# Athletics at the 1979 Summer Universiade

Athletics events were contested at the 1979 Summer Universiade in Mexico City, Mexico between 8 and 13 September.

## Medal summary
### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: 0.0 m/s) details | Mike Roberson (USA) | 10.19 | Leszek Dunecki (POL) | 10.30 | Ainsley Bennett (GBR) | 10.38 |
| 200 metres (wind: +1.8 m/s) details | Pietro Mennea (ITA) | 19.72 WR | Leszek Dunecki (POL) | 20.24 | Ainsley Bennett (GBR) | 20.42 |
| 400 metres details | Harald Schmid (FRG) | 44.98 | Franz-Peter Hofmeister (FRG) | 45.12 | Walter McCoy (USA) | 45.90 |
| 800 metres details | Evans White (USA) | 1:48.87 | Garry Cook (GBR) | 1:49.50 | Hans-Peter Ferner (FRG) | 1:49.77 |
| 1500 metres details | Graham Williamson (GBR) | 3:45.37 | Pierre Délèze (SUI) | 3:45.8 | Richie Harris (USA) | 3:46.4 |
| 5000 metres details | Ilie Floroiu (ROM) | 14:12.9 | José Gómez (MEX) | 14:15.4 | Enrique Aquino (MEX) | 14:18.0 |
| 10,000 metres details | Ilie Floroiu (ROM) | 29:56.1 | Enrique Aquino (MEX) | 30:16.4 | Samuel Nyariki (KEN) | 30:49.1 |
| 110 metres hurdles (wind: +0.3 m/s) details | Andrey Prokofyev (URS) | 13.50 | Thomas Munkelt (GDR) | 13.50 | Aleksandr Puchkov (URS) | 13.55 |
| 400 metres hurdles details | Harry Schulting (NED) | 48.44 UR | Vasyl Arkhypenko (URS) | 48.60 | James Walker (USA) | 48.88 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase details | Paul Copu (ROM) | 8:57.7 | Mariano Scartezzini (ITA) | 8:58.1 | Michele Cina (ITA) | 9:08.7 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | Italy (ITA) Gianfranco Lazzer Luciano Caravani Giovanni Grazioli Pietro Mennea | 38.42 UR | Ivory Coast (CIV) Patrice Ouré Amadou Meïté Avognan Nogboum Georges Kablan Degnan | 38.73 | France (FRA) Jean Gracia Pierrick Thessard Gabriel Brothier Pascal Barré | 39.07 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | United States (USA) Fred Taylor Leslie Kerr Ronnie Harris Walter McCoy | 3:00.98 | Netherlands (NED) Hugo Pont Koen Gijsbers Marcel Klarenbeek Harry Schulting | 3:03.18 | Italy (ITA) Stefano Malinverni Alfonso Di Guida Flavio Borghi Roberto Tozzi | 3:03.80 |
| High jump details | Gerd Nagel (FRG) | 2.28 UR | Rolf Beilschmidt (GDR) | 2.28 UR | Holger Marten (FRG) | 2.26 |
| Pole vault details | Władysław Kozakiewicz (POL) | 5.60 | Philippe Houvion (FRA) | 5.60 | Patrick Abada (FRA) | 5.55 |
| Long jump details | Valeriy Pidluzhnyy (URS) | 8.16 | Junichi Usui (JPN) | 8.05 | LaMonte King (USA) | 7.99 |
| Triple jump details | Willie Banks (USA) | 17.23 | Jaak Uudmäe (URS) | 17.20 | Roberto Mazzucato (ITA) | 16.87 |
| Shot put details | Udo Beyer (GDR) | 20.49 | Reijo Ståhlberg (FIN) | 19.96 | Nikolai Khristov (BUL) | 19.60 |
| Discus throw details | Wolfgang Schmidt (GDR) | 60.78 | Markku Tuokko (FIN) | 59.82 | Antonín Wybraniec (TCH) | 58.32 |
| Hammer throw details | Klaus Ploghaus (FRG) | 75.74 UR | Manfred Hüning (FRG) | 75.68 | Yuriy Sedykh (URS) | 75.54 |
| Javelin throw details | Helmut Schreiber (FRG) | 88.68 UR | Arto Härkönen (FIN) | 87.10 | Heino Puuste (URS) | 82.62 |
| Decathlon details | Sepp Zeilbauer (AUT) | 8203 UR | Jürgen Hingsen (FRG) | 8033 | Heinz Antretter (FRG) | 7868 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: 0.0 m/s) details | Marlies Göhr (GDR) | 11.00 UR | Kathy Smallwood (GBR) | 11.27 | Beverley Goddard (GBR) | 11.32 |
| 200 metres (wind: +1.9 m/s) details | Marita Koch (GDR) | 21.91 UR | Kathy Smallwood (GBR) | 22.70 | Beverley Goddard (GBR) | 22.76 |
| 400 metres details | Mariya Kulchunova (URS) | 50.35 UR | Rosalyn Bryant (USA) | 51.35 | Christina Brehmer (GDR) | 51.59 |
| 800 metres details | Nadezhda Mushta (URS) | 2:00.50 | Olga Dvirna (URS) | 2:00.77 | Fiţa Lovin (ROM) | 2:00.81 |
| 1500 metres details | Natalia Mărăşescu (ROM) | 4:13.9 | Olga Dvirna (URS) | 4:14.5 | Valentina Ilyinykh (URS) | 4:14.6 |
| 100 metres hurdles (wind: 0.0 m/s) details | Lucyna Langer (POL) | 12.62 UR | Danuta Perka (POL) | 12.66 | Vera Komisova (URS) | 12.90 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | Soviet Union (URS) Vera Komisova Vera Anisimova Tatyana Prorochenko Olga Korotkova | 43.14 | Great Britain (GBR) Yvette Wray Kathy Smallwood Ruth Kennedy Bev Goddard | 43.26 | France (FRA) Odile Madkaud Jacqueline Curtet Marie-Pierre Philippe Chantal Réga | 43.94 |
| High jump details | Andrea Mátay (HUN) | 1.94 | Ulrike Meyfarth (FRG) | 1.92 | Sara Simeoni (ITA) | 1.92 |
| Long jump details | Anita Stukāne (URS) | 6.80 | Jodi Anderson (USA) | 6.67 | Tatyana Skachko (URS) | 6.57 |
| Shot put details | Ilona Slupianek (GDR) | 19.98 | Helma Knorscheidt (GDR) | 19.56 | Mihaela Loghin (ROM) | 19.41 |
| Discus throw details | Svetlana Melnikova (URS) | 63.54 | Evelin Jahl (GDR) | 63.00 | Florenţa Ţacu (ROM) | 59.28 |
| Javelin throw details | Éva Ráduly-Zörgő (ROM) | 67.20 | Ivanka Vancheva (BUL) | 63.04 | Mayra Vila (CUB) | 60.98 |
| Pentathlon details | Yekaterina Smirnova (URS) | 4497 | Sylvia Barlag (NED) | 4306 | Ina Losch (FRG) | 4272 |

## Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Soviet Union (URS) | 8 | 4 | 6 | 18 |
| 2 | East Germany (GDR) | 5 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| 3 | Romania (ROM) | 5 | 0 | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | West Germany (FRG) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| 5 | United States (USA) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| 6 | Poland (POL) | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | Italy (ITA) | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 8 | Great Britain (GBR) | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 |
| 9 | Netherlands (NED) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | Austria (AUT) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Hungary (HUN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Finland (FIN) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 13 | Mexico (MEX) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 14 | France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 15 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 | Ivory Coast (CIV) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Japan (JPN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | Cuba (CUB) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 19 | Kenya (KEN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (21 entries) | Totals (21 entries) | 34 | 34 | 34 | 102 |