Even for a distance runner, 33 seconds for an all-out 200 is not very good. As a high school distance runner, running an all-out 200 in 30-31 seconds is excellent and quite good, but not exceptional. A time of 24 seconds or less for the 200 meters is considered great; times below 23 seconds are amazing.
It's fine as far as high school runners go, but some college and professional athletes can do it faster.
Most non-elite 400m runners see a slowing of roughly 9% of their best 200m time. If you want to break 60 seconds, you must be able to run a 27.5 second 200m or faster, since (27.5 x 2) x 1.09 = 59.95 seconds. A few elite runners have been known to drop as much as 20% of their best 200m time, but this occurs only once every so many years.
The most effective way to break 60 seconds is to find a way to cut 10 meters off your best 200m time. It may be possible with training and nutrition, but it's difficult. The next best option is to find a fast runner who has broken 60 before and copy his or her strategy. The third option is to recruit an elite runner who can help guide you through the process. There are very few cases where athletes have successfully defended their titles with a slower time than the previous year.
In conclusion, breaking 60 seconds in the 400m is difficult but not impossible. The fastest man alive, Michael Johnson, was unable to defend his title at the 1988 Seoul Olympics after breaking 51 seconds in the preliminary round. The next year he broke one second in the world record trial, but did not improve upon this time when the event was added to the Olympic program. He was also never again able to defend his title.
55 to 58 seconds might be a good time. You should be able to run 400m in one minute. Athletes run the 400m in 45-46 seconds. You can enter the Olympics if you reach the 45-second mark. However, it's very difficult to do so.
The minimum time for men is 47 seconds and for women is 45 seconds. The maximum time is 1 minute 3 seconds. No one has ever beaten this record. It may not sound very good, but it's better than nothing.
The 400m is one of the few events in which men and women have equal times. This is because both men and women use the same number of legs to cover the distance. Women are just more efficient than men and can run faster with fewer leg breaks. In fact, some women runners can finish the race without stopping!
The current world record holder is Justin Gatlin of the United States who ran 44.94 seconds in 2016. He had a blood doping scandal earlier in his career and was banned for two years after testing positive for benzoylecgonine (a cocaine metabolite) in 2009. Before then, he only set world records between 1998 and 2001.
Gatlin has been accused of cheating several times and has been sanctioned by USADA (the anti-doping organization in America).
You should be able to run 25 seconds or the opening 200m of a 400m race in sweatpants. My personal best time for a 200-meter sprint is 28 seconds. I'm no Usain Bolt, who ran a 19-second 200, but with determination and hard training, you can reach to that time or even faster.
The best time to run the 200-meter dash depends on how much speed you need and how much effort you are willing to make. If you're running against people who are significantly faster than you, then you'll want to start early so you have time to react to their moves. If you're running against people of similar speed, then you can wait until the last 100 meters or so and use energy reserves to win. Either way, there's no reason not to go out and give it your all at the beginning of the race.
In general, the earlier in the season you start training, the better. That way, by the time competition comes around, you'll be ready to hit the track with an improved performance over previous years. And of course, the more often you train, the more quickly you will improve your time.
Of all the events in athletics, the 200-meter dash is the one that requires most courage. You have to take off from just outside the starting block without looking back, which means putting your entire career on the line with each step.
You might be able to win several races if you can go under 24 seconds. Yes, a timing of 25 seconds for a high school freshman guy in the 200m dash is acceptable. Several college freshmen have run below 23 seconds, including Stanford's Ryan McNeil and Indiana's Chris Solinsky. However, none of them were high schoolers.
In fact, only one other high schooler has ever broken 23 seconds, and he did it twice: Alvin Harrison of Chicago's Hirsch Academy. The 19-year-old sophomore ran 24 seconds in the 200 meters on three different occasions this past summer. He also hit 24 seconds again this past weekend at the IAAF World Championships in London. No other high schooler has managed to break 23 seconds more than once in their career.
Harrison's 24-second times are considered world-class speeds. Only two others have gone under 24 seconds more than once: American Andre DeGrasse (twice) and Jamaican Andre Levins (three times). No other high schooler has even come close.
If your goal is to make the Olympic team by attaining an Olympic B standard of 22:50 or faster, then the 200m is the wrong race for you. The best freshman time on record is from 2008, when Australia's Brenton Rickard ran 22:35.
A 23 is competitive if you're on a team.
The fastest man alive, Usain Bolt, has said he wants to break 30 seconds in the 200-meter race. His current best time is 20 seconds, set in 2009. The fastest woman is Sally Pearson with a time of 22.0 seconds. She broke the old record of 23.03 set by Florence Griffith Joyner in 1988.
Running is all about speed. The faster you run, the farther you can go before you need to slow down. That's why it's important to train as hard as you can every day. If you want to be able to run faster, work on your form early in the morning before anyone else is around. That way you won't be held back by someone else on the team or group.
As you get better at running, add distance to your workouts. Do some short runs one day and long runs the next. This will help you improve your time without dying. Running too far or too fast can be just as dangerous as running not enough. So follow common sense when it comes to these things.
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