# Athletics at the 1951 Pan American Games

The Athletics Competition at the 1951 Pan American Games was held in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. A total of 15 nations participated, with 243 athletes representing them in 33 athletics events.

## Medal summary
### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres details | Rafael Fortún Cuba | 10.6 | Art Bragg United States | 10.6 | Herb McKenley Jamaica | 11.0 |
| 200 metres details | Rafael Fortún Cuba | 21.3 | Art Bragg United States | 21.4 | Herb McKenley Jamaica | 21.5 |
| 400 metres details | Mal Whitfield United States | 47.8 | Hugo Maiocco United States | 48 | Herb McKenley Jamaica | 48.2 |
| 800 metres details | Mal Whitfield United States | 1:53.2 | Bill Brown United States | 1:53.3 | Hugo Maiocco United States | 1:53.6 |
| 1500 metres details | Browning Ross United States | 4:00.4 | Guillermo Solá Chile | 4:00.5 | John Twomey United States | 4:02.0 |
| 5000 metres details | Ricardo Bralo Argentina | 14:57.2 | John Twomey United States | 14:57.5 | Gustavo Rojas Chile | 15:06.4 |
| 10,000 metres details | Curt Stone United States | 31:08.6 | Ricardo Bralo Argentina | 31:09.4 | Ezequiel Bustamente Argentina | 32:31.8 |
| Marathon details | Delfo Cabrera Argentina | 2:35:01 | Reinaldo Gorno Argentina | 2:45:00 | Luis Velásquez Guatemala | 2:46:03 |
| 110 metres hurdles details | Dick Attlesey United States | 14.0 | Estanislao Kocourek Argentina | 14.2 | Samuel Anderson Cuba | 14.2 |
| 400 metres hurdles details | Jaime Aparicio Colombia | 53.4 | Wilson Carneiro Brazil | 53.7 | Don Halderman United States | 54.5 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase details | Curt Stone United States | 9:32.0 | Browning Ross United States | 9:32.0 | Pedro Caffa Argentina | 9:44.6 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | United States Donald Campbell Art Bragg Dick Attlesey John Voight | 41.0 | Cuba Raúl Mazorra Angel García Jesús Farrés Rafael Fortún | 41.2 | Argentina Gerardo Bönnhoff Adelio Márquez Fernando Lapuente Mariano Acosta | 41.8 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | United States Bill Brown Mal Whitfield John Voight Hugo Maiocco | 3:09.9 | Chile Jaime Hitelman Reinaldo Martín Muller Gustavo Ehlers Jörn Gevert | 3:17.7 | Argentina Guido Veronese Máximo Guerra Julio Ferreyra Eduardo Balducci | 3:18.4 |
| 10,000 metres walk details | Henry Laskau United States | 50:26.8 | Luis Turza Argentina | 52:27.5 | Martín Casas Argentina | 52:59.6 |
| 50 kilometres walk details | Sixto Ibáñez Argentina | 5:06:07 | James Jackson Trinidad and Tobago | 5:21:13 | Amando González Argentina | 5:27:01 |
| High jump details | Virgil Severns United States | 1.95 | Cal Clark United States | 1.90 | Adilton de Almeida Brazil | 1.90 |
| Pole vault details | Bob Richards United States | 4.50 | Jaime Piqueras Peru | 3.90 | Sinibaldo Gerbasi Brazil | 3.90 |
| Long jump details | Gay Bryan United States | 7.14 | Albino Geist Argentina | 7.09 | Jim Holland United States | 6.95 |
| Triple jump details | Adhemar da Silva Brazil | 15.19 | Hélio da Silva Brazil | 15.17 | Bruno Witthaus Argentina | 14.34 |
| Shot put details | Jim Fuchs United States | 17.25 | Juan Kahnert Argentina | 14.27 | Nadim Marreis Brazil | 14.07 |
| Discus throw details | Jim Fuchs United States | 48.91 | Dick Doyle United States | 47.28 | Elvio Porta Argentina | 44.93 |
| Hammer throw details | Emilio Ortíz Argentina | 48.04 | Manuel Etchepare Argentina | 46.12 | Arturo Melcher Chile | 45.70 |
| Javelin throw details | Ricardo Héber Argentina | 68.08 | Steve Seymour United States | 67.08 | Horst Walter Argentina | 66.33 |
| Decathlon details | Hernán Figueroa Chile | 6610 | Hernán Alzamora Peru | 6063 | Enrique Salazar Guatemala | 4380 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres details | Julia Sánchez Peru | 12.2 | Jean Patton United States | 12.3 | Lilián Heinz Argentina | 12.7 |
| 200 metres details | Jean Patton United States | 25.3 | Nell Jackson United States | 25.7 | Adriana Millard Chile | 26.1 |
| 80 metres hurdles details | Eliana Gaete Chile | 11.9 | Marion Huber Chile | 12.0 | Nancy Phillips United States | 12.1 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | United States Nell Jackson Jean Patton Dolores Dwyer Janet Moreau | 48.7 | Chile Adriana Millard Hildegard Kreft Betty Kretschmer Eliana Gaete | 49.3 | Argentina Olga Bianchi Teresa Carvajal Lilián Heinz Ana María Fontán | 49.8 |
| High jump details | Jacinta Sandiford Ecuador | 1.46 | Lucy López Chile | 1.46 | Elizabeth Müller Brazil | 1.46 |
| Long jump details | Beatriz Kretschmer Chile | 5.42 | Lisa Peters Chile | 5.20 | Wanda dos Santos Brazil | 5.18 |
| Shot put details | Ingeborg Mello Argentina | 12.45 | Vera Trezoitko Brazil | 11.59 | Ingeborg Pfüller Argentina | 11.58 |
| Discus throw details | Ingeborg Mello Argentina | 38.55 | Ingeborg Pfüller Argentina | 37.19 | Frances Kaszubski United States | 35.84 |
| Javelin throw details | Hortensia López García Mexico | 39.45 | Amelia Bert United States | 38.08 | Berta Chiú Mexico | 37.97 |
* $^{nb}$ Hortensia López García finished 5th in the preliminary round and advanced to the final, winning the women's javelin throw with a distance of 39.45m. Her performance was challenged that same day by the Panama athletics delegation, which claimed that only the top 4 athletes should have advanced to the final instead of the top 6. García's finals performance was briefly discounted, moving Judith Caballero of Panama up to the bronze medal position, but it was reinstated the next day. Some sources still list García's preliminary round mark of 32.68m as her final result.

## Medal table

* Host nation (Argentina)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States | 17 | 11 | 6 | 34 |
| 2 | Argentina* | 7 | 8 | 12 | 27 |
| 3 | Chile | 3 | 6 | 3 | 12 |
| 4 | Cuba | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Brazil | 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
| 6 | Peru | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Colombia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Ecuador | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Mexico | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Trinidad and Tobago | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Jamaica | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 12 | Guatemala | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | Panama | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (13 entries) | Totals (13 entries) | 33 | 33 | 33 | 99 |

## Participating nations

* Argentina (70)
* Brazil (20)
* Chile (36)
* Colombia (12)
* Cuba (9)
* Ecuador (7)
* Guatemala (7)
* Jamaica (1)
* Mexico (13)
* Panama (2)
* Paraguay (11)
* Peru (12)
* Trinidad and Tobago (6)
* United States (31)
* Venezuela (6)