# 1991 Soviet Athletics Championships

The 1991 Soviet Athletics Championships was the 63rd and final edition of the national championship in outdoor track and field for the Soviet Union. It was held on 10–13 July at Republican Stadium in Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR. The competition was held within the 1991 Soviet Spartakiad. A total of 42 events were contested over four days. The marathon competition was held earlier on 21 April in Bila Tserkva.
The competition did not receive interest from several of the nation's top athletes, including Sergey Bubka, and audience attendance was also low. No team score was assigned for the Republics of the Soviet Union, as had been done in previous years. The championships formed part of the qualification for the Soviet team at the 1991 World Championships in Athletics. The highlight performance was Lyudmila Narozhilenko's Soviet national record of 12.28 seconds in the women's 100 metres hurdles. This made her the third fastest women ever in the event (after Bulgarians Yordanka Donkova and Ginka Zagorcheva) and remains one of the fastest performances of all time for the event.
This was the final Soviet Athletics Championships as the dissolution of the Soviet Union occurred in December that year. After this point, the newly independent republics began to hold their own national championships. Given the organisational disarray, the former Soviet states sent a Unified Team at the Olympics in 1992, which was selected through the 1992 CIS Athletics Championships – the last time the former Soviet countries held a united athletics event.

## Results
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Vitaliy Savin Kazakh SSR Alma-Ata | 10.30 | Yuriy Yazynin Kazakh SSR Alma-Ata | 10.33 | Oleh Kramarenko Ukrainian SSR Zaporozhe | 10.36 |
| 200 metres | Aleksandr Goremykin Russian SFSR Kaliningrad | 20.65 | Dmitriy Bartenev Moscow | 21.01 | Mikhail Vdovin Russian SFSR Penza | 21.18 |
| 400 metres | Dmitry Kliger Leningrad | 45.97 | Vyacheslav Kocheryagin Latvia Daugavpils | 46.10 | Dmitry Golovastov Moscow | 46.73 |
| 800 metres | Andrey Sudnik Belarusian SSR Minsk | 1:45.97 | Valeriy Starodubtsev Russian SFSR Irkutsk | 1:46.10 | Anatoly Makarevich Belarusian SSR Minsk | 1:46.44 |
| 1500 metres | Sergey Melnikov Russian SFSR Rybinsk | 3:40.53 | Azat Rakipov Belarusian SSR Minsk | 3:40.75 | Andrey Chernokolpakov Ukrainian SSR Kyiv | 3:40.87 |
| 5000 metres | Mikhail Dasko Leningrad | 13:38.29 | Farid Khayrullin Moscow | 13:45.46 | Oleg Syroezhko Ukrainian SSR Vinnitsa | 13:46.28 |
| 10,000 metres | Mikhail Dasko Leningrad | 28:43.04 | Sergey Sokov Belarusian SSR Minsk | 28:48.41 | Igor Sidorenko Ukrainian SSR Kharkiv | 28:59.48 |
| 3000 m schase | Ivan Konovalov Russian SFSR Irkutsk | 8:31.07 | Vladimir Golyas Russian SFSR Penza | 8:33.06 | Igor Konyshev Leningrad | 8:33.79 |
| 110 m hurdles | Vladimir Shishkin Russian SFSR Nizhniy Novgorod | 13.55 | Gennadiy Dakshevich Ukrainian SSR Kharkiv | 13.57 | Sergey Usov Uzbekskaya SSR Tashkent | 13.60 |
| 400 m hurdles | Vladimir Budko Belarusian SSR Vitebsk | 49.65 | Nikolay Ilchenko Tajik SSR Dushanbe | 49.82 | Oleh Tverdokhlib Ukrainian SSR Dnepropetrovsk | 49.84 |
| High jump | Igor Paklin Kirgizskaya SSR Bishkek | 2.32 m | Serhiy Dymchenko Ukrainian SSR Kyiv | 2.32 m | Rudolf Povarnitsyn Ukrainian SSR Kyiv | 2.29 m |
| Pole vault | Radion Gataullin Uzbekskaya SSR Tashkent | 5.90 m | Maksim Tarasov Russian SFSR Yaroslavl | 5.85 m | Grigoriy Yegorov Kazakh SSR Alma-Ata | 5.85 m |
| Long jump | Dmitry Bagryanov Moscow | 8.07 m | Vladimir Ochkan Ukrainian SSR Poltava | 8.03 m | Robert Emmiyan Armenian SSR Kumayri | 8.00 m |
| Triple jump | Leonid Voloshin Russian SFSR Krasnodar | 17.59 m (−0.5 m/s) | Oleg Denishchik Belarusian SSR Brest | 17.53 m (+1.9 m/s) | Vasiliy Sokov Tajik SSR Dushanbe | 17.52 m (+1.8 m/s) |
| Shot put | Aleksandr Klimenko Ukrainian SSR Kyiv | 20.14 m | Sergey Smirnov Leningrad | 19.95 m | Sergey Nikolaev Leningrad | 19.87 m |
| Discus throw | Dmitriy Shevchenko Russian SFSR Krasnodar | 62.44 m | Sergey Lyakhov Moscow | 62.28 m | Viktor Baraznovskiy Belarusian SSR Minsk | 61.90 m |
| Hammer throw | Andrey Abduvaliyev Tajik SSR Dushanbe | 82.80 m | Igor Astapkovich Belarusian SSR Grodno | 81.78 m | Igor Nikulin Leningrad | 80.62 m |
| Javelin throw | Vladimir Sasimovich Belarusian SSR Minsk | 84.46 m | Dmitry Polyunin Uzbekskaya SSR Tashkent | 83.16 m | Vladimir Ovchinnikov Russian SFSR Volgograd | 81.26 m |
| Decathlon | Viktor Radchenko Ukrainian SSR Lviv | 8015 pts | Sergey Terzeman Belarusian SSR Minsk | 7804 pts | Andrey Chernyavskiy Russian SFSR Novosibirsk | 7721 pts |
| 20 km walk | Yevgeniy Misyulya Belarusian SSR Minsk | 1:19:13 | Artur Shumak Belarusian SSR Minsk | 1:20:10 | Vladimir Druchik Ukrainian SSR Lutsk | 1:20:48 |
| 50 km walk | Vitaliy Popovich Ukrainian SSR Brovary | 3:44:01 | Andrey Plotnikov Russian SFSR Vladimir | 3:48:43 | Valeriy Spitsyn Chelyabinsk | 3:50:18 |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Belarusian SSR Andrey Cherkashin Leonid Safronnikov Aleksandr Starovoytov Aleksandr Knysh | 39.44 | Russian SFSR Boris Zhgir Aleksey Podshibyakin Mikhail Vdovin Pavel Galkin | 39.47 | Ukrainian SSR Aleksandr Naduda Oleh Kramarenko Dmitriy Vanyaikin Igor Streltsov | 39.61 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Moscow Andrey Platonov Maksim Kupriyanov Vladimir Popov Dmitry Golovastov | 3:06.00 | Russian SFSR Aleksandr Belikov Valeriy Belov Petr Khanzhin Valeriy Starodubtsev | 3:07.12 | Leningrad Dmitriy Rebenko Aleksandr Bagaev Roman Roslavtsev Aleksandr Minakov | 3:08.12 |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Galina Malchugina Russian SFSR Bryansk | 11.20 | Irina Slyusar Ukrainian SSR Dnepropetrovsk | 11.26 | Natalya Kovtun Russian SFSR Tula | 11.32 |
| 200 metres | Yelena Vinogradova Russian SFSR Moscow Oblast | 22.71 | Tatyana Alekseyeva Russian SFSR Novosibirsk | 22.71 | Marina Trandenkova Leningrad | 23.19 |
| 400 metres | Olha Bryzhina Ukrainian SSR Luhansk | 51.11 | Olga Nazarova Moscow | 51.50 | Lyudmila Dzhigalova Ukrainian SSR Kharkiv | 51.50 |
| 800 metres | Svetlana Masterkova Moscow | 1:57.23 | Liliya Nurutdinova Russian SFSR Naberezhnye Chelny | 1:58.27 | Inna Yevseyeva Ukrainian SSR Zhitomir | 1:58.30 |
| 1500 metres | Tetyana Dorovskikh Ukrainian SSR Zaporozhe | 4:05.60 | Ravilya Kotovich Belarusian SSR Minsk | 4:06.34 | Oksana Mernikova Belarusian SSR Grodno | 4:06.40 |
| 3000 metres | Lyudmila Borisova Leningrad | 8:57.87 | Tetyana Dorovskikh Ukrainian SSR Zaporozhe | 8:58.24 | Tatyana Pozdnyakova Ukrainian SSR Vinnitsa | 8:59.30 |
| 10,000 metres | Tatyana Pozdnyakova Ukrainian SSR Vinnitsa | 33:07.62 | Marina Rodchenkova Moscow | 33:09.54 | Lyudmila Matveyeva Russian SFSR Ufa | 33:09.74 |
| 100 m hurdles | Lyudmila Narozhilenko Russian SFSR Krasnodar | 12.28 | Nataliya Grygoryeva Ukrainian SSR Kharkiv | 12.39 | Nadiya Bodrova Ukrainian SSR Kharkiv | 12.81 |
| 400 m hurdles | Anna Chuprina Moscow | 55.12 | Natalya Ignatyuk Belarusian SSR Minsk | 55.28 | Vera Ordina Leningrad | 55.31 |
| High jump | Yelena Rodina Moscow | 1.96 m | Tamara Bykova Moscow | 1.94 m | Olga Bolșova Moldaviya Kishinev | 1.92 m |
| Long jump | Yelena Sinchukova Moscow | 7.16 m (+1.3 m/s) | Larysa Berezhna Ukrainian SSR Kyiv | 7.10 m (+0.3 m/s) | Olena Khlopotnova Ukrainian SSR Kharkiv | 6.88 m (+3.1 m/s) |
| Triple jump | Inessa Kravets Ukrainian SSR Kyiv | 14.40 m (+0.4 m/s) | Elena Semiraz Ukrainian SSR Ternopil | 14.35 m (+0.5 m/s) | Inna Lasovskaya Moscow | 14.05 m (+0.9 m/s) |
| Shot put | Svetlana Krivelyova Moscow | 20.36 m | Marina Antonyuk Russian SFSR Perm | 18.89 m | Valentina Fedyushina Ukrainian SSR Simferopol | 18.89 m |
| Discus throw | Larisa Mikhalchenko Ukrainian SSR Kharkiv | 65.30 m | Iryna Yatchenko Belarusian SSR Grodno | 64.60 m | Ellina Zvereva Belarusian SSR Minsk | 63.80 m |
| Javelin throw | Natalya Shikolenko Belarusian SSR Minsk | 66.52 m | Natalya Cherniyenko Ukrainian SSR Kharkiv | 64.64 m | Irina Kostyuchenkova Ukrainian SSR Kharkiv | 64.42 m |
| Heptathlon | Viktoriya Babiy Ukrainian SSR Zaporozhe | 6174 pts | Marina Scherbina Ukrainian SSR Kyiv Oblast | 6116 pts | Svetlana Buraga Belarusian SSR Minsk | 6104 pts |
| 10 km walk | Alina Ivanova Russian SFSR Cheboksary | 42:50 | Yelena Nikolayeva Russian SFSR Cheboksary | 43:25 | Tamara Kovalenko Russian SFSR Yaroslavl | 43:54 |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Russian SFSR Nadezhda Roschupkina Galina Malchugina Marina Zhirova Natalya Kovtun | 43.30 | Ukrainian SSR Zhanna Tarnopolskaya Elena Nasonkina Irina Slyusar Anzhelika Shevchuk | 43.81 | Kazakh SSR Olga Kvast Irina Chernova Elena Gorbenko Olga Dudnik | 44.85 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Ukrainian SSR Aelita Yurchenko Inna Yevseyeva Lyudmila Dzhigalova Olha Bryzhina | 3:24.65 | Russian SFSR Galina Moskvina Liliya Nurutdinova Yelena Ruzina Tatyana Alekseyeva | 3:25.14 | Moscow Marina Khripankova Elena Didilenko Yelena Golesheva Olga Nazarova | 3:28.41 |

## Soviet Marathon Championships

The Soviet Marathon Championships and Spartakiade Marathon took part within the same race on 21 April in the city of Bila Tserkva, though placings differed for men as under Spartakiade rules each Republic of the Soviet Union could enter a maximum of three athletes for their team. The top two placers in the men's race, Vladimir Bukhanov and Vadim Sidorov, were not part of a republic's team, hence they were declared first and second in the Soviet Championships, but the Spartakiade title went to the third placer, Aleksandr Vychuzhanin of the Russian SFSR. The level of participation was not as high in the women's race, thus the top three women were all part of a team and the Championships and Spartakiade results were identical.

### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Soviet Championships |||||||
| Marathon | Vladimir Bukhanov Ukrainian SSR Odesa | 2:13:46 | Vadim Sidorov Russian SFSR Nizhniy Novgorod | 2:13:49 | Aleksandr Vychuzhanin Russian SFSR Voronezh | 2:13:50 |
| Spartakiade |||||||
| Marathon | Aleksandr Vychuzhanin Russian SFSR Voronezh | 2:13:50 | Sergey Klimakov Russian SFSR Kemerovo | 2:13:52 | Viktor Vykhristenko Ukrainian SSR Belaya Tserkov | 2:13:57 |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Marathon | Madina Biktagirova Belarusian SSR Brest | 2:32:02 | Elena Semenova Ukrainian SSR Zaporozhe | 2:33:13 | Irina Pushko Belarusian SSR Soligorsk | 2:33:44 |

## Soviet Winter Racewalking Championships

The Soviet Winter Racewalking Championships were held 16–17 February in Sochi. Participants competed on the route laid along Tchaikovsky Street. The women's 10 km winner Alina Ivanova finished one second slower than her Soviet record set in 1989.

### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 20 km walk | Aleksandr Pershin Russian SFSR Samara | 1:18:58 | Frants Kostyukevich Belarusian SSR Minsk | 1:19:05 | Vladimir Andreyev Russian SFSR Cheboksary | 1:19:17 |
| 30 km walk | Aleksandr Potashov Belarusian SSR Vitebsk | 2:05:15 | Valeriy Spitsyn Russian SFSR Chelyabinsk | 2:05:17 | Anatoliy Grigorev Russian SFSR Cheboksary | 2:06:25 |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 10 km walk | Alina Ivanova Russian SFSR Cheboksary | 42:17 | Yelena Sayko Russian SFSR Chelyabinsk | 42:29 | Irina Strakhova Russian SFSR Novosibirsk | 42:44 |

## Soviet Winter Throwing Championships

The Soviet Winter Throwing Championships were held on 23–24 February in Adler at the Labor Reserves stadium. The women's hammer throw world record was improved twice at the meeting, first by Larisa Shtyrogrishnaya (63.08 m), and then by Alla Fyodorova (64.44 m).

### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Discus throw | Volodymyr Zinchenko Ukrainian SSR Zaporozhe | 64.64 m | | | | |
| Hammer throw | Igor Astapkovich Belarusian SSR Grodno | 80.78 m | Igor Nikulin Leningrad | 79.14 m | | |
| Javelin throw | Yuriy Rybin Russian SFSR Lipetsk | 84.54 m | Viktor Zaytsev Uzbek SSR Tashkent | 84.02 m | Andrey Maznichenko Ukrainian SSR Kyiv | 83.92 m |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver |
| Discus throw | | | | |
| Hammer throw | Alla Fedorova Kirgiz SSR Bishkek | 64.44 m | Larisa Shtyrogrishnaya Tajik SSR Dushanbe | 63.08 m |
| Javelin throw | Natalya Shikolenko Belarusian SSR Minsk | 62.62 m | | |

## Soviet Cross Country Championships

The Soviet Cross Country Championships were held on 24 February in Kislovodsk, Russian SFSR.

### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 12 km | Gennadiy Temnikov Russian SFSR Ulan-Ude | 38:31 | Petr Sarafenyuk Ukrainian SSR Kyiv | 38:32 | Viktor Gural Ukrainian SSR Lviv | 38:40 |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 5 km | Natalya Solominskaya Russian SFSR Ulan-Ude | 17:11 | Marina Rodchenkova Moscow | 17:13 | Nadezhda Tatarenkova Russian SFSR Abakan | 17:16 |