# 1981 Pacific Conference Games

The 1981 Pacific Conference Games was the fourth edition of the international athletics competition between five Pacific coast nations: Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States. This was the first occasion that athletes from beyond the Pacific grouping were allowed to compete at the tournament. A total of 21 men's and 16 women's athletics events were contested. Combined track and field events were included for the first time, in the form of the men's decathlon and the women's pentathlon. The women's 3000 metres was also a new addition to the programme.
It was held at Queen Elizabeth II Park on 31 January and 1 February in Christchurch, New Zealand. The host stadium was built for and hosted 1974 British Commonwealth Games.
The competition had mandatory drug testing and two gold medallists were banned from the sport by the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) after anabolic steroids were detected in their urine. Ben Plucknett, an American who broke the men's discus world record twice that year, was stripped of his win in that event and later tried to sue the IAAF. Four-time Olympic champion Al Oerter stated that Plucknett had been made an example of due to his record breaking. Another American Olympian John Powell—who was consequently elevated to the Pacific Conference discus gold—criticised the fact that bans came top-down from the federation, rather than being seen before a judge or jury.
Australia's Gael Mulhall similarly had her shot put and discus titles removed for the same doping violation. Mulhall considered a legal appeal and team mate Bev Francis (who was promoted to the shot put gold) criticised the testing procedure, which had no team officials or doctors present. Ultimately Mulhall accepted a reduced 18-month ban, but did not publicly confirm whether she had taken steroids or not. Mulhall was criticised by Australian officials and members of the public as a drug cheat. She argued that testing was not of a reliable standard given the gravity of the sanctions and damage to her reputation, as well as saying that athletes needed more information on drugs and their effects.

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Peter Gandy (AUS) | 10.42 | Desai Williams (CAN) | 10.50 | Steve Williams (USA) | 10.59 |
| 200 metres | Peter Gandy (AUS) | 20.89 | Bruce Frayne (AUS) | 21.03 | Desai Williams (CAN) | 21.07 |
| 400 metres | Ed Yearwood (USA) | 46.53 | Palmer Simmons (USA) | 46.78 | Mike Willis (AUS) | 46.95 |
| 800 metres | András Paróczai (HUN) | 1:48.17 | Peter Bourke (AUS) | 1:49.06 | John Walker (NZL) | 1:49.41 |
| 1500 metres | Mike Hillardt (AUS) | 3:41.74 | Richie Harris (USA) | 3:41.77 | Mirosław Żerkowski (POL) | 3:42.15 |
| 5000 metres | Dave Moorcroft (GBR) | 13:36.79 | Dick Buerkle (USA) | 13:46.19 | Masami Otsuka (JPN) | 13:57.04 |
| 10,000 metres | Rod Dixon (NZL) | 28:35.69 | Peter Butler (CAN) | 28:39.58 | John Andrews (AUS) | 28:41.70 |
| 110 m hurdles | Sam Turner (USA) | 13.80 | Max Binnington (AUS) | 13.88 | Pat Fogarty (CAN) | 14.22 |
| 400 m hurdles | Harald Schmid (FRG) | 50.35 | Lloyd Guss (CAN) | 50.79 | Yukihiro Yoshimatsu (JPN) | 50.83 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Bronisław Malinowski (POL) | 8:24.02 | Bogusław Mamiński (POL) | 8:24.04 | Greg Duhaime (CAN) | 8:26.51 |
| 4×100 m relay | Canada (CAN) Mark McKoy Tony Sharpe Desai Williams Ben Johnson | 39.6 | Australia (AUS) Max Binnington Bruce Frayne Gerrard Keating Peter Gandy | 39.8 | New Zealand (NZL) Ian Ferguson Murray Cumberpatch John Enright Shane Downey | 41.4 |
| 4×400 m relay | Australia (AUS) Garry Brown John Fleming Bruce Frayne Mike Willis | 3:07.03 | Canada (CAN) | 3:08.16 | United States (USA) | 3:08.18 |
| High jump | Dean Bauck (CAN) | 2.21 m | Nat Page (USA) | 2.21 m | Cai Shu (CHN) | 2.15 m |
| Pole vault | Tomomi Takahashi (JPN) | 5.25 m | Charlie Brown (USA) | 5.05 m | Ray Boyd (AUS) | 5.05 m |
| Long jump | Mike Marlow (USA) | 7.64 m | Steven Knott (AUS) | 7.49 m | Ikko Omura (JPN) | 7.36 m |
| Triple jump | Mike Marlow (USA) | 16.49 m | Ken Lorraway (AUS) | 16.32 m | Masami Nakanishi (JPN) | 16.21 m |
| Shot put | Colin Anderson (USA) | 19.76 m | Bishop Dolegiewicz (CAN) | 18.67 m | Mike Mercer (CAN) | 17.62 m |
| Discus throw | John Powell (USA) | 59.54 m | Robin Tait (NZL) | 56.08 m | Rob Gray (CAN) | 55.42 m |
| Hammer throw | Shigenobu Murofushi (JPN) | 69.52 m | Dave McKenzie (USA) | 67.68 m | Gus Puopolo (AUS) | 62.62 m |
| Javelin throw | Miklós Németh (HUN) | 84.56 m | Phil Olsen (CAN) | 77.36 m | Mike O'Rourke (NZL) | 76.86 m |
| Decathlon | John Crist (USA) | 7869 pts | Mauricio Bardales (USA) | 7778 pts | Peter Hadfield (AUS) | 7672 pts |
* $^{nb1}$ Ben Plucknett of the United States was the original men's discus throw winner but his title was removed and his marks erased from the record due to his failing a doping test at the competition.

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Angela Bailey (CAN) | 11.46 | Diane Holden (AUS) | 11.65 | Helen Edwards (AUS) | 11.67 |
| 200 metres | Angela Bailey (CAN) | 23.37 | Diane Holden (AUS) | 23.47 | Helen Edwards (AUS) | 23.50 |
| 400 metres | Michelle Baumgartner (AUS) | 52.85 | Molly Killingbeck (CAN) | 54.01 | Marian O'Shaughnessy (AUS) | 54.30 |
| 800 metres | Leann Warren (USA) | 2:03.52 | Terri Cater (AUS) | 2:04.02 | Liz Laban (GBR) | 2:04.25 |
| 1500 metres | Brit McRoberts (CAN) | 4:11.87 | Cindy Bremser (USA) | 4:12.21 | Anna Bukis (POL) | 4:14.65 |
| 3000 metres | Lorraine Moller (NZL) | 9:07.86 | Cindy Bremser (USA) | 9:09.22 | Barbara Moore (NZL) | 9:14.94 |
| 100 m hurdles | Grażyna Rabsztyn (POL) | 13.25 | Linda Weekly (USA) | 13.77 | Emi Akimoto (JPN) | 13.83 |
| 400 m hurdles | Lyn Foreman (AUS) | 57.73 | Yumiko Aoi (JPN) | 59.74 | Terry Yaxley (NZL) | 60.10 |
| 4×100 m relay | Canada (CAN) | 44.5 | United States (USA) | 45.4 | Japan (JPN) | 45.7 |
| 4×400 m relay | Australia (AUS) Michelle Baumgartner Terri Cater Lyn Foreman Marian O'Shaughnessy | 3:34.20 | United States (USA) | 3:38.81 | Canada (CAN) | 3:40.56 |
| High jump | Hisayo Fukumitsu (JPN) | 1.89 m | Brigitte Reid (CAN) | 1.86 m | Chris Stanton (AUS) | 1.83 m |
| Long jump | Linda Garden (AUS) | 6.53 m | Pamela Hendren (NZL) | 6.25 m | Jodi Anderson (USA) | 6.16 m |
| Shot put | Bev Francis (AUS) | 16.17 m | Denise Wood (USA) | 14.79 m | Sandy Burke (USA) | 14.72 m |
| Discus throw | Zhu Junfang (CHN) | 55.48 m | Denise Wood (USA) | 52.60 m | Lucette Moreau (CAN) | 50.60 m |
| Javelin throw | Tessa Sanderson (GBR) | 61.56 m | Sue Howland (AUS) | 60.36 m | Karen Smith (USA) | 59.92 m |
| Pentathlon | Karen Page (NZL) | 4348 pts | Glynis Saunders (AUS) | 4290 pts | Jill Ross (CAN) | 4288 pts |
* $^{nb2}$ Australia's Gael Mulhall was the original women's shot put and discus throw winner but her titles were removed and her marks erased from the record due to her failing a doping test at the competition.