2015 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 200 metres
| Men's 200 metres at the 2015 World Championships | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Beijing National Stadium | |||||||||
| Dates | 25 August (heats) 26 August (semifinals) 27 August (final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 58 from 44 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 19.55 | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
The men's 200 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 25, 26 and 27 August.[1][2]
Coming in to these championships, defending champion, world record holder, Olympic champion Usain Bolt had given no indication of being prepared to match the heights of his previous championships. His season best was only 20.13, but he was Usain Bolt, the star of the sport since 2008. Meanwhile, Justin Gatlin came in as the world leader with a personal best 19.57 to win the American Championships, backing up the 19.68 he had run at the Prefontaine Classic a month earlier. Bolt indicated he thought the 200 would be the easier of his championships to defend.
In the heats, Bolt was back in the pack with a 20.28, jogging the last 50 metres while Ramil Guliyev was setting his Turkish national record at 20.01. Gatlin led the semis with 19.87, Bolt ran a season best 19.95. Behind them were top qualifiers Alonso Edward and Anaso Jobodwana barely over 20 seconds.
The final started with the 100 meter specialist Gatlin blasting out of the blocks, but Bolt to his far outside was not far behind him relative to the staggered start.[3] It was clearly a two-man race. Coming off the turn, Bolt may have been slightly ahead but it was almost even, with Femi Ogunode next on the far inside. Behind them Jobodwana separated from the pack while Ogunode disappeared. Edward, the 2009 silver medalist and Jobodwana recorded the same finishing time (a national record for Jobodwana) but Jobodwana won the bronze medal by 2 thousandths of a second.[4]
Bolt's 19.55 winning time was the next slowest championship winning time of his career. Still only three other men have ever run faster.[5] This was Bolt's fourth straight World Championship at 200 metres.[6]
Records
Prior to the competition, the records were as follows:[7]
| World record |  Usain Bolt (JAM)
|
19.19 | Berlin, Germany | 20 August 2009 |
| Championship record | ||||
| World Leading |  Justin Gatlin (USA)
|
19.57 | Eugene, OR, United States | 28 June 2015 |
| African record |  Frankie Fredericks (NAM)
|
19.68 | Atlanta, GA, United States | 1 August 1996 |
| Asian record |  Shingo Suetsugu (JPN)
|
20.03 | Yokohama, Japan | 7 June 2003 |
| North, Central American and Caribbean record | Usain Bolt (JAM)
|
19.19 | Berlin, Germany | 20 August 2009 |
| South American record |  Alonso Edward (PAN)
|
19.81 | Berlin, Germany | 20 August 2009 |
| European record |  Pietro Mennea (ITA)
|
19.72A | Mexico City, Mexico | 12 September 1979 |
| Oceanian record |  Peter Norman (AUS)
|
20.06A | Mexico City, Mexico | 15 October 1968 |
| The following records were established during the competition: | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World leading | Usain Bolt (JAM)
|
19.55 | Beijing, China | 27 August 2015 |
Qualification standards
| Entry standards[8] |
|---|
| 20.50 |
Schedule
| Date | Time | Round |
|---|---|---|
| 25 August 2015 | 19:30 | Heats |
| 26 August 2015 | 20:30 | Semifinals |
| 27 August 2015 | 20:55 | Final |
All times are local times (UTC+8)
Heats
Qualification: First 3 in each heat (Q) and the next 3 fastest (q) advanced to the semifinals.[9]
Semifinals
Qualification: First 2 in each heat (Q) and the next 2 fastest (q) advanced to the final.[10]
Final
The final was held at 20:55.[11]
| Rank | Lane | Name | Nationality | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
6 | Usain Bolt |  Jamaica (JAM) |
19.55 | WL |
 |
4 | Justin Gatlin |  United States (USA) |
19.74 | |
 |
7 | Anaso Jobodwana |  South Africa (RSA) |
19.87 | NR |
| 4 | 9 | Alonso Edward |  Panama (PAN) |
19.87[12] | SB |
| 5 | 5 | Zharnel Hughes |  Great Britain & N.I. (GBR) |
20.02 | PB |
| 6 | 3 | Ramil Guliyev |  Turkey (TUR) |
20.11 | |
| 7 | 2 | Femi Ogunode |  Qatar (QAT) |
20.27 | |
| 8 | 8 | Nickel Ashmeade | Jamaica (JAM) |
20.33 |
References
- ^ "Beijing 2015: Timetable". Beijing 2015. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
- ^ Start list
- ^ "Usain Bolt beats Justin Gatlin in World Championships 200m final". BBC Sport. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- ^ "Usain Bolt beats Justin Gatlin again to win 200m world championship gold". Guardian. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- ^ "Usain Bolt destroys Justin Gatlin in 200m final: as it happened". Daily Telegraph. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- ^ "Only Man Who Can Topple Usain Bolt: A Photographer on a Scooter". New York Times. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2015.
- ^ "Records & Lists – 200 meters". IAAF. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
- ^ IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 – Standards (PDF), IAAF, 2014, retrieved 17 August 2015
- ^ Heats results
- ^ Semifinals results
- ^ Final results
- ^ Obodwana and Edward were awarded the same time, but Jobodwana was faster by 2 milliseconds – 19.861 versus 19.863 [1]