| | Event type

200 metres, Women

Date	31 July – 1 August 1996
Status	Olympic
Location	Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Participants	47 from 34 countries

Merlene Ottey (JAM) was back and was favored again, by this time having won the World Championships in both 1993 and 1995. In 1995 she had defeated Irina Privalova (RUS) who had won the 1994 European Championships. But Privalova withdrew in Atlanta after the quarter-finals. America’s best hope seemed to be defending champion Gwen Torrence but she did not make the US team at the Olympic Trials. This seemed to leave it open for Ottey to finally win her gold medal but it was not to be. She led off the curve, but then was outrun by France’s Marie-José Pérec, who was considered stronger in the 400, and had already won that event a few days earlier. Ottey held on for the silver medal, her fourth in this event at the Olympics, with Nigeria’s Mary Onyali getting a surprising bronze.

Pos	Nr	Athlete	NOC	R1	QF	SF	Final
1	3298	Marie-José Pérec	FRA	22.62 (1 h6)	22.24 (1 h3)	22.07 (1 h1)	22.12 (1)	Gold
2	3478	Merlene Ottey	JAM	22.92 (1 h4)	22.61 (1 h2)	22.08 (1 h2)	22.24 (2)	Silver
3	3597	Mary Onyali	NGR	22.42 (2 h1)	22.37 (2 h3)	22.16 (2 h1)	22.38 (3)	Bronze
4	3858	Inger Miller	USA	22.74 (2 h6)	22.57 (3 h3)	22.33 (4 h1)	22.41 (4)
5	3699	Galina Malchugina	RUS	22.63 (1 h5)	22.69 (2 h2)	22.35 (2 h2)	22.45 (5)
6	3061	Chandra Sturrup	BAH	22.63 (2 h5)	22.81 (2 h1)	22.54 (3 h2)	22.54 (6)
7	3468	Juliet Cuthbert	JAM	23.03 (1 h3)	22.62 (2 h4)	22.24 (3 h1)	22.60 (7)
8	3837	Carlette Guidry-White	USA	22.37 (1 h1)	22.51 (1 h1)	22.56 (4 h2)	22.61 (8)
5 h1 r3/4	3888	Dannette Young	USA	22.65 (1 h2)	22.53 (1 h4)	22.49 (5 h1)	–
5 h2 r3/4	3026	Melinda Gainsford-Taylor	AUS	22.70 (2 h2)	22.91 (3 h1)	22.76 (5 h2)	–
6 h1 r3/4	3025	Cathy Freeman	AUS	23.25 (3 h3)	22.74 (4 h3)	22.78 (6 h1)	–
6 h2 r3/4	3368	Melanie Paschke	GER	22.93 (3 h1)	22.84 (3 h2)	22.81 (6 h2)	–
7 h1 r3/4	3087	Natallia Safronnikava	BLR	23.14 (5 h6)	23.15 (4 h1)	22.98 (7 h1)	–
7 h2 r3/4	3736	Alenka Bikar	SLO	22.88 (3 h6)	22.89 (4 h4)	22.82 (7 h2)	–
8 h2 r3/4	3389	Katerina Koffa	GRE	23.09 (4 h6)	23.04 (4 h2)	23.20 (8 h2)	–
3 h4 r2/4	3706	Irina Privalova	RUS	23.16 (2 h3)	22.82 (3 h4)	– (DNS h1)	–
5 h1 r2/4	3269	Sanna Hernesniemi	FIN	23.35 (4 h3)	23.38 (5 h1)	–	–
5 h2 r2/4	3325	Katharine Merry	GBR	23.14 (2 h4)	23.17 (5 h2)	–	–
5 h3 r2/4	3637	Lucrécia Jardim	POR	22.95 (3 h2)	22.88 (5 h3)	–	–
5 h4 r2/4	3648	Myra Mayberry-Wilkinson	PUR	23.23 (6 h1)	23.48 (5 h4)	–	–
6 h1 r2/4	3108	Monika Gachevska	BUL	23.30 (3 h4)	23.44 (6 h1)	–	–
6 h2 r2/4	3060	Savatheda Fynes	BAH	23.39 (6 h6)	23.26 (6 h2)	–	–
6 h3 r2/4	3315	Simmone Jacobs	GBR	23.36 (5 h5)	22.96 (6 h3)	–	–
6 h4 r2/4	3175	Patricia Rodríguez	COL	23.13 (4 h1)	23.50 (6 h4)	–	–
7 h1 r2/4	3429	Ameerah Bello	ISV	23.45 (5 h4)	23.66 (7 h1)	–	–
7 h2 r2/4	3160	Yan Jiankui	CHN	23.21 (5 h1)	23.30 (7 h2)	–	–
7 h3 r2/4	3242	Sandy Myers	ESP	23.18 (5 h2)	23.20 (7 h3)	–	–
7 h4 r2/4	3601	Calister Ubah	NGR	23.34 (6 h2)	23.62 (7 h4)	–	–
8 h2 r2/4	3793	Viktoriya Fomenko	UKR	23.18 (4 h2)	23.44 (8 h2)	–	–
8 h3 r2/4	3009	Heather Samuel	ANT	23.34 (4 h4)	23.54 (8 h3)	–	–
8 h4 r2/4	3807	Zhanna Pintusevych	UKR	23.15 (4 h5)	23.68 (8 h4)	–	–
3 h5 r1/4	3476	Beverly McDonald	JAM	23.04 (3 h5)	– (DNS h1)	–	–
5 h3 r1/4	3751	Mireille Donders	SUI	23.52 (5 h3)	–	–	–
6 h3 r1/4	3336	Maia Azarashvili	GEO	23.63 (6 h3)	–	–	–
6 h4 r1/4	3144	Du Xiujie	CHN	23.69 (6 h4)	–	–	–
6 h5 r1/4	3136	Tara Perry	CAN	23.46 (6 h5)	–	–	–
7 h1 r1/4	3109	Zlatka Georgieva	BUL	24.05 (7 h1)	–	–	–
7 h2 r1/4	3203	Dora Kyriakou	CYP	23.85 (7 h2)	–	–	–
7 h3 r1/4	3173	Felipa Palacios	COL	24.12 (7 h3)	–	–	–
7 h4 r1/4	3006	Guilhermina da Cruz	ANG	24.92 (7 h4)	–	–	–
7 h5 r1/4	3895	Marina Živković	SCG	23.51 (7 h5)	–	–	–
7 h6 r1/4	3168	Georgette N'Koma	CMR	23.68 (7 h6)	–	–	–
8 h1 r1/4	3069	Laure Kuetey	BEN	25.57 (8 h1)	–	–	–
8 h2 r1/4	3397	Sylla M'Mah Touré	GUI	26.64 (8 h2)	–	–	–
8 h3 r1/4	3542	Lineo Shoai	LES	26.25 (8 h3)	–	–	–
8 h5 r1/4	3142	Kaltouma Nadjina	CHA	24.47 (8 h5)	–	–	–
8 h6 r1/4	3889	Lyudmila Dmitriady	UZB	24.88 (8 h6)	–	–	–
DNS	3717	Marina Trandenkova	RUS	– (DNS h4)	–	–	–

Round One (31 July 1996)

Top four in each heat and next eight fastest advanced to the quarter-finals.

Heat One (12:00)

Wind	0.1 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	5	Carlette Guidry-White	USA	22.37	0.203	Q
2	8	Mary Onyali	NGR	22.42	0.276	Q
3	3	Melanie Paschke	GER	22.93	0.194	Q
4	2	Patricia Rodríguez	COL	23.13	0.233	Q
5	1	Yan Jiankui	CHN	23.21	0.168	q
6	7	Myra Mayberry-Wilkinson	PUR	23.23	0.209	q
7	4	Zlatka Georgieva	BUL	24.05	0.171
8	6	Laure Kuetey	BEN	25.57	0.254

Heat Two (12:05)

Wind	0.7 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	2	Dannette Young	USA	22.65	0.164	Q
2	7	Melinda Gainsford-Taylor	AUS	22.70	0.165	Q
3	5	Lucrécia Jardim	POR	22.95	0.204	Q
4	1	Viktoriya Fomenko	UKR	23.18	0.176	Q
5	6	Sandy Myers	ESP	23.18	0.200	q
6	3	Calister Ubah	NGR	23.34	0.193	q
7	4	Dora Kyriakou	CYP	23.85	0.211
8	8	Sylla M'Mah Touré	GUI	26.64	0.290		1

Heat Three (12:10)

Wind	-0.2 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	6	Juliet Cuthbert	JAM	23.03	0.196	Q
2	2	Irina Privalova	RUS	23.16	0.181	Q
3	1	Cathy Freeman	AUS	23.25	0.241	Q
4	7	Sanna Hernesniemi	FIN	23.35	0.181	Q
5	8	Mireille Donders	SUI	23.52	0.160
6	5	Maia Azarashvili	GEO	23.63	0.243
7	4	Felipa Palacios	COL	24.12	0.261
8	3	Lineo Shoai	LES	26.25	–

Heat Four (12:15)

Wind	1.0 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	7	Merlene Ottey	JAM	22.92	0.225	Q
2	1	Katharine Merry	GBR	23.14	0.216	Q
3	6	Monika Gachevska	BUL	23.30	0.326	Q
4	5	Heather Samuel	ANT	23.34	0.197	Q
5	4	Ameerah Bello	ISV	23.45	0.227	q
6	3	Du Xiujie	CHN	23.69	0.183
7	8	Guilhermina da Cruz	ANG	24.92	0.298
DNS	2	Marina Trandenkova	RUS	–	–

Heat Five (12:20)

Wind	0.1 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	1	Galina Malchugina	RUS	22.63	0.200	Q
2	7	Chandra Sturrup	BAH	22.63	0.185	Q
3	6	Beverly McDonald	JAM	23.04	0.261	Q
4	5	Zhanna Pintusevych	UKR	23.15	0.213	Q
5	2	Simmone Jacobs	GBR	23.36	0.214	q
6	3	Tara Perry	CAN	23.46	0.189
7	4	Marina Živković	SCG	23.51	0.238
8	8	Kaltouma Nadjina	CHA	24.47	0.219

Heat Six (12:25)

Wind	-0.6 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	5	Marie-José Pérec	FRA	22.62	0.232	Q
2	3	Inger Miller	USA	22.74	0.197	Q
3	7	Alenka Bikar	SLO	22.88	0.220	Q
4	4	Katerina Koffa	GRE	23.09	0.223	Q
5	8	Natallia Safronnikava	BLR	23.14	0.214	q
6	2	Savatheda Fynes	BAH	23.39	0.216	q
7	1	Georgette N'Koma	CMR	23.68	0.186
8	6	Lyudmila Dmitriady	UZB	24.88	0.322

Quarter-Finals (31 July 1996)

Top four in each heat advanced to the semi-finals.

Heat One (18:45)

Wind	0.5 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	3	Carlette Guidry-White	USA	22.51	0.203	Q
2	6	Chandra Sturrup	BAH	22.81	0.232	Q
3	4	Melinda Gainsford-Taylor	AUS	22.91	0.176	Q
4	2	Natallia Safronnikava	BLR	23.15	0.188	Q
5	1	Sanna Hernesniemi	FIN	23.38	0.152
6	8	Monika Gachevska	BUL	23.44	0.213
7	7	Ameerah Bello	ISV	23.66	0.293
DNS	5	Beverly McDonald	JAM	–	–

Heat Two (18:50)

Wind	0.3 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	4	Merlene Ottey	JAM	22.61	0.209	Q
2	3	Galina Malchugina	RUS	22.69	0.201	Q
3	5	Melanie Paschke	GER	22.84	0.186	Q
4	7	Katerina Koffa	GRE	23.04	0.240	Q
5	6	Katharine Merry	GBR	23.17	0.252
6	8	Savatheda Fynes	BAH	23.26	0.242
7	1	Yan Jiankui	CHN	23.30	0.156
8	2	Viktoriya Fomenko	UKR	23.44	0.186

Heat Three (18:55)

Wind	-0.4 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	3	Marie-José Pérec	FRA	22.24	0.205	Q
2	5	Mary Onyali	NGR	22.37	0.240	Q
3	6	Inger Miller	USA	22.57	0.191	Q
4	1	Cathy Freeman	AUS	22.74	0.247	Q
5	4	Lucrécia Jardim	POR	22.88	0.228
6	7	Simmone Jacobs	GBR	22.96	0.204
7	2	Sandy Myers	ESP	23.20	0.197
8	8	Heather Samuel	ANT	23.54	0.228

Heat Four (19:00)

Wind	-0.2 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	6	Dannette Young	USA	22.53	0.166	Q
2	4	Juliet Cuthbert	JAM	22.62	0.186	Q
3	3	Irina Privalova	RUS	22.82	0.166	Q
4	5	Alenka Bikar	SLO	22.89	0.176	Q
5	8	Myra Mayberry-Wilkinson	PUR	23.48	0.179
6	1	Patricia Rodríguez	COL	23.50	0.220
7	7	Calister Ubah	NGR	23.62	0.269
8	2	Zhanna Pintusevych	UKR	23.68	0.198

Semi-Finals (1 August 1996)

Top four in each heat advanced to the final.

Heat One (18:42)

Wind	0.4 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	4	Marie-José Pérec	FRA	22.07	0.185	Q
2	3	Mary Onyali	NGR	22.16	0.247	Q
3	5	Juliet Cuthbert	JAM	22.24	0.180	Q
4	7	Inger Miller	USA	22.33	0.191	Q
5	6	Dannette Young	USA	22.49	0.189		2
6	2	Cathy Freeman	AUS	22.78	0.234
7	1	Natallia Safronnikava	BLR	22.98	0.182
DNS	8	Irina Privalova	RUS	–	–

Heat Two (18:53)

Wind	0.1 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	4	Merlene Ottey	JAM	22.08	0.199	Q
2	6	Galina Malchugina	RUS	22.35	0.213	Q
3	5	Chandra Sturrup	BAH	22.54	0.186	Q
4	3	Carlette Guidry-White	USA	22.56	0.231	Q
5	2	Melinda Gainsford-Taylor	AUS	22.76	0.156
6	7	Melanie Paschke	GER	22.81	0.194
7	8	Alenka Bikar	SLO	22.82	0.207
8	1	Katerina Koffa	GRE	23.20	0.175

Final (1 August 1996 — 20:45)

Wind	0.3 m/s

Pos	Lane	Athlete	NOC	Time (A)	Reaction Time
1	3	Marie-José Pérec	FRA	22.12	0.174
2	5	Merlene Ottey	JAM	22.24	0.194
3	4	Mary Onyali	NGR	22.38	0.231
4	7	Inger Miller	USA	22.41	0.172
5	6	Galina Malchugina	RUS	22.45	0.198
6	8	Chandra Sturrup	BAH	22.54	0.165
7	1	Juliet Cuthbert	JAM	22.60	0.175
8	2	Carlette Guidry-White	USA	22.61	0.207