# 1990 in the sport of athletics

This article contains an overview of the year 1990 in athletics.

## International Events

* African Championships
* Asian Games
* Balkan Games
* Central American and Caribbean Championships
* Commonwealth Games
* European Championships
* European Indoor Championships
* Goodwill Games
* World Cross Country Championships
* World Junior Championships

## World records
### Men

| EVENT | ATHLETE | MARK | DATE | VENUE |
| 20,000 metres | Dionísio Castro (POR) | 57:18.4 | 31 March | La Flèche, France |
| 4 × 100 m relay | France (FRA) • Max Morinière • Daniel Sangouma • Jean-Charles Trouabal • Bruno Marie-Rose | 37.79 | 1 September | Split, Yugoslavia |
| Shot put | Randy Barnes (USA) | 23.12m | 20 May | Westwood, United States |
| Javelin (new) | Patrik Bodén (SWE) | 89.10m | 24 March | Austin, United States |
| Javelin (new) | Steve Backley (GBR) | 89.58m | 2 July | Stockholm, Sweden |
| Half marathon | Dionicio Cerón (MEX) | 1:00:46 | 16 September | Philadelphia, United States |

### Women

| EVENT | ATHLETE | MARK | DATE | VENUE |
| 1,000 metres | Christine Wachtel (GER) | 2:30.67 | 17 August | Berlin, Germany |
| Triple jump | Li Huirong (CHN) | 14.54m | 25 August | Sapporo, Japan |

## Men's Best Year Performers
### 100 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Leroy Burrell (USA) | 9.96 |
| 2. | Linford Christie (GBR) | 10.02 |
| 3. | Calvin Smith (USA) | 10.04 |
| 4. | Davidson Ezinwa (NGR) | 10.05 |
| 4. | Mark Witherspoon (USA) | 10.05 |
| 4. | Carl Lewis (USA) | 10.05 |

### 200 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Michael Johnson (USA) | 19.85 |
| 2. | Danny Everett (USA) | 20.08 |
| 3. | John Regis (GBR) | 20.11 |
| 4. | Leroy Burrell (USA) | 20.14 |
| 5. | Robson da Silva (BRA) | 20.23 |

### 400 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Danny Everett (USA) | 44.06 |
| 2. | Roberto Hernández (CUB) | 44.14 |
| 3. | Michael Johnson (USA) | 44.21 |
| 4. | Andrew Valmon (USA) | 44.35 |
| 5. | Darren Clark (AUS) | 44.60 |

### 800 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Peter Elliott (GBR) | 1:42.97 |
| 2. | William Tanui (KEN) | 1:43.39 |
| 3. | Johnny Gray (USA) | 1:43.72 |
| 4. | Paul Ereng (KEN) | 1:43.78 |
| 5. | Robert Kibet (KEN) | 1:44.29 |

### 1,500 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | 3:32.60 |
| 2. | Peter Elliott (GBR) | 3:32.69 |
| 3. | Gennaro Di Napoli (ITA) | 3:32.78 |
| 4. | Wilfred Kirochi (KEN) | 3:32.90 |
| 5. | Steve Cram (GBR) | 3:33.03 |

### Mile

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Joe Falcon (USA) | 3:49.31 |
| 2. | Peter Elliott (GBR) | 3:49.76 |
| 3. | Jens-Peter Herold (GDR) | 3:50.59 |
| 4. | Tony Morrell (GBR) | 3:51.31 |
| 5. | Abdi Bile (SOM) | 3:52.01 |

### 3,000 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Khalid Skah (MAR) | 7:37.09 |
| 2. | Cyrille Laventure (FRA) | 7:37.74 |
| 3. | Yobes Ondieki (KEN) | 7:38.15 |
| 4. | Mohamed Issangar (MAR) | 7:39.40 |
| 5. | Brahim Boutayeb (MAR) | 7:40.79 |

### 5,000 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Salvatore Antibo (ITA) | 13:05.59 |
| 2. | Yobes Ondieki (KEN) | 13:05.60 |
| 3. | Mohamed Issangar (MAR) | 13:08.51 |
| 4. | Arturo Barrios (MEX) | 13:08.52 |
| 5. | Khalid Skah (MAR) | 13:09.55 |

### 10,000 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Arturo Barrios (MEX) | 27:18.22 |
| 2. | John Ngugi (KEN) | 27:19.15 |
| 3. | Salvatore Antibo (ITA) | 27:25.16 |
| 4. | Hammou Boutayeb (MAR) | 27:25.48 |
| 5. | Khalid Skah (MAR) | 27:29.27 |

### Half marathon

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Steve Moneghetti (AUS) | 1:00:34 |

### Marathon

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Steve Moneghetti (AUS) | 2:08:16 |
| 2. | Gelindo Bordin (ITA) | 2:08:19 |
| 3. | Gidamis Shahanga (TAN) | 2:08:32 |
| 4. | Jörg Peter (GDR) | 2:09:23 |
| 5. | Martín Pitayo (MEX) | 2:09:41 |

### 110m hurdles

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Colin Jackson (GBR) | 13.08 |
| 2. | Greg Foster (USA) | 13.15 |
| 3. | Roger Kingdom (USA) | 13.21 |
| 3. | Tony Jarrett (GBR) | 13.21 |
| 5. | Renaldo Nehemiah (USA) | 13.22 |

### 400m hurdles

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Danny Harris (USA) | 47.49 |
| 2. | Samuel Matete (ZAM) | 47.91 |
| 3. | Kriss Akabusi (GBR) | 47.92 |
| 4. | Winthrop Graham (JAM) | 48.03 |
| 5. | David Patrick (USA) | 48.22 |

### 3,000m steeplechase

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Peter Koech (KEN) | 8:10.95 |
| 2. | Francesco Panetta (ITA) | 8:12.66 |
| 3. | William Mutwol (KEN) | 8:12.75 |
| 4. | Mark Rowland (GBR) | 8:13.27 |
| 5. | Julius Kariuki (KEN) | 8:13.28 |

### High jump

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Sorin Matei (ROU) | 2.40 |
| 2. | Hollis Conway (USA) | 2.38 |
| 3. | Dragutin Topić (YUG) | 2.37 |
| 3. | Sergey Dymchenko (URS) | 2.37 |
| 4. | Clarence Saunders (BER) | 2.36 |
| 4. | Javier Sotomayor (CUB) | 2.36 |
| 4. | Doug Nordquist (USA) | 2.36 |
| 4. | Georgi Dakov (BUL) | 2.36 |

### Long jump

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Mike Powell (USA) | 8.66 |
| 2. | Jaime Jefferson (CUB) | 8.53 |
| 3. | Carl Lewis (USA) | 8.51 |
| 4. | Robert Emmiyan (URS) | 8.32 |
| 5. | Sergey Podgainiy (URS) | 8.25 |
| 5. | Dietmar Haaf (FRG) | 8.25 |

### Triple jump

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Kenny Harrison (USA) | 17.93 |
| 2. | Volodymyr Inozemtsev (URS) | 17.90 |
| 3. | Oleg Protsenko (URS) | 17.75 |
| 4. | Leonid Voloshin (URS) | 17.74 |
| 5. | Mike Conley (USA) | 17.56 |

### Discus

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Romas Ubartas (URS) | 68.94 |
| 2. | Wolfgang Schmidt (GDR) | 68.30 |
| 3. | Mike Buncic (USA) | 67.72 |
| 4. | Juan Martínez Brito (CUB) | 67.50 |
| 5. | Jürgen Schult (GDR) | 67.08 |

### Shot put

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Randy Barnes (USA) | 23.12 WR |
| 2. | Ulf Timmermann (GER) | 21.64 |
| 3. | Pétur Guðmundsson (ISL) | 21.26 |
| 4. | Jim Doehring (USA) | 21.20 |
| 5. | Oliver-Sven Buder (GER) | 21.06 |

### Hammer

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Igor Nikulin (URS) | 84.48 |
| 2. | Igor Astapkovich (URS) | 84.14 |
| 3. | Andrey Abduvaliyev (URS) | 83.46 |
| 4. | Yuriy Sedykh (URS) | 82.80 |
| 5. | Sergey Litvinov (URS) | 81.74 |

### Javelin (new design)

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Steve Backley (GBR) | 89.58 |
| 2. | Patrik Bodén (SWE) | 89.10 |
| 3. | Seppo Räty (FIN) | 86.92 |
| 4. | Jan Železný (TCH) | 86.52 |
| 5. | Tom Petranoff (USA) | 86.46 |

### Pole vault

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Radion Gataullin (URS) | 5.92 |
| 2. | Sergey Bubka (URS) | 5.90 |
| 3. | Grigoriy Yegorov (URS) | 5.87 |
| 4. | Maksim Tarasov (URS) | 5.85 |
| 4. | Igor Potapovich (URS) | 5.85 |

### Decathlon

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | POINTS |
| 1. | Christian Plaziat (FRA) | 8574 |
| 2. | Michael Smith (CAN) | 8525 |
| 3. | Christian Schenk (GDR) | 8481 |
| 4. | Dezső Szabó (HUN) | 8436 |
| 5. | Dave Johnson (USA) | 8403 |

## Women's Best Year Performers
### 60 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 7.08 |
| 2. | Ulrike Sarvari (FRG) | 7.10 |
| 3. | Irina Sergeyeva (URS) | 7.13 |
| 3. | Laurence Bily (FRA) | 7.13 |
| 5. | Nelli Cooman (NLD) | 7.14 |

### 100 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 10.78 |
| 2. | Katrin Krabbe (GDR) | 10.89 |
| 3. | Carlette Guidry (USA) | 11.03 |
| 4. | Sheila Echols (USA) | 11.05 |
| 4. | Michelle Finn (USA) | 11.05 |

### 200 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 21.66 |
| 2. | Katrin Krabbe (GDR) | 21.95 |
| 3. | Heike Drechsler (GDR) | 22.19 |
| 4. | Galina Malchugina (URS) | 22.23 |
| 5. | Mary Onyali (NGR) | 22.31 |

### 400 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Grit Breuer (GDR) | 49.50 |
| 2. | Ana Fidelia Quirot (CUB) | 50.03 |
| 3. | Paulien Davis (BAH) | 50.05 |
| 4. | Petra Schersing (GDR) | 50.31 |
| 5. | Lyudmila Dzhigalova (URS) | 50.33 |

### 800 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Sigrun Wodars (GDR) | 1:55.87 |
| 2. | Christine Wachtel (GDR) | 1:56.11 |
| 3. | Nadezhda Loboyko (URS) | 1:56.64 |
| 4. | Lyudmila Rogachova (URS) | 1:57.1 |
| 5. | Liliya Nurutdinova (URS) | 1:57.25 |

### 1,500 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Doina Melinte (ROU) | 3:58.69 |
| 2. | Natalya Artyomova (URS) | 4:02.53 |
| 3. | Yvonne Mai (GDR) | 4:02.69 |
| 4. | Lyudmila Rogachova (URS) | 4:03.07 |
| 5. | Violeta Beclea (ROM) | 4:03.14 |

### Mile

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Doina Melinte (ROU) | 4:18.13 |
| 2. | Natalya Artyomova (URS) | 4:22.20 |
| 3. | Yvonne Mai (GDR) | 4:22.97 |
| 4. | Lynn Jennings (USA) | 4:24.14 |
| 5. | Svetlana Kitova (URS) | 4:24.63 |

### 3,000 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Angela Chalmers (CAN) | 8:38.38 |
| 2. | Yvonne Murray (GBR) | 8:39.46 |
| 3. | Liz McColgan (GBR) | 8:43.14 |
| 4. | Yelena Romanova (URS) | 8:43.68 |
| 5. | PattiSue Plumer (USA) | 8:44.07 |

### 5,000 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Yelena Romanova (URS) | 15:02.23 |
| 2. | Lynn Jennings (USA) | 15:07.92 |
| 3. | PattiSue Plumer (USA) | 15:07.97 |
| 4. | Viorica Ghican (ROU) | 15:09.90 |
| 5. | Nadia Dandolo (ITA) | 15:11.64 |

### 10,000 metres

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Viorica Ghican (ROU) | 31:18.18 |
| 2. | Uta Pippig (GDR) | 31:40.92 |
| 3. | Maria Conceição Ferreira (POR) | 31:45.75 |
| 4. | Yelena Romanova (URS) | 31:46.83 |
| 5. | Kathrin Ullrich (GDR) | 31:47.70 |

### Half marathon

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Rosa Mota (POR) | 1:09:33 |

### Marathon

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Rosa Mota (POR) | 2:25:24 |
| 2. | Lisa Martin (AUS) | 2:25:28 |
| 3. | Wanda Panfil (POL) | 2:26:31 |
| 4. | Frith van der Merwe (RSA) | 2:27:36 |
| 5. | Francie Larrieu Smith (USA) | 2:28:01 |

### 60m hurdles

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Ludmila Narozhilenko (URS) | 7.69 |
| 2. | Monique Éwanjé-Épée (FRA) | 7.84 |
| 3. | Nataliya Grygoryeva (URS) | 7.85 |
| 4. | Lidiya Yurkova (URS) | 7.86 |
| 5. | Anne Piquereau (FRA) | 7.88 |

### 100m hurdles

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Nataliya Grygoryeva (URS) | 12.53 |
| 2. | Monique Éwanjé-Épée (FRA) | 12.56 |
| 3. | Ginka Zagorcheva (BUL) | 12.61 |
| 4. | Mihaela Pogacian (ROU) | 12.62 |
| 5. | Ludmila Narozhilenko (URS) | 12.64 |

### 400m hurdles

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Tatyana Ledovskaya (URS) | 53.62 |
| 2. | Myrtle Bothma (RSA) | 54.07 |
| 3. | Anita Protti (SUI) | 54.36 |
| 4. | Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA) | 54.46 |
| 5. | Monica Westén (SWE) | 54.69 |

### High Jump

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Yelena Yelesina (URS) | 2.02 m |
| 2. | Yolanda Henry (USA) | 2.00 m |
| 2. | Biljana Petrović (YUG) | 2.00 m |
| 2. | Heike Henkel (FRG) | 2.00 m |
| 5. | Alina Astafei (ROU) | 1.98 m |

### Long Jump

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Galina Chistyakova (URS) | 7.35 m |
| 2. | Heike Drechsler (GDR) | 7.30 m |
| 3. | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 7.12 m |
| 4. | Inessa Kravets (URS) | 7.10 m |
| 4. | Larisa Berezhnaya (URS) | 7.10 m |

### Triple Jump

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Li Huirong (CHN) | 14.54 m |

### Shot put

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Sui Xinmei (CHN) | 21.66 m |
| 2. | Huang Zhihong (CHN) | 21.52 m |
| 3. | Astrid Kumbernuss (GER) | 20.77 m |

### Javelin (old design)

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Petra Felke (GDR) | 73.08 |
| 2. | Zhang Li (CHN) | 70.42 |
| 3. | Karen Forkel (GER) | 69.38 |
| 4. | Xu Demei (CHN) | 68.30 |
| 5. | Natalya Cherniyenko (URS) | 67.88 |

### Heptathlon

| RANK | 1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | POINTS |
| 1. | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 6783 |
| 2. | Jane Flemming (AUS) | 6695 |
| 3. | Sabine Braun (GER) | 6688 |
| 4. | Heike Tischler (GER) | 6572 |
| 5. | Peggy Beer (GER) | 6531 |

## Births

* February 1 — Feyisa Lilesa, Ethiopian long-distance runner
* August 29 — Marin Premeru, Croatian discus thrower and shot putter
* October 24 — Vicky Parnov, Australian pole vaulter
* November 23 — Stanislav Emelyanov, Russian race walker

## Deaths

* March 27 — Percy Beard (82), American hurdler (b. 1908)
* April 10 — Fortune Gordien (67), American athlete (b. 1922)
* August 29 — Luigi Beccali (82), Italian athlete (b. 1907)
* December 31 — Robina Higgins (75), Canadian athlete (b.1915)