# Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's 200 metres

These are the official results of the women's 200 metres event at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. There were a total number of 47 participating athletes, with two rounds (six heats in round 1, four heats in round 2), two semifinals and a final.

## Records

These were the standing world and Olympic records (in seconds) prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics.
| World Record | 21.34 | Florence Griffith Joyner | Indianapolis, Indiana (USA) | 16 July 1988 |
| Olympic Record | 21.34 | Florence Griffith Joyner | Seoul (KOR) | 29 September 1988 |

## Results
### Heats

Top four in each heat and next eight fastest advanced to the quarterfinals.
Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Carlette Guidry | United States | 22.37 | 5 |
| 2 | Mary Onyali | Nigeria | 22.42 | 8 |
| 3 | Melanie Paschke | Germany | 22.93 | 3 |
| 4 | Patricia Rodríguez | Colombia | 23.13 | 2 |
| 5 | Yan Jiankui | China | 23.21 | 1 |
| 6 | Myra Mayberry | Puerto Rico | 23.23 | 7 |
| 7 | Zlatka Georgieva | Bulgaria | 24.05 | 4 |
| 8 | Laure Kuetey | Benin | 25.57 | 6 |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Dannette Young | United States | 22.65 | 2 |
| 2 | Melinda Gainsford-Taylor | Australia | 22.70 | 7 |
| 3 | Lucrécia Jardim | Portugal | 22.95 | 5 |
| 4 | Viktoriya Fomenko | Ukraine | 23.18 | 1 |
| 5 | Sandy Myers | Spain | 23.18 | 6 |
| 6 | Calister Ubah | Nigeria | 23.34 | 3 |
| 7 | Dora Kyriakou | Cyprus | 23.85 | 4 |
| 8 | Sylla M'Mah Touré | Guinea | 26.64 | 8 |
Heat three
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Juliet Cuthbert | Jamaica | 23.03 | 6 |
| 2 | Irina Privalova | Russia | 23.16 | 2 |
| 3 | Cathy Freeman | Australia | 23.25 | 1 |
| 4 | Sanna Hernesniemi | Finland | 23.35 | 7 |
| 5 | Mireille Donders | Switzerland | 23.52 | 8 |
| 6 | Maia Azarashvili | Georgia | 23.63 | 5 |
| 7 | Felipa Palacios | Colombia | 24.12 | 4 |
| 8 | Lineo Shoai | Lesotho | 26.25 | 3 |
Heat four
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Merlene Ottey | Jamaica | 22.92 | 7 |
| 2 | Katharine Merry | Great Britain | 23.14 | 1 |
| 3 | Monika Gachevska | Bulgaria | 23.30 | 6 |
| 4 | Heather Samuel | Antigua and Barbuda | 23.34 | 5 |
| 5 | Ameerah Bello | Virgin Islands | 23.45 | 4 |
| 6 | Du Xiujie | China | 23.69 | 3 |
| 7 | Guilhermina da Cruz | Angola | 24.92 | 8 |
| 8 | Marina Trandenkova | Russia | DNS | 2 |
Heat five
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Galina Malchugina | Russia | 22.63 | 1 |
| 2 | Chandra Sturrup | Bahamas | 22.63 | 7 |
| 3 | Beverly McDonald | Jamaica | 23.04 | 6 |
| 4 | Zhanna Pintusevych | Ukraine | 23.15 | 5 |
| 5 | Simmone Jacobs | Great Britain | 23.36 | 2 |
| 6 | Tara Perry | Canada | 23.46 | 3 |
| 7 | Marina Živković | FR Yugoslavia | 23.51 | 4 |
| 8 | Kaltouma Nadjina | Chad | 24.47 | 8 |
Heat six
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Marie-José Pérec | France | 22.62 | 5 |
| 2 | Inger Miller | United States | 22.74 | 3 |
| 3 | Alenka Bikar | Slovenia | 22.88 | 7 |
| 4 | Katerina Koffa | Greece | 23.09 | 4 |
| 5 | Natallia Safronnikava | Belarus | 23.14 | 8 |
| 6 | Sevatheda Fynes | Bahamas | 23.39 | 2 |
| 7 | Georgette N’Koma | Cameroon | 23.68 | 1 |
| 8 | Lyudmila Dmitriady | Uzbekistan | 24.88 | 6 |

### Quarterfinals

Top four in each heat advanced to the semifinals.
Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Carlette Guidry | United States | 22.51 | 3 |
| 2 | Chandra Sturrup | Bahamas | 22.81 | 6 |
| 3 | Melinda Gainsford-Taylor | Australia | 22.91 | 4 |
| 4 | Natallia Safronnikava | Belarus | 23.15 | 2 |
| 5 | Sanna Hernesniemi | Finland | 23.38 | 1 |
| 6 | Monika Gachevska | Bulgaria | 23.44 | 8 |
| 7 | Ameerah Bello | Virgin Islands | 23.66 | 7 |
| 8 | Beverly McDonald | Jamaica | DNS | 5 |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Merlene Ottey | Jamaica | 22.61 | 4 |
| 2 | Galina Malchugina | Russia | 22.69 | 3 |
| 3 | Melanie Paschke | Germany | 22.84 | 5 |
| 4 | Katerina Koffa | Greece | 23.04 | 7 |
| 5 | Katharine Merry | Great Britain | 23.17 | 6 |
| 6 | Sevatheda Fynes | Bahamas | 23.26 | 8 |
| 7 | Yan Jiankui | China | 23.30 | 1 |
| 8 | Viktoriya Fomenko | Ukraine | 23.44 | 2 |
Heat three
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Marie-José Pérec | France | 22.24 | 3 |
| 2 | Mary Onyali | Nigeria | 22.37 | 5 |
| 3 | Inger Miller | United States | 22.57 | 6 |
| 4 | Cathy Freeman | Australia | 22.74 | 1 |
| 5 | Lucrécia Jardim | Portugal | 22.88 | 4 |
| 6 | Simmone Jacobs | Great Britain | 22.96 | 7 |
| 7 | Sandy Myers | Spain | 23.20 | 2 |
| 8 | Heather Samuel | Antigua and Barbuda | 23.54 | 8 |
Heat four
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Dannette Young | United States | 22.53 | 6 |
| 2 | Juliet Cuthbert | Jamaica | 22.62 | 4 |
| 3 | Irina Privalova | Russia | 22.82 | 3 |
| 4 | Alenka Bikar | Slovenia | 22.89 | 5 |
| 5 | Myra Mayberry | Puerto Rico | 23.48 | 8 |
| 6 | Patricia Rodríguez | Colombia | 23.50 | 1 |
| 7 | Calister Ubah | Nigeria | 23.62 | 7 |
| 8 | Zhanna Pintusevych | Ukraine | 23.68 | 2 |

### Semifinals

Top four from each heat advanced to the finals.
Heat one
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Marie-José Pérec | France | 22.07 | 4 |
| 2 | Mary Onyali | Nigeria | 22.16 | 3 |
| 3 | Juliet Cuthbert | Jamaica | 22.24 | 5 |
| 4 | Inger Miller | United States | 22.33 | 7 |
| 5 | Dannette Young | United States | 22.49 | 6 |
| 6 | Cathy Freeman | Australia | 22.78 | 2 |
| 7 | Natallia Safronnikava | Belarus | 22.98 | 1 |
| 8 | Irina Privalova | Russia | DNS | 8 |
Heat two
| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| 1 | Merlene Ottey | Jamaica | 22.08 | 4 |
| 2 | Galina Malchugina | Russia | 22.35 | 6 |
| 3 | Chandra Sturrup | Bahamas | 22.54 | 5 |
| 4 | Carlette Guidry | United States | 22.56 | 3 |
| 5 | Melinda Gainsford-Taylor | Australia | 22.76 | 2 |
| 6 | Melanie Paschke | Germany | 22.81 | 7 |
| 7 | Alenka Bikar | Slovenia | 22.82 | 8 |
| 8 | Katerina Koffa | Greece | 23.20 | 1 |

### Final

| Rank | Name | Nationality | Time | Lane |
| | Marie-José Pérec | France | 22.12 | 3 |
| | Merlene Ottey | Jamaica | 22.24 | 5 |
| | Mary Onyali | Nigeria | 22.38 | 4 |
| 4 | Inger Miller | United States | 22.41 | 7 |
| 5 | Galina Malchugina | Russia | 22.45 | 6 |
| 6 | Chandra Sturrup | Bahamas | 22.54 | 8 |
| 7 | Juliet Cuthbert | Jamaica | 22.60 | 1 |
| 8 | Carlette Guidry | United States | 22.61 | 2 |
Wind in the finals = 0.3 m/s Notes: DNS = did not start