Claim: Usain Bolt has competed in sprinting.

The 200 metres at the Summer Olympics has been contested since the second edition of the multi-sport event . The men 's 200 m has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 and the women 's 200 m has been held continuously since its introduction at the 1948 Games . It is the most prestigious 200 m race at elite level . The competition format typically has three or four qualifying rounds leading to a final race between eight athletes .   The Olympic records for the distance are 19.30 seconds for men , set by Usain Bolt in 2008 , and 21.34 seconds set by Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988 . The men 's world record was set at the Olympics in 1956 , 1960 -LRB- twice -RRB- , 1968 , 1996 -LRB- twice -RRB- and 2008 . The women 's world record has similarly been linked to the competition , with records coming at the Olympic Games in 1952 -LRB- twice -RRB- , 1956 , 1968 , 1972 and 1988 -LRB- twice -RRB- . Griffith-Joyner 's 1988 Olympic mark remains the world record for the distance , while Bolt 's Olympic record is the third fastest of all-time .   Only three athletes have won the title more than once . Bärbel Wöckel of East Germany became the first to defend the title in 1980 and Veronica Campbell-Brown repeated that feat in 2008 . Usain Bolt was the first person to win two Olympic 200 m gold medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics , and at the 2016 Summer Olympics he defended his title to win his third Olympic 200 m gold medal . Merlene Ottey is the most decorated athlete , having won four medals in the event -LRB- though none of them gold -RRB- . The reigning women 's champion Allyson Felix has won three medals , as has Poland 's Irena Szewińska . Reflecting how sprint athletes often compete over various distances , many of the medalists in the Olympic 200 metres have had success in the Olympic 100 metres and 4 × 100 metres relay as well .   The United States has had by far the most success in the event , having 23 gold medals and 57 medals in total . American men have completed a medal sweep on six occasions . Jamaica is the next most successful , with five gold among their seventeen medals , and became the second nation to sweep the men 's medals in 2012 .   The 1968 medal podium ceremony for the men 's 200 metres witnessed a prominent political protest in the form of a Black Power salute by the African-American medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos . The third medalist , Peter Norman of Australia , wore a badge for the Olympic Project for Human Rights in solidarity .