The record, step by step
The men's 200m electronic record also starts at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, with Tommie Smith's 19.83. At the 2009 Berlin World Championships Usain Bolt ran 19.19. The women's world record is Florence Griffith-Joyner's 21.34 from the 1988 Seoul Olympics, which still stands.
Japan's progression
On the men's side, Koji Ito lowered the Japanese record three times in the 1990s, down to 20.16, before Shingo Suetsugu ran 20.03 in 2003 — a national record that has stood for over twenty years. Chisato Fukushima held the women's record through the 2010s until Abigail Fuka Ido reset it to 22.79 in 2025.