| 20 | 3 | Adaejah Hodge | British Virgin Islands (IVB) | 22.82 | q |
| 21 | 6 | Krystsina Tsimanouskaya | Poland (POL) | 22.88 | q |
| 22 | 5 | Tasa Jiya | Netherlands (NED) | 22.97 | Q |
| 23 | 2 | Polyniki Emmanoulidou | Greece (GRE) | 23.00 | q |
| 24 | 4 | Gina Bass | Gambia (GAM) | 23.02 | q |
| 25 | 2 | Ashanti Moore | Jamaica (JAM) | 23.12 | |
| 26 | 2 | Lorène Dorcas Bazolo | Portugal (POR) | 23.13 | |
| 27 | 1 | Léonie Pointet | Switzerland (SUI) | 23.16 | PB |
| 28 | 1 | Yunisleidy García | Cuba (CUB) | 23.22 | |
| 29 | 5 | Boglárka Takács | Hungary (HUN) | 23.24 | |
| 30 | 5 | Cecilia Tamayo-Garza | Mexico (MEX) | 23.25 | |
| 31 | 5 | Martyna Kotwiła | Poland (POL) | 23.34 | |
| 32 | 4 | Georgia Hulls | New Zealand (NZL) | 23.36 | |
| 33 | 3 | Susanne Walli | Austria (AUT) | 23.38 | |
| 34 | 1 | Ana Carolina Azevedo | Brazil (BRA) | 23.45 | |
| 35 | 3 | Alexa Sulyán | Hungary (HUN) | 23.47 | |
| 36 | 1 | Aino Pulkkinen [fi] | Finland (FIN) | 23.48 | |
| 37 | 6 | Remi Tsuruta | Japan (JPN) | 23.49 | |
| 38 | 3 | Nicole Caicedo | Ecuador (ECU) | 23.51 | |
| 39 | 2 | Anniina Kortetmaa [fi] | Finland (FIN) | 23.52 | |
| 40 | 4 | Julia Henriksson | Sweden (SWE) | 23.55 | |
| 41 | 5 | Christine Bjelland Jensen [de] | Norway (NOR) | 23.62 | |
| 42 | 2 | Gorete Semedo | São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) | 23.69 | SB |
| 43 | 6 | Rhoda Njobvu | Zambia (ZAM) | 23.82 | |
| 44 | 6 | Vitoria Cristina Rosa | Brazil (BRA) | 23.86 | |
| | 4 | Ella Connolly | Australia (AUS) | DNS | |

### Semi-finals

The first 2 athletes in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) qualify for the final.
| Rank | Heat | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| 1 | 1 | Gabrielle Thomas | United States (USA) | 21.97 | Q |
| 2 | 3 | Shericka Jackson | Jamaica (JAM) | 22.00 | Q |
| 3 | 2 | Julien Alfred | Saint Lucia (LCA) | 22.17 | Q |
| 4 | 3 | Sha'Carri Richardson | United States (USA) | 22.20 | Q |
| 5 | 2 | Daryll Neita | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 22.21 | Q, PB |
| 6 | 3 | Marie-Josée Ta Lou | Ivory Coast (CIV) | 22.26 | q, SB |
| 7 | 1 | Dina Asher-Smith | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 22.28 | Q |
| 8 | 2 | Anthonique Strachan | Bahamas (BAH) | 22.30 | q |
| 9 | 2 | Kayla White | United States (USA) | 22.34 | |
| 10 | 2 | Kevona Davis | Jamaica (JAM) | 22.34 | |
| 11 | 3 | Bianca Williams | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 22.45 | PB |
| 12 | 1 | Natalliah Whyte | Jamaica (JAM) | 22.52 | |
| 13 | 3 | Jaël Bestué | Spain (ESP) | 22.60 | |
| 14 | 1 | Tasa Jiya | Netherlands (NED) | 22.67 | PB |
| 15 | 1 | Olivia Fotopoulou | Cyprus (CYP) | 22.73 | |
| 16 | 1 | Dalia Kaddari | Italy (ITA) | 22.75 | |
| 17 | 3 | Veronica Shanti Pereira | Singapore (SIN) | 22.79 | |
| 18 | 3 | Favour Ofili | Nigeria (NGR) | 22.86 | |
| 19 | 2 | Jessika Gbai | Ivory Coast (CIV) | 22.88 | |
| 20 | 2 | Adaejah Hodge | British Virgin Islands (IVB) | 22.96 | |
| 21 | 3 | Gina Bass | Gambia (GAM) | 23.10 | |
| 22 | 1 | Polyniki Emmanoulidou | Greece (GRE) | 23.15 | |
| 23 | 2 | Krystsina Tsimanouskaya | Poland (POL) | 23.34 | |
| | 1 | Maboundou Koné | Ivory Coast (CIV) | DQ | TR17.3.1 |

### Final

The final started at 21:42 on 25 August. The results were as follows:
Wind: +0.1 m/s
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
| | 6 | Shericka Jackson | Jamaica (JAM) | 21.41 | CR, NR |
| | 8 | Gabrielle Thomas | United States (USA) | 21.81 | |
| | 9 | Sha'Carri Richardson | United States (USA) | 21.92 | PB |
| 4 | 7 | Julien Alfred | Saint Lucia (LCA) | 22.05 | |
| 5 | 5 | Daryll Neita | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 22.16 | PB |
| 6 | 3 | Anthonique Strachan | Bahamas (BAH) | 22.29 | |
| 7 | 4 | Dina Asher-Smith | Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) | 22.34 | |
| 8 | 2 | Marie-Josée Ta Lou | Ivory Coast (CIV) | 22.64 | |