1981 in athletics
Major world events	N/A
← 1980 1982 →

1981 in sports
Years in the sport of athletics
← 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 →
Air sports American football Aquatic sports Association football Athletics Badminton Baseball Basketball Canadian football Chess Climbing Combat sports Sumo Cricket 1980–81 1981 1981–82 Cycling Dance sports Darts Equestrianism Esports Field hockey Flying disc Golf Gymnastics Handball Ice hockey Ice sports Korfball Lumberjack sports Mind sports Modern pentathlon Motorsport Orienteering Paralympic sports Precision sports Shooting Racquetball Roller sports Sailing Skiing Speedway Rugby league‎ Rugby union Snooker 1980–81 1981–82 Strength sports Weightlifting Squash Table tennis Tennis Triathlon Volleyball

This article contains an overview of the year 1981 in athletics.

International events

Men's Best Year Performers

100 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Carl Lewis (USA)	10.00
2.	Mel Lattany (USA)	10.04
3.	James Sanford (USA)	10.05
4.	Stanley Floyd (USA)	10.10
5.	Jeff Phillips (USA)	10.11

200 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	James Sanford (USA)	20.20
2.	Mel Lattany (USA)	20.21
3.	Allan Wells (GBR)	20.26
4.	Frank Emmelmann (GDR)	20.33
5.	Dwayne Evans (USA)	20.34

400 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Bert Cameron (JAM)	44.58
2.	Cliff Wiley (USA)	44.70
3.	Zeke Jefferson (USA)	44.86
4.	Leslie Kerr (USA)	44.90
5.	Howard Henley (USA)	44.92

800 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Sebastian Coe (GBR)	1:41.73
2.	Joaquim Cruz (BRA)	1:44.3
3.	Olaf Beyer (GDR)	1:44.31
4.	Mike Boit (KEN)	1:44.49
5.	James Robinson (USA)	1:44.63

1,500 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Steve Ovett (GBR)	3:31.57
2.	Sebastian Coe (GBR)	3:31.95
3.	Steve Scott (USA)	3:31.96
4.	Sydney Maree (USA)	3:32.30
5.	Thomas Wessinghage (FRG)	3:33.49

Mile

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Sebastian Coe (GBR)	3:47.33
2.	Steve Ovett (GBR)	3:48.40
3.	Sydney Maree (USA)	3:48.83
4.	Mike Boit (KEN)	3:49.45
5.	José Luis González (ESP)	3:49.67

3,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Steve Scott (USA)	7:36.69
2.	Thomas Wessinghage (FRG)	7:36.75
3.	Henry Rono (KEN)	7:41.41
4.	Sydney Maree (USA)	7:43.42
5.	Eamonn Coghlan (IRL)	7:44.99

5,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Henry Rono (KEN)	13:06.20
2.	Hansjörg Kunze (GDR)	13:10.40
3.	Valeriy Abramov (URS)	13:11.99
4.	Thomas Wessinghage (FRG)	13:13.47
5.	Julian Goater (GBR)	13:15.59

10,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Fernando Mamede (POR)	27:27.7
2.	Werner Schildhauer (GDR)	27:38.43
3.	Mohamed Kedir (ETH)	27:39.44
4.	Alberto Salazar (USA)	27:40.69
5.	Henry Rono (KEN)	27:40.78

Half Marathon

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Herb Lindsay (USA)	1:01:47

Marathon

Main article: 1981 Marathon Year Ranking

110m Hurdles

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Renaldo Nehemiah (USA)	12.93
2.	Greg Foster (USA)	13.03
3.	Alejandro Casañas (CUB)	13.36
4.	Sam Turner (USA)	13.38
5.	Dedy Cooper (USA)	13.40

400m Hurdles

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Edwin Moses (USA)	47.14
2.	Andre Phillips (USA)	48.10
3.	David Lee (USA)	48.53
4.	Harald Schmid (FRG)	48.64
5.	Bart Williams (USA)	48.81

3,000m Steeplechase

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Patriz Ilg (FRG)	8:12.13
2.	Mariano Scartezzini (ITA)	8:13.32
3.	Bogusław Mamiński (POL)	8:16.66
4.	Amos Korir (KEN)	8:18.57
5.	Henry Marsh (USA)	8:18.58

High Jump

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Jeff Woodard (USA)	2.33
1.	Aleksey Demyanyuk (URS)	2.33
3.	Roland Dalhäuser (SUI)	2.31
	Gerd Nagel (FRG)
	Dwight Stones (USA)

Long Jump

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Carl Lewis (USA)	8.62
2.	Larry Myricks (USA)	8.45
3.	Henry Lauterbach (GDR)	8.35
4.	Winfried Klepsch (FRG)	8.21
5.	Atanas Chochev (BUL)	8.19

Triple Jump

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Willie Banks (USA)	17.56
2.	João Carlos de Oliveira (BRA)	17.37
3.	Zou Zhenxian (CHN)	17.34
4.	Keith Connor (GBR)	17.31
5.	Shamil Abbyasov (URS)	17.30

Discus

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	John Powell (USA)	69.98
2.	Wolfgang Schmidt (GDR)	69.60
3.	Al Oerter (USA)	68.76
4.	Art Swarts (USA)	68.32
5.	Art Burns (USA)	67.86

Hammer

Main article: 1981 Hammer Throw Year Ranking

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Klaus Ploghaus (FRG)	80.56
2.	Yuriy Syedikh (URS)	80.18
3.	Sergey Litvinov (URS)	79.60
4.	Roland Steuk (GDR)	78.72
5.	Karl-Hans Riehm (FRG)	78.72

Shot Put

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Brian Oldfield (USA)	22.02
2.	Udo Beyer (GDR)	21.69
3.	Dave Laut (USA)	21.60
4.	Mike Carter (USA)	21.20
5.	Yevgeniy Mironov (URS)	21.11

Pole Vault

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Vladimir Polyakov (URS)	5.81
1.	Thierry Vigneron (FRA)	5.81
3.	Konstantin Volkov (URS)	5.75
4.	Philippe Houvion (FRA)	5.70
	Jean-Michel Bellot (FRA)
	Sergey Kulibaba (URS)
	Aleksandr Krupskiy (URS)

Javelin (old design)

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Detlef Michel (GDR)	92.48
2.	Pentti Sinersaari (FIN)	91.98
3.	Arto Härkönen (FIN)	91.04
4.	Dainis Kula (URS)	90.54
5.	Seppo Hovinen (FIN)	90.38

Decathlon

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.	Rainer Pottel (GDR)	8334
2.	Yuriy Kutsenko (URS)	8281
3.	Uwe Freimuth (GDR)	8221
4.	Dariusz Ludwig (POL)	8204
5.	Atanas Andonov (BUL)	8220

Women's Best Year Performers

100 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Evelyn Ashford (USA)	10.90
2.	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	11.07
3.	Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH)	11.09
3.	Marlies Göhr (GDR)	11.09
5.	Angella Taylor (CAN)	11.12

200 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Evelyn Ashford (USA)	21.84
2.	Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH)	21.97
3.	Bärbel Wöckel (GDR)	22.07
4.	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	22.35
5.	Gesine Walther (GDR)	22.42

400 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH)	48.61
2.	Marita Koch (GDR)	49.27
3.	Irina Nazarova (RUS)	50.50
4.	Gaby Bussmann (FRG)	50.83
5.	Dagmar Rübsam (GDR)	50.98

800 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Lyudmila Veselkova (URS)	1:56.98
2.	Martina Steuk (GDR)	1:57.16
3.	Fiţa Lovin (ROU)	1:57.42
4.	Tamara Sorokina (URS)	1:57.55
5.	Hildegard Körner (GDR)	1:57.56

1,500 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Olga Dvirna (URS)	3:57.78
2.	Maricica Puică (ROU)	3:58.29
3.	Zamira Zaytseva (URS)	3:58.70
4.	Tamara Sorokina (URS)	3:58.89
5.	Anna Bukis (POL)	3:59.67

Mile

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Lyudmila Veselkova (URS)	4:20.89
2.	Maricica Puică (ROU)	4:21.40
3.	Fiţa Lovin (ROU)	4:21.82
4.	Zamira Zaytseva (URS)	4:22.5
5.	Svetlana Ulmasova (URS)	4:23.8

3,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Maricica Puică (ROU)	8:34.30
2.	Tatyana Pozdnyakova (URS)	8:34.80
3.	Alla Yushina (URS)	8:38.34
4.	Olga Dvirna (URS)	8:44.6
5.	Grete Waitz (NOR)	8:44.64

5,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Paula Fudge (GBR)	15:14.51
2.	Yelena Sipatova (URS)	15:24.6
3.	Ellen Tittel (FRG)	15:34.76

10,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Yelena Sipatova (URS)	32:17.19
2.	Yelena Tsukhlo (URS)	32:20.40
3.	Anna Oyun (URS)	32:36.00
4.	Maria Klyukina (URS)	32:37.40
5.	Marina Danilyuk (URS)	32:46.56

Marathon

Main article: 1981 Marathon Year Ranking

100m Hurdles

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Tatyana Anisimova (URS)	12.68
2.	Kerstin Knabe (GDR)	12.85
3.	Danuta Perka (POL)	12.93^[1]
4,	Lucyna Kalek (POL)	12.97

400m Hurdles

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ellen Neumann (GDR)	54.79
2.	Natalya Tsyruk (URS)	55.49
3.	Ana Kasteckaja (URS)	55.51^[2]
4.	Petra Pfaff (GDR)	55.54
5.	Genowefa Blaszak (POL)	55.78

High Jump

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Pam Spencer (USA)	1.97 m
2.	Charmaine Gale (RSA)	1.96 m
	Kerstin Dedner (GDR)
	Sara Simeoni (ITA)
	Ulrike Meyfarth (FRG)
	Tamara Bykova (URS)

Long Jump

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Jodi Anderson (USA)	6.96 m
2.	Anişoara Cuşmir (ROU)	6.91 m
2.	Heike Daute (GDR)	6.91 m
4.	Ramona Neubert (GDR)	6.90 m
5.	Sigrid Ulbricht (GDR)	6.89 m

Discus

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Evelin Jahl (GDR)	71.46 m
2.	Mariya Petkova (BUL)	71.30 m
3.	Valentina Kharchenko (URS)	69.86 m
4.	Galina Savinkova (URS)	69.70 m
5.	Florenţa Crăciunescu (ROU)	68.98 m

Shot Put

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Ilona Slupianek (GDR)	21.61 m
2.	Helena Fibingerová (TCH)	21.57 m
3.	Ines Müller (GDR)	21.14 m
4.	Verzhinia Veselinova (BUL)	21.09 m
5.	Margitta Droese (GDR)	21.08 m

Javelin (old design)

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Antoaneta Todorova (BUL)	71.88 m
2.	Tessa Sanderson (GBR)	68.86 m
3.	Ute Hommola (GDR)	67.24 m
4.	Petra Felke (GDR)	66.60 m
5.	Tiina Lillak (FIN)	66.34 m

Heptathlon

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.	Ramona Neubert (GDR)	6788
2.	Sabine Everts (FRG)	6365
3.	Malgorzata Nowak (POL)	6333
4.	Yekaterina Gordiyenko (URS)	6295
5.	Jane Frederick (USA)	6291

Births

January

January 8 – Mesías Zapata, Ecuadorian race walker
January 14 – Hyleas Fountain, American heptathlete
January 18 – Naoyuki Daigo, Japanese high jumper
January 24 – Jong Yong-Ok, North Korean long-distance runner
January 27 – Fabrizio Schembri, Italian triple jumper
January 29 – Rose Richmond, American long jumper

February

February 12 – Amarilys Alméstica, Puerto Rican hammer thrower
February 13 – Rosibel García, Colombian middle-distance runner
February 15 – Rita Jeptoo, Kenyan marathon runner
February 16 – Jessé de Lima, Brazilian high jumper
February 17 – Shi Na, Chinese race walker
February 19 – Shellene Williams, Jamaican sprinter
February 25 – Marek Plawgo, Polish athlete

March

March 11 – Yelena Konevtseva, Russian hammer thrower
March 13 – Stefan Wenk, German javelin thrower
March 22 – Aliaksandr Parkhomenka, Belarusian decathlete
March 28 – Yuniel Hernández, Cuban hurdler

April

April 13 – Moushaumi Robinson, American sprinter
April 19 – Kazuhiro Maeda, Japanese long-distance runner

May

May 6 – Rui Pedro Silva, Portuguese distance runner
May 15 – Merja Korpela, Finnish hammer thrower
May 20 – Jana Tucholke, German discus thrower
May 21 – Anna Rogowska, Polish pole vaulter
May 28 – Kamil Kalka, Polish race walker
May 31 – Eileen O'Keefe, Irish hammer thrower

July

July 9 – Rutger Smith, Dutch discus thrower and shot putter
July 13 – Ineta Radēviča, Latvian long and triple jumper
July 24 – Carys Parry, Welsh hammer thrower
July 30 – Daria Onyśko, Polish sprinter

August

August 15 – Yoshiko Fujinaga, Japanese long-distance runner
August 30 – Aleksandr Vashchyla, Belarusian hammer thrower

September

September 6 – Brandon Simpson, Jamaican athlete
September 7 – Eyerusalem Kuma, Ethiopian distance runner
September 12 – Greg Nixon, American sprinter
September 15 – Tomas Intas, Lithuanian javelin thrower

October

October 3 – Anna Omarova, Russian shot putter
October 18 – Ji Young-Jun, South Korean long-distance runner

November

November 8 – Jéssica Augusto, Portuguese long-distance runner
November 18 – Kimberly Barrett, Jamaica-Puerto Rican shot putter
November 21 – Werknesh Kidane, Ethiopian long-distance runner

December

December 8 – Gabriel Ortiz, Mexican race walker
December 22 – Marina Kuptsova, Russian high jumper

Deaths

April 25 – Paul Bontemps (76), French long-distance runner (b. 1902)
August 2 – Delfo Cabrera (62), Argentine long-distance runner (b. 1919)

References

^ "World Top Performers". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 14 April 2018.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "World Top Performers". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 14 April 2018.

1981 in the sport of athletics

« 1980

1982 »

World

World Cup
World Cross Country Championships
World Race Walking Cup
World Masters Championships
Universiade
World Military Cross Country Championships

Regional

Championships	Asian Balkan Central American and Caribbean European Indoor Pacific South American
Games	Bolivarian Games Maccabiah Games Southeast Asian Games South Pacific Mini Games
Other	Balkan Cross Country European Cup Combined Events
Age group	CARIFTA Games European U20 South American U20

National

Indoor	Czechoslovak Dutch English French German East West Italian Polish Soviet Spanish Swedish United States NCAA
Outdoor	Australian Belgian British Canada Championships Games Chinese Czechoslovak Dutch English Finnish French German East West Hungarian Icelandic Italian Jamaican Japanese Norwegian Polish Portuguese Soviet Spanish Swedish United Kingdom United States NCAA XC NCAA Track

v t e Years in the sport of athletics
1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024