# Athletics at the 1959 Pan American Games

The athletics competition in the 1959 Pan American Games were held in Chicago, United States.

## Medal summary
### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: +2.7 m/s) details | Ray Norton United States | 10.3w | Mike Agostini West Indies | 10.4w | Enrique Figuerola Cuba | 10.5w |
| 200 metres details | Ray Norton United States | 20.6w | Les Carney United States | 21.1w | Mike Agostini West Indies | 21.1w |
| 400 metres details | George Kerr West Indies | 46.1 | Basil Ince West Indies | 46.4 | Malcolm Spence West Indies | 46.6 |
| 800 metres details | Tom Murphy United States | 1:49.4 | George Kerr West Indies | 1:49.4 | Tony Seth British Guiana | 1:49.7 |
| 1500 metres details | Dyrol Burleson United States | 3:49.1 | Jim Grelle United States | 3:49.9 | Ed Moran United States | 3:50.1 |
| 5000 metres details | Bill Dellinger United States | 14:28.4 | Osvaldo Suárez Argentina | 14:28.6 | Doug Kyle Canada | 14:33.0 |
| 10,000 metres details | Osvaldo Suárez Argentina | 30:17.2 | Doug Kyle Canada | 30:18.0 | Bob Soth United States | 30:21.8 |
| Marathon details | John J. Kelley United States | 2:27:55 | Jim Green United States | 2:32:17 | Gordon Dickson Canada | 2:36:19 |
| 110 metres hurdles (wind: +2.5 m/s) details | Hayes Jones United States | 13.6w | Lee Calhoun United States | 13.7w | Elias Gilbert United States | 14.0w |
| 400 metres hurdles details | Josh Culbreath United States | 51.2 | Dick Howard United States | 51.3 | Cliff Cushman United States | 53.0 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase details | Phil Coleman United States | 8:56.4 | Charles "Deacon" Jones United States | 8:56.6 | Alfredo Tinoco Mexico | 8:58.0 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | United States Hayes Jones Robert Poynter William Woodhouse Ray Norton | 40.4 | Venezuela Emilio Romero Lloyd Murad Clive Bonas Rafael Romero | 41.1 | West Indies Dennis Johnson Clifton Bertrand Wilton Jackson Mike Agostini | 41.1 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay details | West Indies Mal Spence Mel Spence Basil Ince George Kerr | 3:05.3 | United States Eddie Southern Josh Culbreath Jack Yerman Dave Mills | 3:05.8 | Puerto Rico Ramón Vega Jossué Delgado Manuel Rivera Iván Rodríguez | 3:12.4 |
| High jump details | Charles Dumas United States | 2.10 | Bob Gardner United States | 2.03 | Ernle Haisley West Indies | 2.00 |
| Pole vault details | Don Bragg United States | 4.62 | Jim Graham United States | 4.32 | Rolando Cruz Puerto Rico | 4.32 |
| Long jump details | Irvin "Bo" Roberson United States | 7.97 | Greg Bell United States | 7.60 | Lester Bird West Indies | 7.46 |
| Triple jump details | Adhemar da Silva Brazil | 15.90 | Herman Stokes United States | 15.39 | Bill Sharpe United States | 15.25 |
| Shot put details | Parry O'Brien United States | 19.04 | Dallas Long United States | 18.51 | Dave Davis United States | 17.01 |
| Discus throw details | Al Oerter United States | 58.12 | Dick Cochran United States | 54.44 | Parry O'Brien United States | 51.84 |
| Hammer throw details | Al Hall United States | 59.71 | Hal Connolly United States | 59.67 | Bob Backus United States | 59.55 |
| Javelin throw details | Buster Quist United States | 70.50 | Phil Conley United States | 69.94 | Al Cantello United States | 69.82 |
| Decathlon details | Dave Edstrom United States | 7254 | Phil Mulkey United States | 6062 | George Stulac Canada | 5989 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 60 metres (wind: +3.6 m/s) details | Isabelle Daniels United States | 7.4 | Barbara Jones United States | 7.4 | Carlota Gooden Panama | 7.4 |
| 100 metres (wind: -1.1 m/s) details | Lucinda Williams United States | 12.1 | Wilma Rudolph United States | 12.3 | Carlota Gooden Panama | 12.3 |
| 200 metres (wind: +0.9 m/s) details | Lucinda Williams United States | 24.2 | Isabelle Daniels United States | 24.8 | Sally McCallum Canada | 25.1 |
| 80 metres hurdles (wind: +1.8 m/s) details | Bertha Díaz Cuba | 11.2 | Wanda dos Santos Brazil | 11.5 | Marian Munroe Canada | 11.5 |
| 4 × 100 metres relay details | United States Isabelle Daniels Wilma Rudolph Lucinda Williams Barbara Jones | 46.4 | Panama Marcela Daniel Jean Holmes-Mitchell Carlota Gooden Silvia Hunte | 48.2 | Canada Heather Campbell Maureen Rever Sally McCallum Valerie Jerome | 48.5 |
| High jump details | Ann Marie Flynn United States | 1.61 | Renata Friedrichs Chile Alice Whitty Canada | 1.50 | Not Awarded | Not Awarded |
| Long jump details | Annie Smith United States | 5.74 | Margaret Matthews United States | 5.73 | Willye White United States | 5.70 |
| Shot put details | Earlene Brown United States | 14.68 | Sharon Shepherd United States | 13.48 | Wanda Wejzgrowicz United States | 13.10 |
| Discus throw details | Earlene Brown United States | 49.31 | Pamela Kurrell United States | 42.19 | Marjorie Larney United States | 42.18 |
| Javelin throw details | Marlene Ahrens Chile | 45.38 | Marjorie Larney United States | 43.65 | Amelia Wood United States | 42.96 |

## Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | United States (USA) | 26 | 23 | 13 | 62 |
| 2 | West Indies | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 |
| 3 | Argentina (ARG) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Brazil (BRA) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Chile (CHI) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | Cuba (CUB) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | Canada (CAN) | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 8 | Panama (PAN) | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | Venezuela (VEN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Puerto Rico (PUR) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 11 | British Guiana | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Mexico (MEX) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (12 entries) | Totals (12 entries) | 32 | 34 | 30 | 96 |

## Participating nations

* Argentina (9)
* Brazil (27)
* British Guiana (7)
* British West Indies (11)
* Canada (30)
* Chile (22)
* Cuba (13)
* Dominican Republic (4)
* Ecuador (7)
* Guatemala (5)
* Haiti (2)
* Mexico (28)
* Netherlands Antilles (1)
* Panama (6)
* Peru (5)
* Puerto Rico (16)
* United States (78)
* Uruguay (2)
* Venezuela (13)