This article contains an overview of the year 1986 in the sport of athletics.

International Events

• Asian Games
• Balkan Games
• European Championships
• European Indoor Championships
• Commonwealth Games
• Goodwill Games
• World Junior Championships

World records

Men

EVENT	ATHLETE	MARK	DATE	VENUE
Pole vault	Sergei Bubka (URS)	6.01m	8 July	Moscow
Shot Put	Udo Beyer (GDR)	22.64m	20 August	East Berlin, East Germany
Discus Throw	Jürgen Schult (GDR)	74.08m	6 June	Neubrandenburg, East Germany
Hammer Throw	Yuriy Syedikh (URS)	86.66m	22 June	Tallinn, Soviet Union
	Yuriy Syedikh (URS)	86.74m	30 August	Stuttgart, West Germany
Javelin (new)	Tom Petranoff (USA)	85.38m	7 July	Helsinki, Finland
	Klaus Tafelmeier (FRG)	85.74m	21 September	Como, Italy

Women

EVENT	ATHLETE	MARK	DATE	VENUE
2,000 metres	Maricica Puica (ROM)	5:28.69	11 July	London
5,000 metres	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	14:37.33	August 5	Stockholm, Sweden
10,000 metres	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	30:13.74	July 5	Oslo, Norway
100m Hurdles	Yordanka Donkova (BUL)	12.35	17 August	Köln, West Germany
	Yordanka Donkova (BUL)	12.29	17 August	Köln, West Germany
	Yordanka Donkova (BUL)	12.26	7 September	Ljubljana, Yugoslavia
400m Hurdles	Marina Styepanova (URS)	53.32	30 August	Stuttgart, West Germany
	Marina Styepanova (URS)	52.94	17 September	Tashkent, Soviet Union
High Jump	Stefka Kostadinova (BUL)	2.08m	1 June	Sofia, Bulgaria
Long jump	Heike Drechsler (GDR)	7.45m	21 June	Tallinn, Estonia
Javelin throw	Fatima Whitbread (GBR)	77.44m	28 August	Stuttgart, West Germany
Heptathlon	Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)	7148	6-7 July	Moscow, Soviet Union
	Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)	7158	1-2 August	Houston, United States

• Heike Drechsler (GDR) twice equals the world record in the women's 200 metres held by countrywoman Marita Koch since 1979-06-10, clocking 21.71 seconds on 1986-06-29 and 1986-08-29.

Men's Best Year Performers

100 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Chidi Imoh (NGR)	10.00
2.	Robson da Silva (BRA)	10.02
3.	Linford Christie (GBR)	10.04
4.	Carl Lewis (USA)	10.06
5.	Emmit King (USA)	10.07

200 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Floyd Heard (USA)	20.12
2.	Roy Martin (USA)	20.16
3.	Lorenzo Daniel (USA)	20.17
4.	John Dinan (AUS)	20.19
5.	Michael Timpson (USA)	20.23

400 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Gabriel Tiacoh (CIV)	44.30
2.	Darrell Robinson (USA)	44.45
3.	Roddie Haley (USA)	44.48
4.	Innocent Egbunike (NGR)	44.50
5.	Roger Black (GBR)	44.59

800 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Steve Cram (GBR)	1:43.19
2.	Johnny Gray (USA)	1:43.46
—	William Wuycke (VEN)	1:43.54
4.	Earl Jones (USA)	1:43.62
5.	Peter Braun (GDR)	1:44.03

1,500 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Sebastian Coe (GBR)	3:29.77
2.	Steve Cram (GBR)	3:30.15
3.	José Manuel Abascal (ESP)	3:31.13
4.	Sydney Maree (USA)	3:32.56
5.	José Luis González (ESP)	3:32.90

Mile

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Steve Cram (GBR)	3:48.31
2.	Steve Scott (USA)	3:48.73
3.	Jim Spivey (USA)	3:49.80
4.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	3:50.33
5.	José Manuel Abascal (ESP)	3:50.54

3,000 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	7:32.23
2.	Sydney Maree (USA)	7:38.26
3.	Paul Kipkoech (KEN)	7:39.38
4.	Jack Buckner (GBR)	7:40.23
5.	Vincent Rousseau (BEL)	7:42.15

5,000 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	13:00.86
2.	Jack Buckner (GBR)	13:10.15
3.	Stefano Mei (ITA)	13:11.57
4.	Tim Hutchings (GBR)	13:12.88
5.	Evgeni Ignatov (BUL)	13:13.15

10,000 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Mark Nenow (USA)	27:20.56
2.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	27:26.11
3.	Hansjörg Kunze (GDR)	27:34.68
4.	Salvatore Antibo (ITA)	27:39.52
5.	Paul Kipkoech (KEN)	27:43.31

Half Marathon

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Michael Musyoki (KEN)	1:00:43

110m Hurdles

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Stéphane Caristan (FRA)	13.20
2.	Greg Foster (USA)	13.25
3.	Andrey Prokofyev (URS)	13.28
4.	Keith Talley (USA)	13.31
5.	Mark McKoy (CAN)	13.35

400m Hurdles

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Edwin Moses (USA)	47.38
2.	Andre Phillips (USA)	47.51
3.	Danny Harris (USA)	47.82
4.	Harald Schmid (FRG)	47.89
5.	Amadou Dia Bâ (SEN)	48.07

3,000m Steeplechase

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	William Van Dijck (BEL)	8:10.01
2.	Colin Reitz (GBR)	8:12.11
3.	Julius Korir (KEN)	8:12.74
4.	Henry Marsh (USA)	8:13.15
5.	Peter Koech (KEN)	8:13.33

High jump

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Igor Paklin (URS)	2.38
2.	Jim Howard (USA)	2.36
—	Carlo Thränhardt (FRG)	2.36
—	Javier Sotomayor (CUB)	2.36
5.	Hennadiy Avdyeyenko (URS)	2.35

Long jump

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Robert Emmiyan (URS)	8.61
2.	Larry Myricks (USA)	8.50
3.	Jaime Jefferson (CUB)	8.47
4.	Carl Lewis (USA)	8.35
5.	Mike Conley (USA)	8.33

Triple jump

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Khristo Markov (BUL)	17.80
2.	Nikolay Musiyenko (URS)	17.78
—	Lázaro Betancourt (CUB)	17.78
4.	Mike Conley (USA)	17.69
5.	Oleg Protsenko (URS)	17.59

Discus

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Jürgen Schult (GDR)	74.08
2.	Art Burns (USA)	68.70
3.	Knut Hjeltnes (NOR)	68.50
4.	Juan Martínez (CUB)	68.40
5.	Luis Delís (CUB)	68.00

Hammer

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Yuriy Syedikh (URS)	86.74
2.	Sergey Litvinov (URS)	86.04
3.	Igor Nikulin (URS)	82.34
4.	Benjaminas Viluckis (URS)	82.24
5.	Günther Rodehau (GDR)	81.70

Shot put

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Udo Beyer (GDR)	22.64
2.	Ulf Timmermann (GDR)	22.60
3.	Sergey Smirnov (URS)	22.24
4.	Werner Günthör (SUI)	22.22
5.	Sergey Gavryushin (URS)	22.10

Javelin (old design)

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Klaus Tafelmeier (FRG)	95.74
2.	Tom Petranoff (USA)	92.38
3.	Viktor Yevsyukov (URS)	83.68
4.	Detlef Michel (GDR)	83.52
5.	Heino Puuste (URS)	83.20

Pole vault

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Sergei Bubka (URS)	6.01
2.	Joe Dial (USA)	5.90
—	Thierry Vigneron (FRA)	5.90
4.	Rodion Gataullin (URS)	5.85
—	Philippe Collet (FRA)	5.85

Decathlon

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.	Daley Thompson (GBR)	8811
2.	Jürgen Hingsen (FRG)	8730
3.	Siegfried Wentz (FRG)	8676
4.	Guido Kratschmer (FRG)	8519
5.	Torsten Voss (GDR)	8450

Women's Best Year Performers

100 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Evelyn Ashford (USA)	10.88
2.	Heike Drechsler (GDR)	10.91
—	Marlies Göhr (GDR)	10.91
4.	Ewa Kasprzyk (POL)	10.93
5.	Silke Gladisch (GDR)	10.96

200 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Heike Drechsler (GDR)	21.71
2.	Evelyn Ashford (USA)	21.97
—	Silke Gladisch (GDR)	22.07
4.	Pam Marshall (USA)	22.12
5.	Ewa Kasprzyk (POL)	22.13

400 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Marita Koch (GDR)	48.22
2.	Olga Bryzgina (URS)	49.67
3.	Petra Müller (GDR)	49.79
4.	Tatána Kocembová (TCH)	49.83
5.	Pam Marshall (USA)	49.99

800 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Doina Melinte (ROU)	1:56.2
2.	Sigrun Wodars (GDR)	1:57.05
3.	Nadiya Olizarenko (URS)	1:57.15
4.	Lyubov Kiryukhina (URS)	1:57.18
5.	Lyubov Gurina (URS)	1:57.52

1,500 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Doina Melinte (ROU)	3:56.7
2.	Tatyana Samolenko (URS)	3:59.45
3.	Maricica Puică (ROU)	3:59.62
4.	Ravilya Agletdinova (URS)	3:59.84
5.	Lyubov Kremlyova (URS)	4:01.57

Mile

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Maricica Puică (ROU)	4:18.25
2.	Kirsty Wade (GBR)	4:21.61
3.	Doina Melinte (ROU)	4:21.88
4.	Elly van Hulst (NED)	4:22.40
5.	Ivana Walterová (TCH)	4:22.82

3.000 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Olga Bondarenko (URS)	8:33.99
2.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	8:34.10
3.	Zola Budd (GBR)	8:34.43
4.	Maricica Puică (ROU)	8:35.92
5.	Tatyana Samolenko (URS)	8:36.00

5.000 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	14:37.33
2.	Svetlana Guskova (URS)	15:02.12
3.	Olga Bondarenko (URS)	15:03.51
4.	Svetlana Ulmasova (URS)	15:05.50
5.	Lynn Jennings (USA)	15:08.36

10,000 metres

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	30:13.74
2.	Olga Bondarenko (URS)	30:57.21
3.	Ulrike Bruns (GDR)	31:19.76
4.	Aurora Cunha (POR)	31:29.41
5.	Liz Lynch (GBR)	31:41.42

Half Marathon

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	1:09:03

100m Hurdles

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Yordanka Donkova (BUL)	12.26
2.	Ginka Zagorcheva (BUL)	12.39
3.	Cornelia Oschkenat (GDR)	12.50
4.	Nataliya Grygoryeva (URS)	12.61
5.	Heike Theele (GDR)	12.63

400m Hurdles

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Marina Stepanova (URS)	52.94
2.	Sabine Busch (GDR)	53.60
3.	Myrtle Bothma (RSA)	53.74
4.	Debbie Flintoff (AUS)	53.76
5.	Cornelia Feuerbach (GDR)	54.13

High Jump

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Stefka Kostadinova (BUL)	2.08 m
2.	Olga Turchak (URS)	2.01 m
—	Desiree du Plessis (RSA)	2.01 m
4.	Charmaine Weavers (RSA)	1.99 m
—	Silvia Costa (CUB)	1.99 m

Long Jump

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Heike Drechsler (GDR)	7.45 m
2.	Galina Chistyakova (URS)	7.34 m
3.	Yelena Belevskaya (URS)	7.31 m
4.	Irena Ozhenko (URS)	7.20 m
5.	Larisa Berezhnaya (URS)	7.19 m

Shot Put

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Natalya Lisovskaya (URS)	21.70 m
2.	Ines Müller (GDR)	21.45 m
3.	Natalya Akhrimenko (URS)	21.39 m
4.	Heidi Krieger (GDR)	21.10 m
5.	Claudia Losch (FRG)	20.92 m

Javelin (old design)

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Fatima Whitbread (GBR)	77.44
2.	petra Felke (GDR)	75.04
3.	Tiina Lillak (FIN)	72.42
4.	María Caridad Colón (CUB)	70.14
5.	Ivonne Leal (CUB)	69.82

Heptathlon

RANK	1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.	Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)	7158
2.	Anke Behmer (GDR)	6717
3.	Natalya Shubenkova (URS)	6645
4.	Sibylle Thiele (GDR)	6635
5.	Judy Simpson (GBR)	6623

Marathon

Year Rankings

Men

RANK	ATHLETE	TIME	DATE	EVENT
1.	Robert de Castella (AUS)	2:07.51	April 21	Boston, United States
2.	Zithulele Sinqe (RSA)	2:08.04	May 3	Port Elizabeth, South Africa
3.	Juma Ikangaa (TAN)	2:08.10	February 9	Tokyo, Japan
4.	Willie Mtolo (RSA)	2:08.15	May 3	Port Elizabeth, South Africa
5.	Takeyuki Nakayama (JPN)	2:08.21	October 5	Seoul, South Korea
6.	Toshihiko Seko (JPN)	2:08.27	October 26	Chicago, United States
7.	Belayneh Dinsamo (ETH)	2:08.29	February 9	Tokyo, Japan
8.	Abebe Mekonnen (ETH)	2:08.39	February 9	Tokyo, Japan
9.	Takeyuki Nakayama (JPN)	2:08.43	February 9	Tokyo, Japan
10.	Abebe Mekonnen (ETH)	2:09.08	April 19	Rotterdam, Netherlands

Women

RANK	ATHLETE	TIME	DATE	EVENT
1.	Grete Waitz (NOR)	2:24:54	April 20	London, United Kingdom
2.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	2:24:55	April 21	Boston, United States
3.	Lisa Ondieki (AUS)	2:26:07	August 1	Edinburgh, Scotland
4.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	2:27:08	October 26	Chicago, United States
5.	Rosa Mota (POR)	2:27:15	November 16	Tokyo, Japan
6.	Carla Beurskens (NED)	2:27:35	April 21	Boston, United States
7.	Grete Waitz (NOR)	2:28:06	November 2	New York, United States
8.	Lorraine Moller (NZL)	2:28:17	August 1	Edinburgh, Scotland
9.	Rosa Mota (POR)	2:28:38	August 26	Stuttgart, West Germany
10.	Ágnes Sipka (HUN)	2:28:51	October 26	Budapest, Hungary

National Champions

NATION	MEN'S WINNER	TIME	WOMEN'S WINNER	TIME	PLACE	DATE
Australia	Stephen Austin	2:15:59	Margaret Reddan	2:48:28	Sydney	June 8
Canada	Agustin Diaz Romero	2:20:36	Ellen Rochefort	2:35:51	Montreal	September 28
	Toshihiro Shibutani	2:14:55	—	—	Ōtsu	March 9
Netherlands	Adri Hartveld	2:15:32	Eefje van Wissen	2:40:07	Maassluis	April 12
	Santiago de la Parte	2:16:37	Maercedes Calleja	2:40:24	Lorca	May 24
West Germany	Wolfgang Krüger	2:15:20	Heidi Hutterer	2:36:44	Stuttgart	April 20

International Races

DATE	MARATHON	NATION	MEN'S WINNER	TIME	WOMEN'S WINNER	TIME
January 11	Miami	United States	Bernard Bobes	2:21:26	Shirley Silsby	2:53:18
January 19	Hamilton	Bermuda	Jerrold Wynia	2:24:03	Sharon Crawford	2:58:17
January 19	Manila	Philippines	Eddy Hellebuyck	2:19:00	Tani Ruckle	2:46:58
January 26	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Shu Chun Zhu	2:15:08	Yan Min Wen	2:36:55
January 26	Osaka		—	—	Lorraine Moller	2:30:24
February 1	Auckland	New Zealand	Allan Zachariasen	2:12:36	Kiersti Jakobsen	2:36:58
February 2	Beppu		Taisuke Kodama	2:10:34	—	—
February 2	Long Beach	United States	Ric Sayre	2:13:22	Mary Tracey	2:48:01
February 9	Tokyo		Juma Ikangaa	2:08:10	—	—
February 16	Valencia		Pawel Lorens	2:16:31	Malgorzata Szuminska	2:46:31
March 9	Arusha	Tanzania	Japhet Mashishanga	2:21:01	Leokadia Katona	4:03:30
March 9	Los Angeles	United States	Ric Sayre	2:12:59	Nancy Ditz	2:36:27
March 16	Barcelona		Frederick Vandervennet	2:15:45	Deborah Heath	2:48:22
April 13	Lyon	France	Alain Lazare	2:15:07	Marie-Jeanne Maury	2:54:48
April 13	Vienna	Austria	Gerhard Hartmann	2:12:22	Birgit Lennartz	2:38:31
April 19	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Abebe Mekonnen	2:09:09	Ellinor Ljungros	2:41:06
April 20	Budapest	Hungary	Sandor Szendrei	2:16:18	Agota Farkas	2:47:10
April 20	London	United Kingdom	Toshihiko Seko	2:10:02	Grete Waitz	2:24:54
April 21	Boston	United States	Robert de Castella	2:07:51	Ingrid Kristiansen	2:24:55
April 27	Bremen	West Germany	Jozef Machalek	2:15:58	Elke Kramer	2:48:38
April 27	Madrid		Ramiro Matamoros	2:17:04	Consuelo Alonso	2:43:21
May 1	Rome	Italy	Osvaldo Faustini	2:16:03	Katherine Gregory	3:23:43
May 4	Munich	West Germany	István Kerékjártó	2:17:46	Olivia Gruner	2:38:51
May 4	Paris	France	Hussein Ahmed Salah	2:12:44	Maria Rebelo-Lelut	2:32:18
May 4	Vancouver	Canada	Hiromi Nishi	2:21:14	Joi Belyk	2:45:37
May 5	Belfast	Northern Ireland	Martin Deane	2:16:05	Moira O'Neill	2:43:26
May 11	Amsterdam	Netherlands	William Vanhuylenbroek	2:14:46	Teresa Kidd	2:46:18
May 11	Geneva	Switzerland	Bernard Bobes	2:18:11	Nadezhda Gumerova	2:38:33
May 18	Pittsburgh	United States	Dean Matthews	2:18:17	Laura Fogli	2:37:04
May 18	Venice	Italy	Salvatore Bettiol	2:18:44	Paola Moro	2:38:10
May 25	Hamburg	West Germany	Karel Lismont	2:12:12	Magda Ilands	2:35:17
June 1	Christchurch	New Zealand	John Campbell	2:15:19	Sharon Higgins	2:45:44
June 7	Stockholm	Sweden	Kjell-Erik Ståhl	2:12:33	Evy Palm	2:34:42
June 8	Sydney	Australia	Eloi Schleder	2:12:54	Ngaire Drake	2:38:52
July 20	San Francisco	United States	Peter Pfitzinger	2:13:29	Maria Trujillo	2:37:57
August 1	CW Games	Edinburgh, Scotland	Robert de Castella	2:10:15	Lisa Ondieki	2:26:07
August 2	Helsinki	Finland	Tommy Persson	2:17:11	Sinikka Kiippa	2:49:29
August 17	Bolton	United Kingdom	Michael Neary	2:19:25	—	—
August 24	Reykjavik	Iceland	Mokfi Chaibi	2:20:30	Carol Macario	2:58:09
August 24	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	Eloi Schleder	2:22:02	Elizabeth McElhinny	2:46:54
August 26	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	—	—	Rosa Mota	2:28:38
August 30	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	Gelindo Bordin	2:10:54	—	—
August 31	Adelaide	Australia	Peter Bourgaize	2:25:16	Desiree Letherby	2:59:20
September 6	Antwerp	Belgium	François Blommaerts	2:17:48	Denise Verhaert	2:42:44
September 13	Oslo	Norway	Kjell-Erik Ståhl	2:14:59	Sissel Grottenberg	2:40:01
September 21	Niagara	Canada	Kazuya Nishimoto	2:17:35	Mariagrazia Savasta	2:50:49
September 21	Glasgow	United Kingdom	Kenneth Stewart	2:14:04	Sandra Branney	2:37:29
September 28	Berlin	West Berlin	Boguslaw Psujek	2:11:03	Charlotte Teske	2:32:10
September 28	Brussels	Belgium	Dirk Vanderherten	2:15:32	Nelly Aerts	2:42:02
September 28	Ciudad Mexico	Mexico	Manuel Garcia Perez	2:20:03	Mericarmen Cardenas	2:42:25
September 28	Montreal	Canada	Abebe Mekonnen	2:10:31	Helene Rochefort	2:35:51
September 28	Perth	Australia	Futoshi Shinohara	2:18:17	Bernardine Portenski	2:53:54
September 28	Portland	United States	Leonard Hill	2:18:54	Kathleen Angel	2:47:02
October 1	Asian Games	Seoul, South Korea	—	—	Eriko Asai	2:41:03
October 5	Asian Games	Seoul, South Korea	Takeyuki Nakayama	2:08:21	—	—
October 12	Athens	Greece	Jos vander Water	2:27:22	Signe Ward	3:06:58
October 12	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Raimundo Manquel	2:21:10	Angélica de Almeida	2:54:47
October 12	Melbourne	Australia	Richard Umberg	2:17:21	Tani Ruckle	2:36:06
October 19	Beijing		Taisuke Kodama	2:07:35	—	—
October 26	Chicago	United States	Toshihiko Seko	2:08:27	Ingrid Kristiansen	2:27:08
October 26	Hamilton	New Zealand	Wojciech Ratkowski	2:18:13	Carol Raven	3:07:16
October 26	Lisbon	Portugal	Cidalio Caetano	2:16:49	Maria Lousada	3:20:26
October 26	Nuremberg	West Germany	Ryszard Przybyla	2:19:44	—	—
October 27	Dublin	Ireland	Dick Hooper	2:18:10	Maureen Hurst	2:46:29
November 2	Istanbul	Turkey	Hanefi Atmaca	2:23:20	—	—
November 2	New York City	United States	Piergiovanni Poli	2:11:06	Grete Waitz	2:28:06
November 16	Tokyo		—	—	Rosa Mota	2:27:15
December 7	Fukuoka		Juma Ikangaa	2:10:06	—	—
December 7	Kawaguchi		Tetsuji Iwase	2:19:54	Tomoko Suzuki	2:50:10
December 7	Honolulu	United States	Ibrahim Hussein	2:11:44	Carla Beurskens	2:31:02
December 17	Tiberias Marathon	Israel	Yair Karni	2:23:12	Kerstin Preßler	2:36:33

Births

• January 5 — Roman Novotný, Czech long jumper
• January 11 — Claudio Licciardello, Italian sprinter
• January 15 — Mariya Abakumova, Russian javelin thrower
• January 17 — Sherry Fletcher, Grenadian sprinter
• January 23 — Gelete Burka, Ethiopian middle-distance runner
• January 24 — Montell Douglas, British sprinter
• January 31 — Walter Dix, American sprinter
• February 11 — Bob Altena, Dutch decathlete
• April 1 — Yurika Nakamura, Japanese long-distance runner
• April 2 — Moses Aliwa, Ugandan long-distance runner
• April 4 — Evelyne Nganga, Kenyan long-distance runner
• April 29 — Ingus Janevics, Latvian race walker
• May 2 — Samuel Muturi Mugo, Kenyan long-distance runner
• May 16 — Eleni Artymata, Cypriot sprinter
• June 3 — Micah Kogo, Kenyan long-distance runner
• June 8 — Yadira Guamán, Ecuadorian race walker
• June 10 — Amr Ibrahim Mostafa Seoud, Egyptian sprinter
• June 27 — LaShawn Merritt, American sprinter
• July 3 — Robina Muqimyar, Afghan sprinter
• July 17 — Viktor Kuznyetsov, Ukrainian long jumper and triple jumper
• July 19 — Philes Ongori, Kenyan long-distance runner
• July 26 — Mattias Claesson, Swedish middle-distance runner
• July 26 — Angela Moroșanu, Romanian sprinter
• July 28 — Nancy Wambui, Kenyan long-distance runner
• July 28 — Nickiesha Wilson, Jamaican hurdler
• August 3 — Fartun Abukar Omar, Somali athlete
• August 21 — Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter
• August 29 — Yerefu Birhanu, Ethiopian long-distance runner
• September 9 — Daniel Bailey, Antigua and Barbuda sprinter
• November 1 — Ksenija Balta, Estonian long jumper, sprinter and heptathlete
• November 10 — Samuel Wanjiru, Kenyan long-distance runner
• November 13 — Sergey Bakulin, Russian race walker
• November 21 — Aleksandra Zelenina, Moldovan long and triple jumper
• December 7 — Olga Mikhaylova, Russian race walker

Deaths

• April 13 — Sulo Bärlund (75), Finnish shot putter (b. 1910)