# Athletics at the 1998 World Youth Games

At the 1998 World Youth Games the athletics competition was held from 14–17 July at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. A total of 678 youth (under-18) athletes from 87 countries took part in the track and field events.
Several major countries with strong traditions in athletics were absent from the contests (among them Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and the United States) and this undermined the overall quality of performances. Planned subsequent editions were not held. Although the games were not an initial success, the idea was revived in 2010 and athletics events were again held as part of the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics, which garnered wide participation.

## Medal summary
### Boys

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Paul Gorries (RSA) | 10.76 | Kostyantyn Vasyukov (UKR) | 10.79 | Mirko Turri (ITA) | 10.83 |
| 200 metres | Wang Hongzhen (CHN) | 21.33 | Paul Gorries (RSA) | 21.40 | Vladimir Demchenko (UKR) | 21.60 |
| 400 metres | Xu Zizhou (CHN) | 47.50 | Mandla Nkosi (RSA) | 48.36 | Muhamad Z.Z. Abidin (MAS) | 48.72 |
| 800 metres | Yuriy Borzakovskiy (RUS) | 1:47.71 | Mohamed Osman (KSA) | 1:49.88 | Mandla Nkosi (RSA) | 1:50.30 |
| 1500 metres | Berkhani Tadesse (ETH) | 3:53.96 | Yuriy Borzakovskiy (RUS) | 3:54.84 | Kenneth Ruto (KEN) | 3:56.13 |
| 3000 metres | Morteza Firuozi (IRI) | 8:30.06 | Adellu Hussen (ETH) | 8:30.69 | Ion Luchianov (MDA) | 8:32.10 |
| 110 metres hurdles | Shen Zhensheng (CHN) | 13.74 | Camilo Aguirre (CHI) | 14.15 | Stefanos Ioannou (CYP) | 14.17 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Hani Al-Mourhej (SYR) | 51.39 | Luca Bortolaso (ITA) | 51.70 | Ryan Albert Smith (BAR) | 53.26 |
| 5000 metres walk | Aleksandr Kuzmin (BLR) | 20:40.58 | Viktor Burayev (RUS) | 20:41.08 | Yevgeniy Demkov (RUS) | 20:41.25 |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Finland (FIN) Ville Vakkuri Sauli Pahlman Juha Karhe Aleksi Sillanpää | 41.87 | Ukraine (UKR) Yevgeniy Shapiro Vladimir Demchenko Sergey Mishchenko Kostyantyn Vasyukov | 42.07 | Malaysia (MAS) Mohd. Hafeez Abdul Razak Nazmizan Mohamad Boniface Lejau Jozef Muhamad Z.Z. Abidin | 42.19 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | China (CHN) Cao Wen Wang Hongzhen Peng Tao Xu Zizhou | 3:13.57 | South Africa (RSA) Mandla Nkosi Elton Masia Tshepo Thobelangope Paul Gorries | 3:15.13 | Chinese Taipei (TPE) Ou Tsung-Han Sung Chih-Chiang Cheng Shao-Pai Liu Yuan-Kai | 3:20.83 |
| High jump | Aleksey Klimov (BLR) | 2.12 m | Fabrizio Schembri (ITA) | 2.12 m | Jeong Su-Kwang (KOR) | 2.12 m |
| Pole vault | Fílippos Sgoúros (GRE) | 5.05 m | Oleksandr Korchmid (UKR) | 4.90 m | Aleksey Khanafin (RUS) | 4.90 m |
| Long jump | Yoelmis Pacheco (CUB) | 7.50 m | Liu Dai-Wei (TPE) | 7.45 m (w) | Luka Aračić (CRO) | 7.41 m |
| Triple jump | Alessandro Bonfim (BRA) | 15.57 m | Dmitriy Valyukevich (BLR) | 15.52 m | Yevgeniy Shapiro (UKR) | 15.15 m |
| Shot put | Pavel Sofin (RUS) | 19.59 m | Mateus Monari (BRA) | 19.20 m | John Sullivan (RSA) | 19.19 m |
| Discus throw | Lois Maikel Martínez (CUB) | 61.47 m | Pavel Lyzhyn (BLR) | 58.59 m | Ivan Napreyenko (UKR) | 57.19 m |
| Javelin throw | Geikel Cabrera (CUB) | 72.36 m | Gerhardus Pienaar (RSA) | 71.79 m | Aleksandr Ivanov (RUS) | 67.97 m |

### Girls

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Emily Maher (IRL) | 11.93 | Thatiana Ignâcio (BRA) | 12.05 | Mojca Vauce (SLO) | 12.13 |
| 200 metres | Emily Maher (IRL) | 24.16 | Nataliya Pyhyda (UKR) | 24.29 | Lucy-Ann Richards (BAR) | 24.30 |
| 400 metres | Nataliya Pyhyda (UKR) | 54.01 | Aneta Lemiesz (POL) | 54.36 | Yana Vetcherkevitch (RUS) | 54.53 |
| 800 metres | Niuvis Pie (CUB) | 2:07.01 | Esther Desviat (ESP) | 2:07.05 | Inna Kravchenko (BLR) | 2:07.17 |
| 1500 metres | Zanelle Grobler (RSA) | 4:20.62 | Ljiljana Culibrk (CRO) | 4:21.11 | Rasa Drazdauskaité (LTU) | 4:21.63 |
| 3000 metres | Catherine Webombesa (UGA) | 9:29.94 | Susilia Likango (NAM) | 9:30.98 | Elvan Abeye (ETH) | 9:34.95 |
| 100 metres hurdles | Svetlana Sokolova (RUS) | 13.42 | Joanna Doncer (POL) | 13.53 | Mariya Koroteyeva (RUS) | 13.65 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Natalya Antyukh (RUS) | 59.94 | Li Shuju (CHN) | 61.46 | Dorota Wyszogrodzka (POL) | 61.89 |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Poland (POL) Żaneta Tomczyk Joanna Doncer Aneta Lemiesz Anna Radoszewska | 46.65 | Croatia (CRO) Ria Rukavina Suzana Rubin Petra Karanikic Katarina Perosevic | 47.68 | Chile (CHI) Ana Urrutia María José Echeverría Fabiola Hecht Francisca Guzmán | 48.13 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Russia (RUS) Svetlana Sokolova Natalya Antyukh Mariya Koroteyeva Yana Vetcherkevitch | 3:44.54 | Kazakhstan (KAZ) Svetlana Valyuzhenich Irina Vedernikova Anna Gavriushenko Yekaterina Zakharova | 3:49.93 | South Africa (RSA) Zanelle Grobler Merize Theron Elaine du Plessis Joretha Eagleton | 3:56.30 |
| 3000 metres walk | Lyudmila Yefimkina (RUS) | 12:57.97 | Aura Morales (MEX) | 13:13.29 | Irina Klepikova (RUS) | 13:16.27 |
| High jump | Marina Kuptsova (RUS) | 1.86 m | Tatyana Efimenko (KGZ) | 1.84 m | Tatiana Grigorieva (RUS) | 1.79 m |
| Pole vault | Yelena Isinbayeva (RUS) | 4.00 m | Fanni Juhász (HUN) | 3.90 m | Anna Wielgus (POL) | 3.70 m |
| Long jump | Yevgeniya Stavchanskaya (UKR) | 6.30 m | Wang Lingli (CHN) | 6.20 m | Svetlana Sokolova (RUS) | 6.17 m |
| Triple jump | Mabel Gay (CUB) | 13.41 m | Yevgeniya Stavchanskaya (UKR) | 13.05 m | Dana Velďáková (SVK) | 13.05 m |
| Shot put | Li Meiju (CHN) | 15.89 m | Li Min (CHN) | 15.35 m | Laura Bordignon (ITA) | 14.43 m |
| Discus throw | Liu Yanxia (CHN) | 49.92 m | Vera Begić (CRO) | 48.70 m | Yelena Lebusova (RUS) | 48.63 m |
| Javelin throw | Magdalena Czenska (POL) | 49.75 m | Inga Kožarenoka (LAT) | 49.59 m | Natallia Shymchuk (BLR) | 48.97 m |