This American Just Ran One of the Fastest 200m Races EVER!

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden ran 21.47 to win the women's 200m at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest on September 13, 2026, the fourth-fastest time ever run and enough to make her the third-fastest woman in history. She beat Olympic champion Gabby Thomas, who took second in 21.77, with Kayla White third in 21.93 for an American 1-2-3, and European champion Amy Hunt fourth in a season's best 22.10. The run completed her sprint double after a world-leading 10.62 in the 100m the night before, and it came into a 0.6 m/s headwind on a cool Budapest evening. Only Florence Griffith Joyner's 21.34 world record from 1988 and Shericka Jackson's 21.41 and 21.45 have ever been faster. #MelissaJeffersonWooden #UltimateChampionship #Budapest2026 #Womens200m #TrackAndField