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FastestThings

Women's 200 Metres

Marion Jones

American athlete. women's 200 m mark of 21.62 seconds at Johannesburg on 11 September 1998, the personal best on the World Athletics all-time list.

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Race time

21.62s

women's 200 m, Johannesburg, wind -0.6 m/s. One personal best per athlete.

OfficialWorld Athletics (opens source in a new tab)

Mechanism

Why it's so fast

Marion Jones's 200 metres adds a bend to a sprint. The athlete has to stay fast in the curve and still have something on the straight. Pure 100 metre speed is not the whole event.

  1. The bend

    Running the curve without breaking stride is its own skill. Drift wide and the race gets longer. Lean too much and the steps slow down.

  2. The second hundred

    The straight shows who can hold the speed they carried off the bend. A brilliant start that dies before the line does not lead this list.

  3. Wind-legal

    The governing list keeps a mark when the wind is inside the rule. The entry prints the wind and the venue because they belong to the result.

Nearby on this list: Gabrielle Thomas and Dafne Schippers.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 21.62sRanked figure

    women's 200 m, Johannesburg, wind -0.6 m/s. One personal best per athlete.

    Track & Field News marks this 21.62 with an altitude flag. World Athletics and Athletic Stats still list it, so it stays, with that note.

    Official
    World Athletics (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Country
United States
Event
women's 200 m
Mark
21.62 s
Venue
Johannesburg

Context

Background

Marion Jones's ranked women's 200 m time is 21.62 seconds at Johannesburg on 11 September 1998, wind -0.6 m/s. World Athletics, Athletic Stats (refreshed 5 October 2026) and Track & Field News print that time and date.

Track & Field News marks this 21.62 with an altitude flag. World Athletics and Athletic Stats still list it, so it stays, with that note.

Spot a wrong number?

Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.