200 metres

The 200 metres (also spelled 200 meters) 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 Olympic Games. 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 (218.723 yards), 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.

Usain Bolt

Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, CD (/ˈjuːseɪn/; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican sprinter. Regarded as the fastest person ever timed, he is the first man to hold both the 100 metres and 200 metres world records since fully automatic time measurements became mandatory in 1977. Along with his teammates, he also set the world record in the 4×100 metres relay. He is the reigning Olympic champion in these three events, and the first man since Leonidas of Rhodes to win six Olympic gold medals in sprinting, and an eleven-time World champion. He was the first to achieve the "double double" of winning 100 m and 200 m titles at consecutive Olympics (2008 and 2012), and topped this through the first "double triple" (including 4×100 m relays).

Although gaining worldwide popularity for a sprint double victory at the Beijing Games, Bolt has had more victories as a 200 m runner. While he had not won any significant 100 m title prior to the 2008 Olympics, he had won numerous crowns in the 200 m event at the youth, junior and senior levels. Further, at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, Bolt completed a hat-trick of 200 m world titles by winning his third straight gold in the event. His 2009 record breaking margin for 100 m, from 9.69 seconds (his own previous world record) to 9.58, is the highest since the start of fully automatic time measurements.

2017 World Championships in Athletics

The 16th World Championships in Athletics are scheduled to be held in 2017 in London, United Kingdom. London was officially awarded the Championships by the IAAF, in Monaco on 11 November 2011.

Bidding process

When the seeking deadline passed on 1 September 2011, two candidate cities (London and Doha) had confirmed their candidatures. Barcelona, which investigated a bid, withdrew citing a lack of support from the local population and financial difficulties. IAAF Evaluation Commission will evaluate the bids of the two cities. The commission visited London on 2 October before departing for Doha on 4 October and staying there until 6 October with the final announcement of the winner on 11 November 2011. On 11 November 2011, the winner was officially announced as London.

Doha

On 5 September 2011 Doha launched its marketing bid for the 2017 World Championships. The slogan of the bid was "The RIGHT PARTNER for a stronger World Championships." The bid was led by Abdullah Al Zaini and Aphrodite Moschoudi. Moschoudi successfully led Qatar's bid for the 2015 Handball World Championships. Doha also brought in Brian Roe, a member of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Technical Committee. The bid was for the championships to be held in the renovated, climate-controlled Khalifa Stadium. The Corniche prominade was to hold the road races, with the committee proposing to hold the marathon at night after the opening ceremony.

2013 World Championships in Athletics

The 14th IAAF World Championships in Athletics (or just Moscow 2013) was an international athletics competition held in Moscow, Russia, from 10–18 August 2013. Russia won the most gold medals to top the table for the first time since 2001. It was also the first time ever the host nation took the top of the medal table. The United States won the most overall medals. With 1,784 athletes from 203 countries it was the biggest single sports event of the year. The number of spectators for the evening sessions was 268,548 surpassing Daegu 2011.

Jamaica's Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce both won three gold medals in the men's and women's 100 metres, 200 metres and 4×100 metres relay respectively to become the most successful athletes at the event. This achievement also earned Bolt the title of being the most successful athlete in the history of the World Championships with eight gold and two silver medals. Prior to the competition, four sprinters were banned on doping charges.

Andre De Grasse

Andre De Grasse (born November 10, 1994) is a Canadian sprinter currently running for the University of Southern California. He graduated from Milliken Mills High School in Markham, Ontario. He is the reigning Pan Am champion in the 100 m and 200 m. He is also the reigning NCAA men's champion in the 100 m and 200 m and current Canadian record holder in the 200 m. De Grasse also won the bronze in the 100 m and the 4×100 m relay at the 2015 world track and field championships in Beijing.

Early life

Andre De Grasse was born in Scarborough, Ontario. His mother Beverley de Grasse was a high school sprinter in Trinidad and Tobago before she moved to Canada aged 26. His father, Alex Waithe, moved from Barbados to Canada as a teenager. Raised in Markham, Ontario, De Grasse started racing in Grade 11 and won his first race running in basketball shorts and using no starting blocks. He was spotted by future coach Tony Sharpe who noticed his potential because of this. He attended Coffeyville Community College in 2013 and 2014 before transferring to USC for his junior season in 2015.