# 1992 in the sport of athletics

This article contains an overview of the year 1992 in athletics.

## International events

* African Championships
* Balkan Games
* European Indoor Championships
* Olympic Games
* Pan Arab Games
* World Cross Country Championships
* World Junior Championships

## World records
### Men

| EVENT | ATHLETE | MARK | DATE | VENUE |
| 1500 metres | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | 3:28.86 | 6 September | Rieti, Italy |
| 3,000 metres | Moses Kiptanui (KEN) | 7:28.96 | 16 August | Köln, Germany |
| 400 m hurdles | Kevin Young (USA) | 46.78 | 6 August | Barcelona, Spain |
| 3000 m steeplechase | Moses Kiptanui (KEN) | 8:02.08 | 19 August | Zürich, Switzerland |
| 4 × 100 m Relay | United States (USA) • Michael Marsh • Leroy Burrell • Dennis Mitchell • Carl Lewis | 37.40 | 8 August | Barcelona |
| 4 × 200 m Relay | Santa Monica United States (USA) • Michael Marsh • Leroy Burrell • Floyd Heard • Carl Lewis | 1:19.11 | 25 April | Philadelphia |
| 4 × 400 m Relay | United States (USA) • Andrew Valmon • Quincy Watts • Michael Johnson • Steve Lewis | 2:55.74 | 8 August | Barcelona |
| Pole Vault | Sergey Bubka (UKR) | 6.11m | 13 June | Dijon, France |
| Pole Vault | Sergey Bubka (UKR) | 6.12m | 30 August | Padua, Italy |
| Pole Vault | Sergey Bubka (UKR) | 6.13m | 19 September | Tokyo, Japan |
| Javelin (new) | Steve Backley (GBR) | 91.46m | 25 January | North Shore, New Zealand |
| Decathlon | Dan O'Brien (USA) | 8891 | 4-5 September | Talence, France |

### Women

| EVENT | ATHLETE | MARK | DATE | VENUE |
| Pole Vault | Sun Caiyun (CHN) | 4.05m | 21 May | Nanjing, China |

## Men's best year performers
### 100 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Michael Marsh (USA) | 9.93 |
| 2. | Davidson Ezinwa (NGR) | 9.96 |
| 2. | Linford Christie (GBR) | 9.96 |
| 4. | Olapade Adeniken (NGR) | 9.97 |
| 4. | Leroy Burrell (USA) | 9.97 |

### 200 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Michael Marsh (USA) | 19.73 |
| 2. | Michael Johnson (USA) | 19.79 |
| 3. | Frank Fredericks (NAM) | 19.97 |
| 4. | Mike Bates (USA) | 20.01 |
| 5. | John Regis (GBR) | 20.09 |

### 400 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Quincy Watts (USA) | 43.50 |
| 2. | Danny Everett (USA) | 43.81 |
| 3. | Michael Johnson (USA) | 43.98 |
| 4. | Steve Lewis (USA) | 44.08 |
| 5. | Samson Kitur (KEN) | 44.18 |

### 800 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Johnny Gray (USA) | 1:42.80 |
| 2. | Nixon Kiprotich (KEN) | 1:43.31 |
| 3. | William Tanui (KEN) | 1:43.37 |
| 4. | Mark Everett (USA) | 1:43.40 |
| 5. | Andrea Benvenuti (ITA) | 1:43.92 |

### 1,500 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | 3:28.86 |
| 2. | David Kibet (KEN) | 3:32.13 |
| 3. | William Kemei (KEN) | 3:32.41 |
| 4. | Wilfred Kirochi (KEN) | 3:33.49 |
| 5. | Fermín Cacho (ESP) | 3:32.69 |

### Mile

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | William Kemei (KEN) | 3:48.80 |
| 2. | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | 3:49.79 |
| 3. | Dieter Baumann (GER) | 3:51.12 |
| 4. | Gennaro di Napoli (ITA) | 3:51.96 |
| 5. | David Kibet (KEN) | 3:52.32 |

### 3,000 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Moses Kiptanui (KEN) | 7:28.96 |
| 2. | Paul Bitok (KEN) | 7:33.28 |
| 3. | Yobes Ondieki (KEN) | 7:34.18 |
| 4. | Dieter Baumann (FRG) | 7:38.10 |
| 5. | William Sigei (KEN) | 7:39.51 |

### 5,000 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Moses Kiptanui (KEN) | 13:00.93 |
| 2. | Yobes Ondieki (KEN) | 13:03.58 |
| 3. | Paul Bitok (KEN) | 13:08.89 |
| 4. | Dieter Baumann (FRG) | 13:09.03 |
| 5. | Khalid Skah (MAR) | 13:09.10 |

### 10,000 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Fita Bayissa (ETH) | 27:14.26 |
| 2. | Richard Chelimo (KEN) | 27:15.53 |
| 3. | António Martins (FRA) | 27:22.78 |
| 4. | Arturo Barrios (MEX) | 27:34.60 |
| 5. | Joseph Keino (KEN) | 27:35.77 |

### Half Marathon

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Benson Masya (KEN) | 1:00:24 |

### Marathon

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | David Tsebe (RSA) | 2:08:07 |
| 2. | Ibrahim Hussein (KEN) | 2:08:14 |
| 3. | Dionicio Cerón (MEX) | 2:08:36 |
| 4. | Manuel Matias (POR) | 2:08:38 |
| 5. | Hwang Young-Cho (KOR) | 2:08:47 |

### 110m hurdles

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Colin Jackson (GBR) | 13.04 |
| 2. | Tony Dees (USA) | 13.08 |
| 3. | Mark McKoy (CAN) | 13.11 |
| 4. | Florian Schwarthoff (GER) | 13.13 |
| 4. | Jack Pierce (USA) | 13.13 |

### 400m hurdles

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Kevin Young (USA) | 46.78 |
| 2. | Winthrop Graham (JAM) | 47.62 |
| 3. | Kriss Akabusi (GBR) | 47.82 |
| 4. | Samuel Matete (ZAM) | 47.91 |
| 5. | David Patrick (USA) | 48.01 |

### 3,000m steeplechase

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Moses Kiptanui (KEN) | 8:02.08 |
| 2. | Philip Barkutwo (KEN) | 8:05.37 |
| 3. | Matthew Birir (KEN) | 8:08.84 |
| 4. | Patrick Sang (KEN) | 8:09.55 |
| 5. | William Mutwol (KEN) | 8:10.74 |

### High jump

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Steve Smith (GBR) | 2.37 |
| 2. | Lambros Papakostas (GRE) | 2.36 |
| 2. | Javier Sotomayor (CUB) | 2.36 |
| 4. | Hollis Conway (USA) | 2.35 |
| 4. | Darrin Plab (USA) | 2.35 |
| 4. | Dragutin Topić (YUG) | 2.35 |

### Long jump

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Carl Lewis (USA) | 8.68 |
| 2. | Mike Powell (USA) | 8.64 |
| 3. | Iván Pedroso (CUB) | 8.53 |
| 4. | Erick Walder (USA) | 8.47 |
| 5. | Llewellyn Starks (USA) | 8.40 |

### Triple jump

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Mike Conley (USA) | 17.72 |
| 2. | Charles Simpkins (USA) | 17.60 |
| 3. | Denis Kapustin (RUS) | 17.48 |
| 4. | Frank Rutherford (BAH) | 17.41 |
| 5. | Leonid Voloshin (RUS) | 17.36 |

### Discus

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Jürgen Schult (GER) | 69.04 |
| 2. | Lars Riedel (GER) | 68.66 |
| 3. | Romas Ubartas (LTU) | 68.18 |
| 4. | Anthony Washington (USA) | 67.88 |
| 5. | Dmitriy Shevchenko (RUS) | 67.30 |

### Shot put

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Gregg Tafralis (USA) | 21.98 |
| 2. | Werner Günthör (SUI) | 21.91 |
| 3. | Mike Stulce (USA) | 21.70 |
| 4. | Jim Doehring (USA) | 21.60 |
| 5. | Aleksandr Bagach (UKR) | 21.19 |

### Hammer

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Igor Astapkovich (BLR) | 84.62 |
| 2. | Igor Nikulin (RUS) | 83.44 |
| 3. | Vasiliy Sidorenko (RUS) | 82.54 |
| 3. | Andrey Abduvaliyev (UZB) | 82.54 |
| 5. | Yuriy Syedikh (RUS) | 82.18 |

### Javelin (new design)

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Steve Backley (GBR) | 91.46 |
| 2. | Seppo Räty (FIN) | 90.60 |
| 3. | Jan Železný (CZE) | 90.18 |
| 4. | Juha Laukkanen (FIN) | 88.22 |
| 5. | Tom Petranoff (USA) | 87.26 |

### Pole vault

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Sergey Bubka (UKR) | 6.13 |
| 2. | Rodion Gataullin (RUS) | 5.95 |
| 3. | Igor Potapovich (KAZ) | 5.92 |
| 4. | Dean Starkey (USA) | 5.91 |
| 5. | Maksim Tarasov (RUS) | 5.90 |
| 5. | Jean Galfione (FRA) | 5.90 |
| 5. | Igor Trandenkov (RUS) | 5.90 |

### Decathlon

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | POINTS |
| 1. | Dan O'Brien (USA) | 8891 |
| 2. | Dave Johnson (USA) | 8649 |
| 3. | Robert Změlík (TCH) | 8627 |
| 4. | Antonio Peñalver (ESP) | 8412 |
| 5. | Michael Smith (CAN) | 8409 |

## Women's best year performers
### 60 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 6.96 |
| 2. | Irina Privalova (RUS) | 6.97 |
| 3. | Michelle Finn (USA) | 7.07 |
| 4. | Juliet Cuthbert (JAM) | 7.09 |
| 5. | Katrin Krabbe (GER) | 7.10 |

### 100 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 10.80 |
| 2. | Irina Privalova (RUS) | 10.82 |
| 2. | Gail Devers (USA) | 10.82 |
| 4. | Juliet Cuthbert (JAM) | 10.83 |
| 5. | Gwen Torrence (USA) | 10.86 |

### 200 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Gwen Torrence (USA) | 21.72 |
| 2. | Juliet Cuthbert (JAM) | 21.75 |
| 3. | Irina Privalova (RUS) | 21.93 |
| 4. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 21.94 |
| 5. | Marie-José Pérec (FRA) | 22.20 |

### 400 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Marie-José Pérec (FRA) | 48.83 |
| 2. | Olga Bryzgina (UKR) | 49.07 |
| 3. | Gwen Torrence (USA) | 49.64 |
| 3. | Ximena Restrepo (COL) | 49.64 |
| 5. | Olga Nazarova (RUS) | 49.69 |

### 800 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Ellen van Langen (NED) | 1:55.54 |
| 2. | Lilia Nurutdinova (RUS) | 1:55.99 |
| 3. | Ana Fidelia Quirot (CUB) | 1:56.80 |
| 4. | Ella Kovacs (ROM) | 1:57.19 |
| 5. | Inna Yevseyeva (UKR) | 1:57.20 |

### 1,500 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) | 3:55.30 |
| 2. | Lyudmila Rogachova (RUS) | 3:56.91 |
| 3. | Qu Yunxia (CHN) | 3:57.08 |
| 4. | Tatyana Dorovskikh (UKR) | 3:57.92 |
| 5. | Lyubov Kremlyova (RUS) | 3:58.71 |

### Mile

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Lyudmila Rogachova (RUS) | 4:21.30 |
| 2. | Doina Melinte (ROM) | 4:21.74 |
| 3. | Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) | 4:24.27 |
| 4. | Lyubov Kremlyova (RUS) | 4:24.50 |
| 5. | Angela Chalmers (CAN) | 4:25.08 |

### 3,000 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Yelena Romanova (RUS) | 8:33.72 |
| 2. | Yvonne Murray (GBR) | 8:36.63 |
| 3. | Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) | 8:37.92 |
| 4. | Elana Meyer (RSA) | 8:38.45 |
| 5. | Margareta Keszeg (ROM) | 8:39.64 |

### 5,000 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Elana Meyer (RSA) | 14:44.15 |
| 2. | Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) | 14:59.11 |
| 3. | Liz McColgan (GBR) | 15:01.86 |
| 4. | Christien Toonstra (NED) | 15:07.68 |
| 5. | Esther Kiplagat (KEN) | 15:07.87 |

### 10,000 metres

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Derartu Tulu (ETH) | 31:06.02 |
| 2. | Lisa Ondieki (AUS) | 31:11.72 |
| 3. | Elana Meyer (RSA) | 31:11.75 |
| 4. | Maria Conceição Ferreira (POR) | 31:16.42 |
| 5. | Lynn Jennings (USA) | 31:19.89 |

### Half marathon

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Liz McColgan (GBR) | 1:08:42 |

### Marathon

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Olga Markova (RUS) | 2:23:43 |
| 2. | Lisa Ondieki (AUS) | 2:24:40 |
| 3. | Madina Biktagirova (BLR) | 2:26:23 |
| 4. | Yumi Kokamo (JPN) | 2:26:26 |
| 4. | Yoshiko Yamamoto (JPN) | 2:26:26 |

### 60m hurdles

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Ludmila Narozhilenko (RUS) | 7.76 |
| 2. | Gail Devers (USA) | 7.93 |
| 3. | Lidiya Yurkova (BLR) | 7.94 |
| 4. | Julie Baumann (SWI) | 7.95 |
| 4. | Monique Éwanjé-Épée (FRA) | 7.95 |
| 4. | Nataliya Grygoryeva (UKR) | 7.95 |

### 100m hurdles

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Ludmila Narozhilenko (RUS) | 12.26 |
| 2. | Gail Devers (USA) | 12.55 |
| 3. | Nataliya Grygoryeva (UKR) | 12.60 |
| 4. | Paraskevi Patoulidou (GRE) | 12.64 |
| 5. | Yordanka Donkova (BUL) | 12.67 |

### 400m hurdles

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Sally Gunnell (GBR) | 53.23 |
| 2. | Tatyana Ledovskaya (BLR) | 53.55 |
| 3. | Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA) | 53.59 |
| 4. | Margarita Ponomaryova (RUS) | 53.66 |
| 5. | Janeene Vickers (USA) | 54.31 |

### High jump

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) | 2.05 m |
| 2. | Heike Henkel (GER) | 2.04 m |
| 3. | Inga Babakova (UKR) | 2.00 m |
| 3. | Alina Astafei (ROM) | 2.00 m |
| 5. | Ioamnet Quintero (CUB) | 1.98 m |

### Long jump

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Heike Drechsler (GER) | 7.48 m |
| 2. | Inessa Kravets (UKR) | 7.37 m |
| 3. | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 7.17 m |
| 4. | Mirela Dulgheru (ROM) | 7.14 m |
| 5. | Chioma Ajunwa (NGR) | 7.06 m |

### Triple jump

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Galina Chistyakova (RUS) | 14.62 m |
| 2. | Li Huirong (CHN) | 14.55 m |
| 3. | Inessa Kravets (UKR) | 14.41 m |

### Shot put

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Svetlana Krivelyova (RUS) | 21.06 m |
| 2. | Belsis Laza (CUB) | 20.96 m |
| 3. | Krystyna Zabawska (POL) | 19.42 m |
| 4. | Zhou Shuqin (CHN) | 19.40 m |
| 5. | Tatyana Khorkhulyova (BLR) | 19.28 m |

### Javelin (old design)

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Natalya Shikolenko (BLR) | 70.36 |
| 2. | Karen Forkel (GER) | 69.58 |
| 3. | Trine Hattestad (NOR) | 69.50 |
| 4. | Silke Renk (GER) | 68.34 |
| 5. | Teresė Nekrošaitė (LTU) | 67.64 |

### Heptathlon

| RANK | 1992 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | POINTS |
| 1. | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 7044 |
| 2. | Sabine Braun (GER) | 6985 |
| 3. | Irina Belova (RUS) | 6845 |
| 4. | Svetla Dimitrova (BUL) | 6658 |
| 5. | Liliana Nastase (ROM) | 6619 |

## Births

* June 1, Gianmarco Tamberi, Italian athlete
* June 28, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Jamaican athlete
* August 27 Daniel Ståhl Swedish athlete

## Deaths

* March 1 — Howard Payne (60), English hammer thrower (b. 1931)
* July 7 — Josy Barthel (65), Luxembourgish runner (b. 1927)
* August 19 — Karl Storch (77), German hammer thrower (b. 1913)
* October 29 — Bill McChesney, Jr. (33), American long-distance runner (b. 1959)