This article contains an overview of the year 1989 in athletics.

International Events

• African Championships
• Asian Championships
• Balkan Games
• Central American and Caribbean Championships
• Bolivarian Games
• European Indoor Championships
• Jeux de la Francophonie
• South American Championships
• World Cross Country Championships
• World Indoor Championships
• World Student Games

World records

Men

EVENT	ATHLETE	MARK	DATE	VENUE
3,000 metres	Said Aouita (MAR)	7:29.45	20 August	Köln, West Germany
10,000 metres	Arturo Barrios (MEX)	27:08.23	18 August	Berlin, West Germany
110 m hurdles	Roger Kingdom (USA)	12.92	16 August	Zürich, Switzerland
3,000 m steeplechase	Peter Koech (KEN)	8:05.35	3 July	Stockholm, Sweden
4 × 200 metres relay	Santa Monica TC  United States • Danny Everett • Leroy Burrell • Floyd Heard • Carl Lewis	1:19.38	23 August	Koblenz, West Germany
High Jump	Javier Sotomayor (CUB)	2.44m	29 July	San Juan, Puerto Rico

Women

EVENT	ATHLETE	MARK	DATE	VENUE
Mile	Paula Ivan (ROU)	4:15.61	10 July	Nice, France
Half Marathon	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	1:08:31	16 September	New Bedford, United States

Men's Best Year Performers

100 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Leroy Burrell (USA)	9.94
2.	Raymond Stewart (JAM)	9.97
3.	Frank Fredericks (RSA)	10.02
4.	Dennis Mitchell (USA)	10.03
5.	Andre Cason (USA)	10.04

200 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Robson da Silva (BRA)	19.96
2.	Dennis Mitchell (USA)	20.09
	Floyd Heard (USA)
4.	Mark Witherspoon (USA)	20.12
5.	Joe DeLoach (USA)	20.13

400 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Antonio Pettigrew (USA)	44.27
2.	Butch Reynolds (USA)	44.30
3.	Danny Everett (USA)	44.36
4.	Steve Lewis (USA)	44.47
5.	Roberto Hernández (CUB)	44.58

800 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Paul Ereng (KEN)	1:43.16
2.	Nixon Kiprotich (KEN)	1:43.38
—	Sebastian Coe (GBR)	1:43.38
4.	Johnny Gray (USA)	1:43.39
5.	Abdi Bile (SOM)	1:43.60

1,500 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Abdi Bile (SOM)	3:30.55
2.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	3:30.63
3.	Wilfred Kirochi (KEN)	3:32.57
4.	Gennaro di Napoli (ITA)	3:32.98
5.	José Luis González (ESP)	3:33.33

Mile

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Abdi Bile (SOM)	3:49.90
2.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	3:50.09
3.	Wilfred Kirochi (KEN)	3:50.49
4.	Joe Falcon (USA)	3:51.07
5.	Dieter Baumann (FRG)	3:51.15

3,000 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	7:29.45
2.	Yobes Ondieki (KEN)	7:35.01
3.	Arturo Barrios (MEX)	7:35.71
4.	Dieter Baumann (FRG)	7:38.93
5.	Vincent Rousseau (BEL)	7:39.41

5,000 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Yobes Ondieki (KEN)	13:04.24
2.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	13:06.26
3.	Arturo Barrios (MEX)	13:07.79
4.	Brahim Boutayeb (MAR)	13:12.10
5.	Sydney Maree (USA)	13:13.84

10,000 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Arturo Barrios (MEX)	27:08.23
2.	Salvatore Antibo (ITA)	27:16.50
3.	Addis Abebe (ETH)	27:17.82
4.	Francesco Panetta (ITA)	27:24.16
5.	John Ngugi (KEN)	27:28.07

Half Marathon

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Matthew Temane (RSA)	1:01:10

Marathon

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Juma Ikangaa (TAN)	2:08:01
2.	Belayneh Dinsamo (ETH)	2:08:40
3.	Douglas Wakiihuri (KEN)	2:09:03
4.	Abebe Mekonnen (ETH)	2:09:06
—	Steve Moneghetti (AUS)	2:09:06

110m Hurdles

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Roger Kingdom (USA)	12.92
2.	Colin Jackson (GBR)	13.11
3.	Greg Foster (USA)	13.19
4.	Renaldo Nehemiah (USA)	13.20
5.	Tonie Campbell (USA)	13.22

400m Hurdles

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Kevin Young (USA)	47.86
2.	Andre Phillips (USA)	47.94
3.	Winthrop Graham (JAM)	48.20
4.	Danny Harris (USA)	48.27
5.	David Patrick (USA)	48.33

3,000m Steeplechase

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Peter Koech (KEN)	8:05.35
2.	Patrick Sang (KEN)	8:06.03
3.	Julius Kariuki (KEN)	8:12.18
4.	Joseph Mahmoud (FRA)	8:13.38
5.	Graeme Fell (CAN)	8:15.80

High Jump

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Javier Sotomayor (CUB)	2.44
2.	Patrik Sjöberg (SWE)	2.40
3.	Hollis Conway (USA)	2.39
4.	Hennadiy Avdyeyenko (URS)	2.37
5.	Carlo Thränhardt (FRG)	2.34
	Rudolf Povarnitsyn (URS)
	Dalton Grant (GBR)

Long Jump

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Larry Myricks (USA)	8.70
2.	Carl Lewis (USA)	8.54
3.	Mike Powell (USA)	8.49
4.	Leroy Burrell (USA)	8.37
5.	Vladimir Ratushkov (URS)	8.33

Triple Jump

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Volodymyr Inozemtsev (URS)	17.62
2.	Oleg Sakirkin (URS)	17.58
3.	Mike Conley (USA)	17.57
4.	Charles Simpkins (USA)	17.53
5.	Kenny Harrison (USA)	17.47

Discus

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Wolfgang Schmidt (GDR)	70.92
2.	Mike Buncic (USA)	68.88
3.	Luis Delís (CUB)	68.28
4.	Jürgen Schult (GDR)	68.12
5.	Vésteinn Hafsteinsson (ISL)	67.64

Shot Put

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Ulf Timmermann (GDR)	22.19
2.	Randy Barnes (USA)	22.18
	Werner Günthör (SUI)
4.	Jim Doehring (USA)	21.57
5.	Aleksandr Bagach (URS)	21.42

Hammer

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Heinz Weis (FRG)	82.84
2.	Igor Astapkovich (URS)	82.52
3.	Vasiliy Sidorenko (URS)	82.30
4.	Yuriy Syedikh (URS)	81.92
5.	Andrey Abduvaliyev (URS)	81.00

Javelin (new design)

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Kazuhiro Mizoguchi (JPN)	87.60
2.	Steve Backley (GBR)	85.90
3.	Tom Petranoff (USA)	85.34
4.	Volker Hadwich (GDR)	84.84
5.	Peter Borglund (SWE)	84.76

Pole Vault

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Sergey Bubka (URS)	6.00
—	Rodion Gataullin (URS)	6.00
3.	Joe Dial (USA)	5.90
4.	Grigoriy Yegorov (URS)	5.81
	Tim Bright (USA)

Decathlon

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.	Dave Johnson (USA)	8549
2.	Christian Plaziat (FRA)	8485
3.	Richardas Malakhovskis (URS)	8437
4.	Christian Schenk (GDR)	8351
5.	Michael Smith (CAN)	8317

Women's Best Year Performers

60 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Nelli Cooman (NLD)	7.05
2.	Gwen Torrence (USA)	7.07
3.	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	7.10
4.	Alice Brown (USA)	7.11
5.	Olga Bogoslovskaya (URS)	7.12

100 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Dawn Sowell (USA)	10.78
2.	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	10.95
3.	Laurence Bily (FRA)	11.04
4.	Evelyn Ashford (USA)	11.05
5.	Sheila Echols (USA)	11.07

200 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Dawn Sowell (USA)	22.04
2.	Evette de Klerk (RSA)	22.06
3.	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	22.21
4.	Silke Möller (GDR)	22.23
5.	Dannette Young (USA)	22.29

400 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ana Fidelia Quirot (CUB)	50.01
2.	Pauline Davis (BAH)	50.18
3.	Grit Breuer (GDR)	50.48
4.	Grace Jackson (JAM)	50.63
5.	Tatyana Alekseyeva (URS)	50.74

800 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ana Fidelia Quirot (CUB)	1:54.44
2.	Sigrun Wodars (GDR)	1:55.70
3.	Doina Melinte (ROU)	1:56.55
4.	Dalia Matuseviciene (URS)	1:57.27
5.	Olga Dogadina (URS)	1:58.0

1,500 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Paula Ivan (ROU)	3:59.23*
2.	Doina Melinte (ROU)	4:00.89
3.	Svetlana Kitova (URS)	4:02.08
4.	Yvonne Murray (GBR)	4:03.13
5.	Yvonne Mai (GDR)	4:03.15

• Ivan ran 3:59.23 for 1500m on her way to the mile world record of 4:15.61 in Nice.

Mile

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Paula Ivan (ROU)	4:15.61
2.	Doina Melinte (ROU)	4:20.39
3.	Svetlana Kitova (URS)	4:22.52
4.	Lynn Williams (CAN)	4:24.75
5.	Bev Nicholson (GBR)	4:27.19

3,000 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Paula Ivan (ROU)	8:38.48
2.	Yvonne Murray (GBR)	8:38.51
3.	Marie-Pierre Duros (FRA)	8:38.97
4.	Elly van Hulst (NED)	8:40.85
5.	PattiSue Plumer (USA)	8:42.12

5,000 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Kathrin Ulrich (GDR)	14:59.01
2.	PattiSue Plumer (USA)	15:00.00
3.	Lynn Williams (CAN)	15:01.30
4.	Liz McColgan (GBR)	15:14.54
5.	Päivi Tikkanen (FIN)	15:15.76

10,000 metres

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	30:48.51
2.	Kathrin Ulrich (GDR)	31:33.92
3.	Viorica Ghican (ROU)	31:46.43
4.	Iris Biba (GDR)	31:52.09
5.	Akemi Matsuno (JPN)	31:54.0

Half Marathon

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	1:08:31

Marathon

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	2:24:33
2.	Veronique Marot (GBR)	2:25:56
3.	Wanda Panfil (POL)	2:27:05
4.	Mun Gyong-Ae (PRK)	2:27:16
5.	Kim Jones (USA)	2:27:54

60m Hurdles

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Cornelia Oschkenat (GDR)	7.73
2.	Ludmila Narozhilenko (URS)	7.77
3.	Yordanka Donkova (BUL)	7.78
4.	Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)	7.81
5.	Yelizaveta Chernyshova (URS)	7.82

100m Hurdles

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Cornelia Oschkenat (GDR)	12.60
2.	Monique Éwanjé-Épée (FRA)	12.65
3.	Yelizaveta Chernyshova (URS)	12.68
	Mihaela Pogăcean (ROU)
5.	Ludmila Narozhilenko (URS)	12.69

400m Hurdles

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA)	53.37
2.	Myrtle Bothma (RSA)	53.82
3.	Petra Krug (GDR)	54.35
4.	Debbie Flintoff-King (AUS)	54.42
5.	Sally Gunnell (GBR)	54.64

High Jump

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Silvia Costa (CUB)	2.04 m
2.	Heike Balck (GDR)	2.01 m
3.	Jan Wohlschlag (USA)	2.00 m
	Alina Astafei (ROU)
	Heike Henkel (FRG)

Long Jump

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Galina Chistyakova (URS)	7.24 m
2.	Helga Radtke (GDR)	7.15 m
3.	Larisa Berezhnaya (URS)	7.12 m
4.	Marieta Ilcu (ROU)	7.08 m
5.	Nijolé Medvedeva (URS)	6.98 m

Shot Put

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Li Meisu (CHN)	20.82 m
2.	Heike Hartwig (GDR)	20.78 m
3.	Zhihong HuangCHN ()	20.73 m
4.	Astrid Kumbernuss (GDR)	20.54 m
5.	Natalya Lisovskaya (URS)	20.50 m

Javelin (old design)

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Petra Felke (GDR)	76.88
2.	Trine Hattestad (NOR)	71.12
3.	Beate Koch (GDR)	70.76
4.	Karen Forkel (GDR)	70.12
5.	Natalya Shikolenko (URS)	69.38

Heptathlon

RANK	1989 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.	Larisa Nikitina (URS)	7007
2.	Anke Behmer (GDR)	6686
3.	Remigija Nazaroviené (URS)	6604
4.	Liliana Nastase (ROU)	6602
5.	Sabine Braun (GDR)	6575

Marathons

International Races

DATE	MARATHON	NATION	MEN'S WINNER	TIME	WOMEN'S WINNER	TIME
January 15	Hamilton	Bermuda	James Doig	2:26:46	Sally Zimmer	2:58:40
January 15	Marrakech	Morocco	Jean Weyts	2:15:49	Janis Klecker	2:39:19
January 29	Osaka	Japan	—	—	Lorraine Moller	2:30:21
February 5	Oita	Japan	Satoru Shimizu	2:12:26	—	—
February 5	Valencia	Spain	Miroslaw Dzienisik	2:19:09	Elisenda Pucurull	2:46:19
February 12	Manila	Philippines	Osmiro Souza da Silva	2:24:35	Cesarina Taroni	2:55:00
February 26	Seville	Spain	Suleiman Nyambui	2:16:59	Consuelo Alonso	2:51:33
March 5	Los Angeles	United States	Arthur Boileau	2:13:01	Zoya Ivanova	2:34:42
March 12	Arusha	Tanzania	Simon Naali	2:14:40	Blanka James	3:23:03
March 12	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	Kevin Ball	2:38:44	Ko Funglong	3:41:59
March 19	Barcelona	Spain	Douglas Kurtis	2:16:37	Martine Vandegehuchte	2:37:41
March 19	Tokyo	Japan	Hiromi Taniguchi	2:09:34	—	—
April 9	Bremem	West Germany	Heinz-Bernhardt Burger	2:16:42	Ewa Wrzosek	2:48:46
April 16	Rotterdam	Netherlands	Belayneh Dinsamo	2:08:39	Elena Murgoci	2:32:03
April 16	Vienna	Austria	Alfredo Shahanga	2:10:28	Christa Vahlensieck	2:34:46
April 17	Boston	United States	Abebe Mekonnen	2:09:06	Ingrid Kristiansen	2:24:33
April 23	Budapest	Hungary	Stefan Seidemann	2:19:52	Dana Hajna	2:45:50
April 23	London	United Kingdom	Douglas Wakiihuri	2:09:03	Veronique Marot	2:25:56
April 23	Lyon	France	Mohamed Youkmane	2:14:42	M Carrara	2:58:59
April 23	Munich	West Germany	Herbert Steffny	2:11:30	Janete Mayal	2:37:04
April 23	Rotorua	New Zealand	Paul Ballinger	2:18:21	Bernardine Portenski	2:46:02
April 30	Les Herbiers	France	Csaba Szűcs	2:14:29	Lydia Camberg	2:43:07
April 30	Madrid	Spain	Jose Cesar Sousa	2:15:16	Elena Cobos	2:41:14
April 30	Paris	France	Steve Brace	2:13:03	Kazue Kojima	2:29:23
May 1	Belfast	Northern Ireland	Ian Bloomfield	2:20:45	Rosaleen Hayden	2:58:31
May 1	Rome	Italy	Guido Genicco	2:20:43	Pascaline Wangui	2:46:28
May 7	Amsterdam	Netherlands	Gerard Genicco	2:13:52	Gabriela Gorzynska	2:47:16
May 7	Long Beach	United States	Rex Wilson	2:12:27	Wen Yanming	2:43:33
May 7	Pittsburgh	United States	Kenneth Martin	2:15:28	Margareth Groos	2:32:39
May 7	Vancouver	Canada	Shem-Tov Sabag	2:19:41	Anne Mangal	2:50:05
May 21	Hamburg	West Germany	Nivaldo Filho	2:13:21	Jolanda Homminga	2:40:28
June 3	Stockholm	Sweden	David Clarke	2:13:24	Evy Palm	2:33:26
June 4	Auckland	New Zealand	Murray Fleming	2:18:28	Helen Moros	2:46:35
June 11	Redcliffe	Australia	Lawrence Adams	2:22:51	Jan Fedrick	2:51:09
June 25	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	Joao de Souza	2:16:07	Evany Souza	2:53:47
July 9	San Francisco	United States	Ernest Tjela	2:15:01	Stephanie Robertson	3:09:08
July 15	Nuremberg	West Germany	Andreas Achleitner	2:32:03	Ulrike Pietzsch	3:03:07
July 23	Brisbane	Australia	Bradley Camp	2:10:11	Jan Fedrick	2:51:30
July 30	Blumenau	Brazil	Valmir de Carvalho	2:17:52	Nercy Freitas de Costa	2:47:47
August 12	Helsinki	Finland	Jouni Kortelainen	2:18:58	Ritva Lemettinen	2:40:30
August 13	Adelaide	Australia	John Duck	2:25:50	Leslie Watson	2:49:49
August 20	Reykjavik	Iceland	Robin Nash	2:25:49	Wilma Rusman	2:47:25
August 26	Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	Jose Carlos Santana	2:18:19	Marinete Quintanilha	2:56:44
September 9	Oslo	Norway	Ronald Boreham	2:19:05	Olga Durynina	2:38:15
September 17	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Juan Pablo Juarez	2:16:03	Ana Maria Nielsen	2:43:58
September 24	Brussels	Belgium	Pavel Klimes	2:16:46	Nelly Aerts	2:36:49
September 24	Ciudad Mexico	Mexico	Tesfaye Tafa	2:17:54	Maria Flora Morena	2:44:34
September 24	Montreal	Canada	Peter Maher	2:20:07	Helene Rochefort	2:39:46
September 24	Portland	United States	Tsugumichi Sadakata	2:18:45	Debra Myra	2:44:09
October 1	Berlin	—	Alfredo Shahanga	2:10:11	Päivi Tikkanen	2:28:45
October 8	Melbourne	Australia	Takeshi Soh	2:18:13	Colleen Stephens	'2:49:18
October 8	Penang	Malaysia	Amaran Raman	2:35:09	Sunita Anand Godara	3:03:02
October 8	Venice	Italy	Marco Milani	2:16:08	Emma Scaunich	2:36:02
October 15	Beijing	China	Peter Dall	2:12:47	Mun Gyong-Ae	2:27:16
October 15	Istanbul	Turkey	Aydin Ceken	2:27:41	—	—
October 22	Athens	Greece	Jan van Rijthoven	2:23:19	Leslie Lewis	2:37:42
October 22	Frankfurt	West Germany	Herbert Steffny	2:13:51	Iris Biba	2:33:14
October 22	Hamilton	New Zealand	Robert Schuddeboom	2:25:23	Irene Wilson	3:23:45
October 22	Split	Croatia	Michel de Maat	2:26:16	Tatyana Ulyanova	3:10:18
October 29	Chicago	United States	Paul Davies-Hale	2:11:25	Lisa Weidenbach	2:28:15
October 30	Dublin	Ireland	John Griffin	2:16:45	Pauline Nolen	2:44:32
November 5	New York City	United States	Juma Ikangaa	2:08:01	Ingrid Kristiansen	2:25:30
November 6	Lisbon	Portugal	Joaquim Silva	2:16:56	Evany Souza	2:47:27
November 12	Iraklion	Greece	Christopher Prior	2:19:05	Glynis Penny	2:45:27
November 19	Rome	Italy	Mohamed Salmi	2:13:17	Pascaline Wangui	2:39:10
November 19	Tokyo	Japan	—	—	Lyubov Klochko	2:31:33
November 26	Bangkok	Thailand	Douglas Kurtis	2:20:15	Cesarina Taroni	2:47:53
November 26	Kawaguchiko	Japan	Wieslaw Perszke	2:18:10	Reiko Hirosawa	2:53:55
December 3	Fukuoka	Japan	Manuel Matias	2:12:54	—	—
December 10	Honolulu	United States	Simon Naali	2:11:47	Carla Beurskens	2:31:50

Births

• January 1 — Fatih Avan, Turkish javelin thrower
• January 24 — Gong Lijiao, Chinese shot putter
• February 25 — Vira Rebryk, Ukrainian javelin thrower
• June 15 — Teddy Tamgho, French triple jumper
• June 24 — Teklemariam Medhin, Eritrean long-distance runner
• July 1 — Abdinasir Said Ibrahim, Somali distance runner
• August 16 — Wang Hao, Chinese race walker
• September 12 — Aberu Kebede, Ethiopian long distance runner
• December 5 — Linet Masai, Kenyan distance runner

Deaths

• June 22 — Lee Calhoun (56), American athlete (b. 1933)