# Athletics at the 1979 Pan American Games

Athletics competitions at the 1979 Pan American Games in San Juan were held from July 7 to 14 at the Estadio Sixto Escobar.

## Medalists

Key :
| GR | Pan American Games record |

### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: +1.5 m/s) details | Silvio Leonard Cuba | 10.13 | Harvey Glance United States | 10.19 | Emmit King United States | 10.30 |
| 200 metres (wind: +3.9 m/s) details | Silvio Leonard Cuba | 20.37 | James Gilkes Guyana | 20.46 | Don Coleman United States | 20.56 |
| 400 metres details | Tony Darden United States | 45.11 | Alberto Juantorena Cuba | 45.24 | Willie Smith United States | 45.3 |
| 800 metres details | James Robinson United States | 1:46.3 GR | Alberto Juantorena Cuba | 1:46.4 | Agberto Guimarães Brazil | 1:46.8 |
| 1500 metres details | Don Paige United States | 3:40.4 GR | Todd Harbour United States | 3:41.5 | Agberto Guimarães Brazil | 3:41.5 |
| 5000 metres details | Matt Centrowitz United States | 14:01.0 | Herb Lindsay United States | 14:04.1 | Rodolfo Gómez Mexico | 14:05.0 |
| 10,000 metres details | Rodolfo Gómez Mexico | 29:02.4 | Enrique Aquino Mexico | 29:03.9 | Frank Shorter United States | 29:06.4 |
| 110 metres hurdles (wind: +2.0 m/s) details | Renaldo Nehemiah United States | 13.20 GR | Alejandro Casañas Cuba | 13.46 | Charles Foster United States | 13.56 |
| 400 metres hurdles details | James Walker United States | 49.66 | Antônio Dias Ferreira Brazil | 50.85 | Frank Montiéh Cuba | 51.30 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase details | Henry Marsh United States | 8:43.6 | William McCullough United States | 8:44.7 | Demetrio Cabanillos Mexico | 8:52.4 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | United States Mike Roberson Harvey Glance Cliff Wiley Steve Riddick | 38.85 | Cuba Osvaldo Lara Alejandro Casañas Silvio Leonard Juan Saborit | 39.14 | Brazil Milton de Castro Nelson dos Santos Rui da Silva Altevir de Araújo | 39.44 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | United States James Walker Herman Frazier Maurice Peoples Tony Darden | 3:03.8 | Jamaica Ian Stapleton Floyd Brown Bert Cameron Colin Bradford | 3:04.7 | Cuba Frank Montiéh Carlos Álvarez Alberto Juantorena Pedro Tanis | 3:06.3 |
| Marathon details | Radamés González Cuba | 2:24:09 | Luis Barbosa Colombia | 2:24:44 | Rich Hughson Canada | 2:25:34 |
| 20 kilometres walk details | Daniel Bautista Mexico | 1:28:15 GR | Neal Pyke United States | 1:30:17 | Todd Scully United States | 1:32:30 |
| 50 kilometres walk details | Raúl González Mexico | 4:05:17 GR | Martín Bermúdez Mexico | 4:11:13 | Marco Evoniuk United States | 4:24:20 |
| High jump details | Franklin Jacobs United States | 2.26 GR | Benn Fields United States | 2.19 | Milton Ottey Canada | 2.19 |
| Pole vault details | Bruce Simpson Canada | 5.15 | Greg Woepse United States | 5.05 | Brian Morrissette Virgin Islands | 4.85 |
| Long jump details | João Carlos de Oliveira Brazil | 8.18 | David Giralt Cuba | 8.15 | Carl Lewis United States | 8.13 |
| Triple jump details | João Carlos de Oliveira Brazil | 17.27 | Willie Banks United States | 16.88 | James Butts United States | 16.69 |
| Shot put details | Dave Laut United States | 20.22 GR | Bishop Dolegiewicz Canada | 19.67 | Bruno Pauletto Canada | 19.61 |
| Discus throw details | Mac Wilkins United States | 63.30 | Bradley Cooper Bahamas | 62.16 GR | Luis Delís Cuba | 61.70 |
| Hammer throw details | Scott Neilson Canada | 69.64 GR | Armando Orozco Cuba | 68.48 | Genovevo Morejón Cuba | 67.66 |
| Javelin throw details | Duncan Atwood United States | 84.16 GR | Antonio González Cuba | 84.12 | Raúl Pupo Cuba | 81.96 |
| Decathlon details | Bobby Coffman United States | 8078 GR | Tito Steiner Argentina | 7638 | Zenon Smiechowski Canada | 7337 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: +0.9 m/s) details | Evelyn Ashford United States | 11.07 | Brenda Morehead United States | 11.11 | Angella Taylor Canada | 11.36 |
| 200 metres (wind: +2.2 m/s) details | Evelyn Ashford United States | 22.24 | Angella Taylor Canada | 22.74 | Merlene Ottey Jamaica | 22.79 |
| 400 metres details | Sharon Dabney United States | 51.81 | June Griffith Guyana | 51.81 | Patricia Jackson United States | 52.32 |
| 800 metres details | Essie Kelley United States | 2:01.2 GR | Julie Brown United States | 2:01.2 | Aurelia Pentón Cuba | 2:02.1 |
| 1500 metres details | Mary Decker United States | 4:05.7 GR | Julie Brown United States | 4:06.4 | Penny Werthner Canada | 4:14.8 |
| 3000 metres details | Jan Merrill United States | 8:53.6 GR | Julie Brown United States | 8:59.9 | Geri Fitch Canada | 9:35.7 |
| 100 metres hurdles (wind: +3.9 m/s) details | Deby LaPlante United States | 12.90 | Sharon Lane Canada | 13.56 | Grisel Machado Cuba | 13.60 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | United States Valerie Brisco Karen Hawkins Chandra Cheeseborough Brenda Morehead | 43.30 | Jamaica Lelieth Hodges Rosie Allwood Carmetta Drummond Merlene Ottey | 44.18 | Cuba Marta Zulueta Silvia Chivás Isabel Taylor Eloína Echevarría | 46.26 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | United States Sharon Dabney Patricia Jackson Rosalyn Bryant Essie Kelley | 3:29.4 GR | Cuba Ana Fidelia Quirot Nery McKeen Ana Luisa Guibert Aurelia Pentón | 3:36.3a | Canada Micheline Racette Marita Payne Jeanette Wood Anne Mackie-Morelli | 3:37.6a |
| High jump details | Louise Ritter United States | 1.93 GR | Pam Spencer United States | 1.87 | Debbie Brill Canada | 1.85 |
| Long jump details | Kathy McMillan United States | 6.46 | Ana Alexander Cuba | 6.31 | Eloína Echevarría Cuba | 6.27 |
| Shot put details | María Elena Sarría Cuba | 18.81 GR | Maren Seidler United States | 18.57 | Carmen Ionesco Canada | 16.50 |
| Discus throw details | Carmen Romero Cuba | 60.58 GR | María Cristina Betancourt Cuba | 60.44 | Carmen Ionesco Canada | 57.14 |
| Javelin throw details | María Caridad Colón Cuba | 62.30 GR | Lynn Cannon United States | 56.18 | Cathy Sulinski United States | 55.82 |
| Pentathlon details | Diane Konihowski Canada | 4605 | Jodi Anderson United States | 4434 | Jill Ross Canada | 4112 |

## Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States | 25 | 16 | 11 | 52 |
| 2 | Cuba | 6 | 10 | 9 | 25 |
| 3 | Canada | 3 | 3 | 12 | 18 |
| 4 | Mexico | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 5 | Brazil | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | Jamaica | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | Guyana | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Argentina | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Bahamas | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Colombia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Virgin Islands | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (11 entries) | Totals (11 entries) | 39 | 39 | 39 | 117 |

## Participating nations

* Antigua and Barbuda (7)
* Argentina (14)
* Bahamas (3)
* Barbados (5)
* Bermuda (6)
* Bolivia (1)
* Brazil (26)
* Canada (50)
* Chile (13)
* Colombia (6)
* Costa Rica (5)
* Cuba (50)
* Dominican Republic (11)
* Ecuador (2)
* Guatemala (1)
* Guyana (3)
* Honduras (8)
* Jamaica (17)
* Mexico (15)
* Panama (2)
* Paraguay (1)
* Peru (1)
* Puerto Rico (41)
* El Salvador (3)
* Suriname (1)
* Trinidad and Tobago (9)
* United States (68)
* Virgin Islands (8)
* Uruguay (2)
* Venezuela (1)