A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first recorded event at the Ancient Olympics. The 200 m places more emphasis on speed endurance than shorter sprint distances as athletes rely on different energy systems during the longer sprint.

In the United States and elsewhere, athletes previously ran the 220-yard dash (201.168 m) instead of the 200 m, though the distance is now obsolete. The standard adjustment used for the conversion from times recorded over 220 yards to 200 m times is to subtract 0.1 seconds, but other conversion methods exist.

The race attracts runners from other events wishing to double up and claim both titles. This feat has been achieved nine times at the Olympic Games, most recently by Jamaica's Usain Bolt in 2008. An Olympic double of 200 m and 400 m was first achieved by Valerie Brisco-Hooks in 1984, and later by Michael Johnson from the United States and Marie-José Pérec of France both in 1996.

The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. ( /ˈjuːseɪn/; born 21 August 1986), is a Jamaican sprinter and a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and (along with his teammates) the 4×100 metres relay. He is the reigning Olympic champion in these three events, and is one of only seven athletes (along with Valerie Adams, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jacques Freitag, Yelena Isinbayeva, Jana Pittman, Dani Samuels) to win world championships at the youth, junior, and senior level of an athletic event.

Bolt won a 200 m gold medal at the 2002 World Junior Championships, making him the competition's youngest-ever gold medalist at the time (since surpassed by Jacko Gill). In 2004, at the CARIFTA Games, he became the first junior sprinter to run the 200 m in less than 20 seconds with a time of 19.93 s, breaking the previous world junior record held by Roy Martin by two-tenths of a second. He turned professional in 2004, and although he competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics, he missed most of the next two seasons due to injuries. In 2007, he broke Don Quarrie's 200 m Jamaican record with a run of 19.75 s.

Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer who has, overall, won 16 Olympic medals—six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at Beijing in 2008, becoming the most successful athlete at both of these Olympic Games editions. In doing so he has twice equaled the record eight medals of any type at a single Olympics achieved by Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin at the 1980 Moscow Summer Games. His five gold medals in individual events tied the single Games record set by compatriot Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equaled by Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Summer Games. Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won in a single Olympics; his eight at the 2008 Beijing Games surpassed American swimmer Mark Spitz's seven-gold performance at Munich in 1972. Phelps' Olympic medal total is second only to the 18 Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina won over three Olympics, including nine gold. Phelps also holds the all-time record for most gold Olympic medals, at 14.

Yannick Agnel (born June 9, 1992 in Nîmes) is a French swimmer and national record holder in the 200 and 400 m freestyle (long course). At the 2010 European Aquatics Championships, Agnel won three medals, including gold in the 400 m freestyle. Agnel is also a nine-time medalist at the European Junior Swimming Championships.

At the 2009 European Junior Swimming Championships, Agnel won the 200 and 400 m freestyle in European junior record times. He was also a member of the 4×200 m freestyle relay that won gold ahead of Russia and Italy.

In April 2010, Agnel set the French record in the 200 m freestyle with a time of 1:46.35 to beat Amaury Leveaux's record of 1:46.54. In June 2010, he improved his record in the 200 m freestyle with a time of 1:46.30.

At the 2010 European Junior Swimming Championships, Agnel set the French record in the 400 m freestyle with a time of 3:46.26 to beat Nicolas Rostoucher's record of 3:46.28 en-route to winning gold.

At the 2010 European Aquatics Championships, Agnel won gold in the 400 m freestyle setting a new French and championships record. Agnel then combined with Fabien Gilot, William Meynard, and Alain Bernard in the 4×100 m freestyle relay to finish second behind Russia. As the second leg, Agnel had a 48.23 split. As the leadoff leg in the 4×200 m freestyle relay, Agnel broke his own French record in the 200 m freestyle with a time of 1:45.83. Agnel, with Clement Lefert, Antton Haramboure, and Jérémy Stravius finished in third place in the 4×200 m freestyle relay behind Russia and Germany.