# 1994 in the sport of athletics

This article contains an overview of the year 1994 in athletics.

## International events

* Asian Games
* Balkan Games
* Commonwealth Games
* European Championships
* European Indoor Championships
* Jeux de la Francophonie
* Goodwill Games
* World Cross Country Championships
* World Junior Championships

## World records
### Men

| EVENT | ATHLETE | MARK | DATE | VENUE |
| 100 metres | Leroy Burrell (USA) | 9.85 | 6 July | Lausanne, Switzerland |
| 3,000 metres | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | 7:25.11 | 2 August | Monte Carlo |
| 5,000 metres | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | 12:56.96 | 4 June | Hengelo, Netherlands |
| 10,000 metres | William Sigei (KEN) | 26:52.23 | 22 July | Oslo, Norway |
| 4 × 200 m Relay | Santa Monica United States (USA) • Michael Marsh • Leroy Burrell • Floyd Heard • Carl Lewis | 1:18.68 | 17 April | Walnut, United States |
| Pole vault | Sergei Bubka (UKR) | 6.14m | 31 July | Sestriere, Italy |

### Women

| EVENT | ATHLETE | MARK | DATE | VENUE |
| 2,000 metres | Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) | 5:25.36 | 8 July | Edinburgh, Great Britain |
| Pole vault | Sun Caiyun (CHN) | 4.12m | 22 October | Guangzhou, China |
| Hammer throw | Olga Kuzenkova (RUS) | 66.84 | 23 February | Adler, Russia |
* Uta Pippig (GER) equals the world record in the women's Half Marathon held by South Africa's Elana Meyer since 1991-05-18, clocking 1:07:59 on 1994-03-20 in Kyoto, Japan.

## Awards
### Men

| 1994 TRACK & FIELD AWARDS | ATHLETE |
| IAAF World Athlete of the Year | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) |
| Track & Field Athlete of the Year | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) |
| European Athlete of the Year Award | Colin Jackson (GBR) |
| Best Male Track Athlete ESPY Award | Michael Johnson (USA) |

### Women

| 1994 TRACK & FIELD AWARDS | ATHLETE |
| IAAF World Athlete of the Year | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) |
| Track & Field Athlete of the Year | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) |
| European Athlete of the Year Award | Irina Privalova (RUS) |
| Best Female Track Athlete ESPY Award | Gail Devers (USA) |

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

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Leroy Burrell (USA) | 9.85 |
| 2. | Linford Christie (GBR) | 9.91 |
| 3. | Davidson Ezinwa (NGR) | 9.94 |
| 3. | Dennis Mitchell (USA) | 9.94 |
| 5. | Olapade Adeniken (NGR) | 9.95 |

### 200 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | John Regis (GBR) | 19.87 |
| 2. | Michael Johnson (USA) | 19.94 |
| 3. | Frank Fredericks (NAM) | 19.97 |
| 4. | Daniel Effiong (NGR) | 20.10 |
| 5. | Jeff Williams (USA) | 20.19 |

### 400 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Michael Johnson (USA) | 43.90 |
| 2. | Samson Kitur (KEN) | 44.32 |
| 3. | Antonio Pettigrew (USA) | 44.43 |
| 4. | Derek Mills (USA) | 44.59 |
| 5. | Steve Lewis (USA) | 44.68 |

### 800 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Benson Koech (KEN) | 1:43.17 |
| 2. | Wilson Kipketer (KEN) | 1:43.29 |
| 3. | Vebjørn Rodal (NOR) | 1:43.50 |
| 4. | Johnny Gray (USA) | 1:43.73 |
| 5. | David Singoei (KEN) | 1:44.07 |

### 1,500 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | 3:30.61 |
| 2. | Vénuste Niyongabo (BDI) | 3:30.66 |
| 3. | Azzedine Sediki (MAR) | 3:32.71 |
| 4. | Mohamed Suleiman (QAT) | 3:32.73 |
| 5. | Hicham El Guerrouj (MAR) | 3:33.61 |

### Mile

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | 3:48.67 |
| 2. | Vénuste Niyongabo (BDI) | 3:48.94 |
| 3. | Abdi Bile (SOM) | 3:50.67 |
| 4. | Steve Holman (USA) | 3:50.91 |
| 5. | Mohamed Suleiman (QAT) | 3:51.31 |

### 3,000 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | 7:25.11 |
| 2. | Paul Bitok (KEN) | 7:34.36 |
| 3. | Dieter Baumann (GER) | 7:34.69 |
| 4. | Aloys Nizigama (BDI) | 7:35.08 |
| 5. | Moses Kiptanui (KEN) | 7:35.23 |

### 5,000 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | 12:56.96 |
| 2. | Khalid Skah (MAR) | 13:00.54 |
| 3. | Bob Kennedy (USA) | 13:02.93 |
| 4. | Brahim Lahlafi (MAR) | 13:03.36 |
| 5. | Noureddine Morceli (ALG) | 13:03.85 |

### 10,000 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | William Sigei (KEN) | 26:52.23 |
| 2. | Haile Gebrselassie (ETH) | 27:15.00 |
| 3. | William Kiptum Muigei (KEN) | 27:17.20 |
| 4. | Armando Quintanilla (MEX) | 27:18.59 |
| 5. | Aloys Nizigama (BDI) | 27:20.51 |

### Half Marathon

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Benson Masya (KEN) | 1:00:02 |

### Marathon

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Cosmas Ndeti (KEN) | 2:07:15 |
| 2. | Andres Espinosa (MEX) | 2:07:19 |
| 3. | Vincent Rousseau (BEL) | 2:07:51 |
| 4. | Jackson Kipngok (KEN) | 2:08:08 |
| 5. | Hwang Young-Cho (KOR) | 2:08:09 |

### 110 m Hurdles

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Colin Jackson (GBR) | 12.98 |
| 2. | Mark Crear (USA) | 13.07 |
| 3. | Mark McKoy (AUT) | 13.14 |
| 4. | Florian Schwarthoff (GER) | 13.16 |
| 5. | Tony Jarrett (GBR) | 13.22 |

### 400 m Hurdles

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Derrick Adkins (USA) | 47.70 |
| 2. | Samuel Matete (ZAM) | 47.90 |
| 3. | Winthrop Graham (JAM) | 48.05 |
| 4. | Oleg Tverdokhleb (UKR) | 48.06 |
| 5. | Danny Harris (USA) | 48.18 |

### 3000 m Steeplechase

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Moses Kiptanui (KEN) | 8:08.80 |
| 2. | Richard Kosgei (KEN) | 8:10.20 |
| 3. | Mark Croghan (USA) | 8:10.56 |
| 4. | Eliud Barngetuny (KEN) | 8:10.84 |
| 5. | Abdelaziz Sahere (MAR) | 8:11.11 |

### High jump

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Javier Sotomayor (CUB) | 2.42 |
| 2. | Troy Kemp (BAH) | 2.35 |
| 2. | Steinar Hoen (NOR) | 2.35 |
| 4. | Dalton Grant (GBR) | 2.34 |
| 5. | Tim Forsyth (AUS) | 2.33 |
| 5. | Jean-Charles Gicquel (FRA) | 2.33 |
| 5. | Artur Partyka (POL) | 2.33 |
| 5. | Steve Smith (GBR) | 2.33 |
| 5. | Gilmar Mayo (COL) | 2.33 |

### Long jump

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Erick Walder (USA) | 8.74 |
| 2. | Carl Lewis (USA) | 8.66 |
| 3. | Kareem Streete-Thompson (USA) | 8.63 |
| 4. | Mike Powell (USA) | 8.58 |
| 5. | Roland McGhee (USA) | 8.47 |

### Triple jump

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Mike Conley (USA) | 17.68 |
| 2. | Denis Kapustin (RUS) | 17.62 |
| 3. | Yoelbi Quesada (CUB) | 17.61 |
| 4. | Serge Hélan (FRA) | 17.55 |
| 5. | Vasiliy Sokov (RUS) | 17.43 |
| 5. | Kenny Harrison (USA) | 17.43 |

### Discus

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Attila Horváth (HUN) | 68.58 |
| 2. | Jürgen Schult (GER) | 66.08 |
| 2. | Lars Riedel (GER) | 66.08 |
| 4. | Nick Sweeney (IRL) | 66.00 |
| 5. | Vladimir Dubrovshchik (BLR) | 65.80 |

### Shot put

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Jim Doehring (USA) | 21.09 |
| 2. | Kevin Toth (USA) | 21.07 |
| 3. | Oleksandr Bagach (UKR) | 21.05 |
| 4. | Cottrell John Hunter (USA) | 20.94 |
| 4. | Yevgeniy Palchikov (RUS) | 20.94 |

### Hammer

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Andrey Abduvaliyev (UZB) | 83.36 |
| 2. | Igor Astapkovich (BLR) | 83.14 |
| 3. | Lance Deal (USA) | 82.50 |
| 4. | Vasiliy Sidorenko (RUS) | 82.02 |
| 5. | Andrey Skvaruk (UKR) | 81.72 |

### Javelin (new design)

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Jan Železný (CZE) | 91.82 |
| 2. | Raymond Hecht (GER) | 90.06 |
| 3. | Andrey Moruyev (RUS) | 87.34 |
| 4. | Patrik Bodén (SWE) | 86.76 |
| 5. | Mick Hill (GBR) | 86.36 |

### Pole vault

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Sergei Bubka (UKR) | 6.14 |
| 2. | Rodion Gataullin (RUS) | 6.00 |
| 3. | Scott Huffman (USA) | 5.97 |
| 4. | Jean Galfione (FRA) | 5.94 |
| 5. | Dean Starkey (USA) | 5.92 |

### Decathlon

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | POINTS |
| 1. | Eduard Hämäläinen (BLR) | 8735 |
| 2. | Dan O'Brien (USA) | 8715 |
| 3. | Steve Fritz (USA) | 8548 |
| 4. | Christian Plaziat (FRA) | 8505 |
| 5. | Alain Blondel (FRA) | 8453 |

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

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Irina Privalova (RUS) | 6.93 |
| 2. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 6.99 |
| 3. | Gail Devers (USA) | 7.00 |
| 4. | Olga Bogoslovskaya (RUS) | 7.06 |
| 5. | Gwen Torrence (USA) | 7.10 |

### 100 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Irina Privalova (RUS) | 10.77 |
| 2. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 10.78 |
| 3. | Gwen Torrence (USA) | 10.82 |
| 4. | Zhanna Block (UKR) | 10.99 |
| 5. | Juliet Cuthbert (JAM) | 11.01 |

### 200 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Gwen Torrence (USA) | 21.85 |
| 2. | Irina Privalova (RUS) | 22.02 |
| 3. | Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 22.07 |
| 4. | Cathy Freeman (AUS) | 22.25 |
| 5. | Galina Malchugina (RUS) | 22.29 |
| 5. | Dannette Young (USA) | 22.29 |

### 400 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Marie-José Pérec (FRA) | 49.77 |
| 2. | Cathy Freeman (AUS) | 50.04 |
| 3. | Maicel Malone (USA) | 50.05 |
| 4. | Jearl Miles (USA) | 50.11 |
| 5. | Renee Poetschka (AUS) | 50.19 |

### 800 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Maria de Lurdes Mutola (MOZ) | 1:55.19 |
| 2. | Lyubov Gurina (RUS) | 1:56.53 |
| 3. | Natalya Dukhnova (BLR) | 1:57.87 |
| 4. | Patricia Djaté (FRA) | 1:58.07 |
| 5. | Luciana Mendes (BRA) | 1:58.27 |

### 1,500 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) | 3:59.10 |
| 2. | Yekaterina Podkopayeva (RUS) | 3:59.78 |
| 3. | Qu Yunxia (CHN) | 4:00.34 |
| 4. | Lyubov Kremlyova (RUS) | 4:01.05 |
| 4. | Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) | 4:01.05 |

### Mile

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) | 4:17.25 |
| 2. | Hassiba Boulmerka (ALG) | 4:22.09 |
| 3. | Yvonne Murray (GBR) | 4:22.64 |
| 4. | Lyudmila Rogachova (RUS) | 4:23.88 |
| 5. | Yvonne Graham (JAM) | 4:24.64 |

### 3,000 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) | 8:21.64 |
| 2. | Yvonne Murray (GBR) | 8:29.60 |
| 3. | Angela Chalmers (CAN) | 8:32.17 |
| 4. | Gabriela Szabo (ROM) | 8:40.08 |
| 5. | Olga Churbanova (RUS) | 8:40.48 |

### 5,000 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Yelena Romanova (RUS) | 15:05.94 |
| 2. | Sonia O'Sullivan (IRL) | 15:06.18 |
| 3. | Fernanda Ribeiro (POR) | 15:06.91 |
| 4. | Catherina McKiernan (IRL) | 15:09.10 |
| 5. | Alison Wyeth (GBR) | 15:10.38 |

### 10,000 metres

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Wang Junxia (CHN) | 30:50.34 |
| 2. | Elana Meyer (RSA) | 30:52.51 |
| 3. | Fernanda Ribeiro (POR) | 31:04.25 |
| 4. | Catherina McKiernan (IRL) | 31:19.11 |
| 5. | Dong Li (CHN) | 31:31.08 |

### Half Marathon

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Uta Pippig (GER) | 1:07:59 |

### Marathon

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Uta Pippig (GER) | 2:21:45 |
| 2. | Valentina Yegorova (RUS) | 2:23:33 |
| 3. | Elana Meyer (RSA) | 2:25:15 |
| 3. | Katrin Dörre (GER) | 2:25:15 |
| 5. | Alena Peterkova (CZE) | 2:25:19 |

### 60 metres hurdles

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Yordanka Donkova (BUL) | 7.83 |
| 2. | Gail Devers (USA) | 7.85 |
| 3. | Eva Sokolova (RUS) | 7.89 |
| 4. | Michelle Freeman (JAM) | 7.90 |
| 5. | Anne Piquereau (FRA) | 7.91 |

### 100 m Hurdles

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Tatyana Reshetnikova (RUS) | 12.53 |
| 1. | Svetla Dimitrova (BUL) | 12.53 |
| 3. | Yordanka Donkova (BUL) | 12.56 |
| 4. | Yuliya Graudyn (RUS) | 12.62 |
| 5. | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 12.69 |

### 400 m Hurdles

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Sally Gunnell (GBR) | 53.33 |
| 2. | Kim Batten (USA) | 53.72 |
| 3. | Anna Knoroz (RUS) | 54.11 |
| 4. | Deon Hemmings (JAM) | 54.48 |
| 5. | Heike Meißner (GER) | 54.52 |

### High Jump

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Silvia Costa (CUB) | 2.00 m |
| 1. | Inga Babakova (UKR) | 2.00 m |
| 1. | Britta Bilač (SLO) | 2.00 m |
| 4. | Yelena Gulyayeva (RUS) | 1.98 m |
| 4. | Yevgeniya Zhdanova (RUS) | 1.98 m |
| 4. | Alison Inverarity (AUS) | 1.98 m |

### Long Jump

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 7.49 m |
| 2. | Heike Drechsler (GER) | 7.29 m |
| 3. | Irina Mushailova (RUS) | 7.20 m |
| 4. | Lyudmila Ninova (AUT) | 7.09 m |
| 4. | Inessa Kravets (UKR) | 7.09 m |

### Triple Jump

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Sofiya Bozhanova (BUL) | 14.98 m |
| 2. | Inna Lasovskaya (RUS) | 14.94 m |
| 3. | Inessa Kravets (UKR) | 14.91 m |
| 4. | Anna Biryukova (RUS) | 14.89 m |
| 5. | Niurka Montalvo (CUB) | 14.60 m |

### Shot Put

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Sui Xinmei (CHN) | 20.74 m |
| 2. | Valentina Fedyushina (UKR) | 20.56 m |
| 3. | Zhang Liuhong (CHN) | 20.54 m |
| 4. | Huang Zhihong (CHN) | 20.08 m |
| 5. | Astrid Kumbernuss (GER) | 20.06 m |

### Javelin (old design)

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Natalya Shikolenko (BLR) | 71.40 |
| 2. | Trine Hattestad (NOR) | 71.32 |
| 3. | Karen Forkel (GER) | 69.20 |
| 4. | Claudia Isaila (ROM) | 6.56 |
| 5. | Felicia Tilea-Moldovan (ROM) | 66.40 |

### Heptathlon

| RANK | 1994 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | POINTS |
| 1. | Heike Drechsler (GER) | 6741 |
| 2. | Sabine Braun (GER) | 6665 |
| 3. | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 6606 |
| 4. | Svetlana Moskalets (RUS) | 6598 |
| 5. | Larisa Nikitina (RUS) | 6596 |

## Deaths

* September 23 – Antanas Mikėnas (70), Soviet-Lithuanian racewalker (b. 1924)