2020 Olympic Women’s Track 200m Odds, Schedule and Preview

• Defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson Herah is the +175 favorite to win the women’s Olympic 200 metres
• American Gabby Thomas is the second betting choice at +185
• Heats and semifinals are set for August 2-3. The 200-metre final will be run Wednesday, August 4

The race for the gold medal in the women’s 200-metre run has never been as competitive as it will be in Tokyo. This year, a record six runners have turned in sub-22 second times in the event.

So deep is the field that one of that sextet of runners, American Tamara Clark, missed out on an Olympic 200m place despite running a personal best of 21.98 seconds at the US Olympic trials.

The fastest of the fast five who made the Tokyo grade is American Gabby Thomas. Her time of 21.61 seconds to win the US Olympic trials is the second-fastest 200 metres ever run by a woman.

However, it’s Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah, the reigning Olympic champion, who’s the +175 favorite to win the gold medal.

Olympic Women’s 200m Odds

Odds as of July 31 at FanDuel

Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (21.79) and Shericka Jackson (21.82), Americans Jenna Prandini (21.89) and Anavia Battle (21.95) round out this year’s crew of below 22-second runners.

Thompson-Herah, Britain’s world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith and Bahamian Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo have also gone under 22 seconds during their 200m careers.

Olympic Women’s 200m Schedule

Round 1 of the Olympic women’s 200m gets underway with the first heat at 9:30pm ET on Monday, August 1. There are seven opening-round heats, each with eight runners, to be contested.

The top three finishers in each race advance to the three semifinal races. They’re set to begin at 6:25am ET on Tuesday, August 3. From there, the two two finishers in each race and the two best third-place finishers move on to run for the medals.

Olympic Women’s 200m Schedule

The 200m final will go at 8:50am ET on Wednesday, August 4.

The heats, semifinals and finals are all available for viewing via live streaming on Peacock, fuboTV and NBCOlympics.com. Coverage will also be available to watch on replay during primetime NBC broadcasts.

Thomas Keeps Getting Better

Thomas seems to improve with every race. She bettered the fastest time in the world in each round at the US Olympic Trials. Thomas won the final in a season-best 21.61 seconds.

Remember this name: Gabby Thomas. 🏆 (📷: Getty) pic.twitter.com/PkdU0FKoNU

— AfroMambo (@afro_mambo) July 24, 2021

Only American track and field legend Florence Griffith-Joyner ever ran a faster 200 metres. Griffith Joyner set the world and Olympic standard of 21.34 seconds at the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea.

Thompson-Hera Seeks To Double Down

In the history of the women’s Olympic 200 metres, just two runners have won back-to-back gold medals. East Germany’s Bärbel Eckert Wöckel did so in 1976 and 1980. More recently, Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown did so in 2004 and 2008.

Thompson-Hera, Fraser-Pryce and Jackson ran 1-2-3 in the Tokyo women’s 100 metres. Thompson-Hera posted an Olympic-record time of 10.61 seconds in earning the gold medal.

#Tokyo2020 Jamaica seals all three medals in women's 100 metres final. Elaine Thompson-Herah takes #gold, smashes the Olympic record at 10.61 seconds. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce wins the #silver at 10.74 seconds and Shericka Jackson wins #Bronze at 10.76 seconds.#Jamaica #Tokyo pic.twitter.com/dYQY1tr2pe

— News9 (@News9Tweets) July 31, 2021

She swept the 100 and 200 at Rio de Janeiro, the first woman to do so in 28 years. Thompson-Hera is seeking to become the seventh female runner to win the 100 and 200 at the same Olympics.

Jamaican runners have captured three of the last four Olympic gold medals in the women’s 200 metres. However, no runner has ever won the 100-200 double in successive Olympics.

Value Worth Considering

Fraser-Pryce has run the second-fastest 200 this year. She crossed the line in 21.79 seconds. The Jamaican won the silver medal in this event at the 2012 London Summer Games.

Jackson, the reigning world 400-metre champion, is placing more emphasis on the shorter sprints this year. She’s run a 21.82-second 200.

Miller-Uibo won the gold medal in the 400 at Rio. She’s seeking to run both the 200 and 400 in Tokyo. Miller-Uibo has lost only lost one 200-metre race since the 2017 world championship.

Shaunae Miller-Uibo entered in 200 & 400. In 2019 denied a schedule change to double she announced plans for 200 only. She’s 7th fastest 200. 1st fastest 400. Could still double. Tuesday is the problem. 400 Round 1 morning, 200 Final evening. What should she do? 200? 400? Double?

— Michael Johnson (@MJGold) July 27, 2021

Schippers won the silver medal in the 200 metres in Rio. She’s also a two-time world champion in the 200.

Great Britain’s Asher-Smith is the reigning world champion in the 200. She won in a time of 21.88 in 2019. However, she’s run only three races this year.

Long shot hopefuls include Switzerland’s 2019 world bronze medallist Mujinga Kambundji, Ivory Coast’s multiple world medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou and world sixth-placer Gina Bass. Bass is seeking to become the first Gambian athlete to reach an Olympic final.

Pick: Elaine Thompson-Herah (JAM) +175.