# 1986 in the sport of athletics

This article contains an overview of the year 1986 in the sport of athletics.

## International Events

* Asian Games
* Balkan Games
* European Championships
* European Indoor Championships
* Commonwealth Games
* Goodwill Games
* World Junior Championships

## World records
### Men

| EVENT | ATHLETE | MARK | DATE | VENUE |
| Pole vault | Sergei Bubka (URS) | 6.01m | 8 July | Moscow |
| Shot Put | Udo Beyer (GDR) | 22.64m | 20 August | East Berlin, East Germany |
| Discus Throw | Jürgen Schult (GDR) | 74.08m | 6 June | Neubrandenburg, East Germany |
| Hammer Throw | Yuriy Syedikh (URS) | 86.66m | 22 June | Tallinn, Soviet Union |
| Hammer Throw | Yuriy Syedikh (URS) | 86.74m | 30 August | Stuttgart, West Germany |
| Javelin (new) | Tom Petranoff (USA) | 85.38m | 7 July | Helsinki, Finland |
| Javelin (new) | Klaus Tafelmeier (FRG) | 85.74m | 21 September | Como, Italy |

### Women

| EVENT | ATHLETE | MARK | DATE | VENUE |
| 2,000 metres | Maricica Puica (ROM) | 5:28.69 | 11 July | London |
| 5,000 metres | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 14:37.33 | August 5 | Stockholm, Sweden |
| 10,000 metres | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 30:13.74 | July 5 | Oslo, Norway |
| 100m Hurdles | Yordanka Donkova (BUL) | 12.35 | 17 August | Köln, West Germany |
| 100m Hurdles | Yordanka Donkova (BUL) | 12.29 | 17 August | Köln, West Germany |
| 100m Hurdles | Yordanka Donkova (BUL) | 12.26 | 7 September | Ljubljana, Yugoslavia |
| 400m Hurdles | Marina Styepanova (URS) | 53.32 | 30 August | Stuttgart, West Germany |
| 400m Hurdles | Marina Styepanova (URS) | 52.94 | 17 September | Tashkent, Soviet Union |
| High Jump | Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) | 2.08m | 1 June | Sofia, Bulgaria |
| Long jump | Heike Drechsler (GDR) | 7.45m | 21 June | Tallinn, Estonia |
| Javelin throw | Fatima Whitbread (GBR) | 77.44m | 28 August | Stuttgart, West Germany |
| Heptathlon | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 7148 | 6-7 July | Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Heptathlon | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 7158 | 1-2 August | Houston, United States |
* Heike Drechsler (GDR) twice equals the world record in the women's 200 metres held by countrywoman Marita Koch since 1979-06-10, clocking 21.71 seconds on 1986-06-29 and 1986-08-29.

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

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Chidi Imoh (NGR) | 10.00 |
| 2. | Robson da Silva (BRA) | 10.02 |
| 3. | Linford Christie (GBR) | 10.04 |
| 4. | Carl Lewis (USA) | 10.06 |
| 5. | Emmit King (USA) | 10.07 |

### 200 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Floyd Heard (USA) | 20.12 |
| 2. | Roy Martin (USA) | 20.16 |
| 3. | Lorenzo Daniel (USA) | 20.17 |
| 4. | John Dinan (AUS) | 20.19 |
| 5. | Michael Timpson (USA) | 20.23 |

### 400 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Gabriel Tiacoh (CIV) | 44.30 |
| 2. | Darrell Robinson (USA) | 44.45 |
| 3. | Roddie Haley (USA) | 44.48 |
| 4. | Innocent Egbunike (NGR) | 44.50 |
| 5. | Roger Black (GBR) | 44.59 |

### 800 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Steve Cram (GBR) | 1:43.19 |
| 2. | Johnny Gray (USA) | 1:43.46 |
| — | William Wuycke (VEN) | 1:43.54 |
| 4. | Earl Jones (USA) | 1:43.62 |
| 5. | Peter Braun (GDR) | 1:44.03 |

### 1,500 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Sebastian Coe (GBR) | 3:29.77 |
| 2. | Steve Cram (GBR) | 3:30.15 |
| 3. | José Manuel Abascal (ESP) | 3:31.13 |
| 4. | Sydney Maree (USA) | 3:32.56 |
| 5. | José Luis González (ESP) | 3:32.90 |

### Mile

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Steve Cram (GBR) | 3:48.31 |
| 2. | Steve Scott (USA) | 3:48.73 |
| 3. | Jim Spivey (USA) | 3:49.80 |
| 4. | Saïd Aouita (MAR) | 3:50.33 |
| 5. | José Manuel Abascal (ESP) | 3:50.54 |

### 3,000 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Saïd Aouita (MAR) | 7:32.23 |
| 2. | Sydney Maree (USA) | 7:38.26 |
| 3. | Paul Kipkoech (KEN) | 7:39.38 |
| 4. | Jack Buckner (GBR) | 7:40.23 |
| 5. | Vincent Rousseau (BEL) | 7:42.15 |

### 5,000 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Saïd Aouita (MAR) | 13:00.86 |
| 2. | Jack Buckner (GBR) | 13:10.15 |
| 3. | Stefano Mei (ITA) | 13:11.57 |
| 4. | Tim Hutchings (GBR) | 13:12.88 |
| 5. | Evgeni Ignatov (BUL) | 13:13.15 |

### 10,000 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Mark Nenow (USA) | 27:20.56 |
| 2. | Saïd Aouita (MAR) | 27:26.11 |
| 3. | Hansjörg Kunze (GDR) | 27:34.68 |
| 4. | Salvatore Antibo (ITA) | 27:39.52 |
| 5. | Paul Kipkoech (KEN) | 27:43.31 |

### Half Marathon

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Michael Musyoki (KEN) | 1:00:43 |

### 110m Hurdles

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Stéphane Caristan (FRA) | 13.20 |
| 2. | Greg Foster (USA) | 13.25 |
| 3. | Andrey Prokofyev (URS) | 13.28 |
| 4. | Keith Talley (USA) | 13.31 |
| 5. | Mark McKoy (CAN) | 13.35 |

### 400m Hurdles

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Edwin Moses (USA) | 47.38 |
| 2. | Andre Phillips (USA) | 47.51 |
| 3. | Danny Harris (USA) | 47.82 |
| 4. | Harald Schmid (FRG) | 47.89 |
| 5. | Amadou Dia Bâ (SEN) | 48.07 |

### 3,000m Steeplechase

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | William Van Dijck (BEL) | 8:10.01 |
| 2. | Colin Reitz (GBR) | 8:12.11 |
| 3. | Julius Korir (KEN) | 8:12.74 |
| 4. | Henry Marsh (USA) | 8:13.15 |
| 5. | Peter Koech (KEN) | 8:13.33 |

### High jump

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Igor Paklin (URS) | 2.38 |
| 2. | Jim Howard (USA) | 2.36 |
| — | Carlo Thränhardt (FRG) | 2.36 |
| — | Javier Sotomayor (CUB) | 2.36 |
| 5. | Hennadiy Avdyeyenko (URS) | 2.35 |

### Long jump

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Robert Emmiyan (URS) | 8.61 |
| 2. | Larry Myricks (USA) | 8.50 |
| 3. | Jaime Jefferson (CUB) | 8.47 |
| 4. | Carl Lewis (USA) | 8.35 |
| 5. | Mike Conley (USA) | 8.33 |

### Triple jump

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Khristo Markov (BUL) | 17.80 |
| 2. | Nikolay Musiyenko (URS) | 17.78 |
| — | Lázaro Betancourt (CUB) | 17.78 |
| 4. | Mike Conley (USA) | 17.69 |
| 5. | Oleg Protsenko (URS) | 17.59 |

### Discus

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Jürgen Schult (GDR) | 74.08 |
| 2. | Art Burns (USA) | 68.70 |
| 3. | Knut Hjeltnes (NOR) | 68.50 |
| 4. | Juan Martínez (CUB) | 68.40 |
| 5. | Luis Delís (CUB) | 68.00 |

### Hammer

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Yuriy Syedikh (URS) | 86.74 |
| 2. | Sergey Litvinov (URS) | 86.04 |
| 3. | Igor Nikulin (URS) | 82.34 |
| 4. | Benjaminas Viluckis (URS) | 82.24 |
| 5. | Günther Rodehau (GDR) | 81.70 |

### Shot put

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Udo Beyer (GDR) | 22.64 |
| 2. | Ulf Timmermann (GDR) | 22.60 |
| 3. | Sergey Smirnov (URS) | 22.24 |
| 4. | Werner Günthör (SUI) | 22.22 |
| 5. | Sergey Gavryushin (URS) | 22.10 |

### Javelin (old design)

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Klaus Tafelmeier (FRG) | 95.74 |
| 2. | Tom Petranoff (USA) | 92.38 |
| 3. | Viktor Yevsyukov (URS) | 83.68 |
| 4. | Detlef Michel (GDR) | 83.52 |
| 5. | Heino Puuste (URS) | 83.20 |

### Pole vault

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Sergei Bubka (URS) | 6.01 |
| 2. | Joe Dial (USA) | 5.90 |
| — | Thierry Vigneron (FRA) | 5.90 |
| 4. | Rodion Gataullin (URS) | 5.85 |
| — | Philippe Collet (FRA) | 5.85 |

### Decathlon

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | POINTS |
| 1. | Daley Thompson (GBR) | 8811 |
| 2. | Jürgen Hingsen (FRG) | 8730 |
| 3. | Siegfried Wentz (FRG) | 8676 |
| 4. | Guido Kratschmer (FRG) | 8519 |
| 5. | Torsten Voss (GDR) | 8450 |

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

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Evelyn Ashford (USA) | 10.88 |
| 2. | Heike Drechsler (GDR) | 10.91 |
| — | Marlies Göhr (GDR) | 10.91 |
| 4. | Ewa Kasprzyk (POL) | 10.93 |
| 5. | Silke Gladisch (GDR) | 10.96 |

### 200 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Heike Drechsler (GDR) | 21.71 |
| 2. | Evelyn Ashford (USA) | 21.97 |
| — | Silke Gladisch (GDR) | 22.07 |
| 4. | Pam Marshall (USA) | 22.12 |
| 5. | Ewa Kasprzyk (POL) | 22.13 |

### 400 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Marita Koch (GDR) | 48.22 |
| 2. | Olga Bryzgina (URS) | 49.67 |
| 3. | Petra Müller (GDR) | 49.79 |
| 4. | Tatána Kocembová (TCH) | 49.83 |
| 5. | Pam Marshall (USA) | 49.99 |

### 800 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Doina Melinte (ROU) | 1:56.2 |
| 2. | Sigrun Wodars (GDR) | 1:57.05 |
| 3. | Nadiya Olizarenko (URS) | 1:57.15 |
| 4. | Lyubov Kiryukhina (URS) | 1:57.18 |
| 5. | Lyubov Gurina (URS) | 1:57.52 |

### 1,500 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Doina Melinte (ROU) | 3:56.7 |
| 2. | Tatyana Samolenko (URS) | 3:59.45 |
| 3. | Maricica Puică (ROU) | 3:59.62 |
| 4. | Ravilya Agletdinova (URS) | 3:59.84 |
| 5. | Lyubov Kremlyova (URS) | 4:01.57 |

### Mile

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Maricica Puică (ROU) | 4:18.25 |
| 2. | Kirsty Wade (GBR) | 4:21.61 |
| 3. | Doina Melinte (ROU) | 4:21.88 |
| 4. | Elly van Hulst (NED) | 4:22.40 |
| 5. | Ivana Walterová (TCH) | 4:22.82 |

### 3.000 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Olga Bondarenko (URS) | 8:33.99 |
| 2. | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 8:34.10 |
| 3. | Zola Budd (GBR) | 8:34.43 |
| 4. | Maricica Puică (ROU) | 8:35.92 |
| 5. | Tatyana Samolenko (URS) | 8:36.00 |

### 5.000 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 14:37.33 |
| 2. | Svetlana Guskova (URS) | 15:02.12 |
| 3. | Olga Bondarenko (URS) | 15:03.51 |
| 4. | Svetlana Ulmasova (URS) | 15:05.50 |
| 5. | Lynn Jennings (USA) | 15:08.36 |

### 10,000 metres

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 30:13.74 |
| 2. | Olga Bondarenko (URS) | 30:57.21 |
| 3. | Ulrike Bruns (GDR) | 31:19.76 |
| 4. | Aurora Cunha (POR) | 31:29.41 |
| 5. | Liz Lynch (GBR) | 31:41.42 |

### Half Marathon

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 1:09:03 |

### 100m Hurdles

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Yordanka Donkova (BUL) | 12.26 |
| 2. | Ginka Zagorcheva (BUL) | 12.39 |
| 3. | Cornelia Oschkenat (GDR) | 12.50 |
| 4. | Nataliya Grygoryeva (URS) | 12.61 |
| 5. | Heike Theele (GDR) | 12.63 |

### 400m Hurdles

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | TIME |
| 1. | Marina Stepanova (URS) | 52.94 |
| 2. | Sabine Busch (GDR) | 53.60 |
| 3. | Myrtle Bothma (RSA) | 53.74 |
| 4. | Debbie Flintoff (AUS) | 53.76 |
| 5. | Cornelia Feuerbach (GDR) | 54.13 |

### High Jump

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | HEIGHT |
| 1. | Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) | 2.08 m |
| 2. | Olga Turchak (URS) | 2.01 m |
| — | Desiree du Plessis (RSA) | 2.01 m |
| 4. | Charmaine Weavers (RSA) | 1.99 m |
| — | Silvia Costa (CUB) | 1.99 m |

### Long Jump

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Heike Drechsler (GDR) | 7.45 m |
| 2. | Galina Chistyakova (URS) | 7.34 m |
| 3. | Yelena Belevskaya (URS) | 7.31 m |
| 4. | Irena Ozhenko (URS) | 7.20 m |
| 5. | Larisa Berezhnaya (URS) | 7.19 m |

### Shot Put

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Natalya Lisovskaya (URS) | 21.70 m |
| 2. | Ines Müller (GDR) | 21.45 m |
| 3. | Natalya Akhrimenko (URS) | 21.39 m |
| 4. | Heidi Krieger (GDR) | 21.10 m |
| 5. | Claudia Losch (FRG) | 20.92 m |

### Javelin (old design)

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | DISTANCE |
| 1. | Fatima Whitbread (GBR) | 77.44 |
| 2. | petra Felke (GDR) | 75.04 |
| 3. | Tiina Lillak (FIN) | 72.42 |
| 4. | María Caridad Colón (CUB) | 70.14 |
| 5. | Ivonne Leal (CUB) | 69.82 |

### Heptathlon

| RANK | 1986 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS | POINTS |
| 1. | Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA) | 7158 |
| 2. | Anke Behmer (GDR) | 6717 |
| 3. | Natalya Shubenkova (URS) | 6645 |
| 4. | Sibylle Thiele (GDR) | 6635 |
| 5. | Judy Simpson (GBR) | 6623 |

## Marathon
### Year Rankings
#### Men

| RANK | ATHLETE | TIME | DATE | EVENT |
| 1. | Robert de Castella (AUS) | 2:07.51 | April 21 | Boston, United States |
| 2. | Zithulele Sinqe (RSA) | 2:08.04 | May 3 | Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
| 3. | Juma Ikangaa (TAN) | 2:08.10 | February 9 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 4. | Willie Mtolo (RSA) | 2:08.15 | May 3 | Port Elizabeth, South Africa |
| 5. | Takeyuki Nakayama (JPN) | 2:08.21 | October 5 | Seoul, South Korea |
| 6. | Toshihiko Seko (JPN) | 2:08.27 | October 26 | Chicago, United States |
| 7. | Belayneh Dinsamo (ETH) | 2:08.29 | February 9 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 8. | Abebe Mekonnen (ETH) | 2:08.39 | February 9 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 9. | Takeyuki Nakayama (JPN) | 2:08.43 | February 9 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 10. | Abebe Mekonnen (ETH) | 2:09.08 | April 19 | Rotterdam, Netherlands |

#### Women

| RANK | ATHLETE | TIME | DATE | EVENT |
| 1. | Grete Waitz (NOR) | 2:24:54 | April 20 | London, United Kingdom |
| 2. | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 2:24:55 | April 21 | Boston, United States |
| 3. | Lisa Ondieki (AUS) | 2:26:07 | August 1 | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| 4. | Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR) | 2:27:08 | October 26 | Chicago, United States |
| 5. | Rosa Mota (POR) | 2:27:15 | November 16 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 6. | Carla Beurskens (NED) | 2:27:35 | April 21 | Boston, United States |
| 7. | Grete Waitz (NOR) | 2:28:06 | November 2 | New York, United States |
| 8. | Lorraine Moller (NZL) | 2:28:17 | August 1 | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| 9. | Rosa Mota (POR) | 2:28:38 | August 26 | Stuttgart, West Germany |
| 10. | Ágnes Sipka (HUN) | 2:28:51 | October 26 | Budapest, Hungary |

### National Champions

| NATION | MEN'S WINNER | TIME | WOMEN'S WINNER | TIME | PLACE | DATE |
| Australia | Stephen Austin | 2:15:59 | Margaret Reddan | 2:48:28 | Sydney | June 8 |
| Canada | Agustin Diaz Romero | 2:20:36 | Ellen Rochefort | 2:35:51 | Montreal | September 28 |
| | Toshihiro Shibutani | 2:14:55 | — | — | Ōtsu | March 9 |
| Netherlands | Adri Hartveld | 2:15:32 | Eefje van Wissen | 2:40:07 | Maassluis | April 12 |
| | Santiago de la Parte | 2:16:37 | Maercedes Calleja | 2:40:24 | Lorca | May 24 |
| West Germany | Wolfgang Krüger | 2:15:20 | Heidi Hutterer | 2:36:44 | Stuttgart | April 20 |

### International Races

| DATE | MARATHON | NATION | MEN'S WINNER | TIME | WOMEN'S WINNER | TIME |
| January 11 | Miami | United States | Bernard Bobes | 2:21:26 | Shirley Silsby | 2:53:18 |
| January 19 | Hamilton | Bermuda | Jerrold Wynia | 2:24:03 | Sharon Crawford | 2:58:17 |
| January 19 | Manila | Philippines | Eddy Hellebuyck | 2:19:00 | Tani Ruckle | 2:46:58 |
| January 26 | Hong Kong | Hong Kong | Shu Chun Zhu | 2:15:08 | Yan Min Wen | 2:36:55 |
| January 26 | Osaka | | — | — | Lorraine Moller | 2:30:24 |
| February 1 | Auckland | New Zealand | Allan Zachariasen | 2:12:36 | Kiersti Jakobsen | 2:36:58 |
| February 2 | Beppu | | Taisuke Kodama | 2:10:34 | — | — |
| February 2 | Long Beach | United States | Ric Sayre | 2:13:22 | Mary Tracey | 2:48:01 |
| February 9 | Tokyo | | Juma Ikangaa | 2:08:10 | — | — |
| February 16 | Valencia | | Pawel Lorens | 2:16:31 | Malgorzata Szuminska | 2:46:31 |
| March 9 | Arusha | Tanzania | Japhet Mashishanga | 2:21:01 | Leokadia Katona | 4:03:30 |
| March 9 | Los Angeles | United States | Ric Sayre | 2:12:59 | Nancy Ditz | 2:36:27 |
| March 16 | Barcelona | | Frederick Vandervennet | 2:15:45 | Deborah Heath | 2:48:22 |
| April 13 | Lyon | France | Alain Lazare | 2:15:07 | Marie-Jeanne Maury | 2:54:48 |
| April 13 | Vienna | Austria | Gerhard Hartmann | 2:12:22 | Birgit Lennartz | 2:38:31 |
| April 19 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | Abebe Mekonnen | 2:09:09 | Ellinor Ljungros | 2:41:06 |
| April 20 | Budapest | Hungary | Sandor Szendrei | 2:16:18 | Agota Farkas | 2:47:10 |
| April 20 | London | United Kingdom | Toshihiko Seko | 2:10:02 | Grete Waitz | 2:24:54 |
| April 21 | Boston | United States | Robert de Castella | 2:07:51 | Ingrid Kristiansen | 2:24:55 |
| April 27 | Bremen | West Germany | Jozef Machalek | 2:15:58 | Elke Kramer | 2:48:38 |
| April 27 | Madrid | | Ramiro Matamoros | 2:17:04 | Consuelo Alonso | 2:43:21 |
| May 1 | Rome | Italy | Osvaldo Faustini | 2:16:03 | Katherine Gregory | 3:23:43 |
| May 4 | Munich | West Germany | István Kerékjártó | 2:17:46 | Olivia Gruner | 2:38:51 |
| May 4 | Paris | France | Hussein Ahmed Salah | 2:12:44 | Maria Rebelo-Lelut | 2:32:18 |
| May 4 | Vancouver | Canada | Hiromi Nishi | 2:21:14 | Joi Belyk | 2:45:37 |
| May 5 | Belfast | Northern Ireland | Martin Deane | 2:16:05 | Moira O'Neill | 2:43:26 |
| May 11 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | William Vanhuylenbroek | 2:14:46 | Teresa Kidd | 2:46:18 |
| May 11 | Geneva | Switzerland | Bernard Bobes | 2:18:11 | Nadezhda Gumerova | 2:38:33 |
| May 18 | Pittsburgh | United States | Dean Matthews | 2:18:17 | Laura Fogli | 2:37:04 |
| May 18 | Venice | Italy | Salvatore Bettiol | 2:18:44 | Paola Moro | 2:38:10 |
| May 25 | Hamburg | West Germany | Karel Lismont | 2:12:12 | Magda Ilands | 2:35:17 |
| June 1 | Christchurch | New Zealand | John Campbell | 2:15:19 | Sharon Higgins | 2:45:44 |
| June 7 | Stockholm | Sweden | Kjell-Erik Ståhl | 2:12:33 | Evy Palm | 2:34:42 |
| June 8 | Sydney | Australia | Eloi Schleder | 2:12:54 | Ngaire Drake | 2:38:52 |
| July 20 | San Francisco | United States | Peter Pfitzinger | 2:13:29 | Maria Trujillo | 2:37:57 |
| August 1 | CW Games | Edinburgh, Scotland | Robert de Castella | 2:10:15 | Lisa Ondieki | 2:26:07 |
| August 2 | Helsinki | Finland | Tommy Persson | 2:17:11 | Sinikka Kiippa | 2:49:29 |
| August 17 | Bolton | United Kingdom | Michael Neary | 2:19:25 | — | — |
| August 24 | Reykjavik | Iceland | Mokfi Chaibi | 2:20:30 | Carol Macario | 2:58:09 |
| August 24 | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | Eloi Schleder | 2:22:02 | Elizabeth McElhinny | 2:46:54 |
| August 26 | European Championships | Stuttgart, West Germany | — | — | Rosa Mota | 2:28:38 |
| August 30 | European Championships | Stuttgart, West Germany | Gelindo Bordin | 2:10:54 | — | — |
| August 31 | Adelaide | Australia | Peter Bourgaize | 2:25:16 | Desiree Letherby | 2:59:20 |
| September 6 | Antwerp | Belgium | François Blommaerts | 2:17:48 | Denise Verhaert | 2:42:44 |
| September 13 | Oslo | Norway | Kjell-Erik Ståhl | 2:14:59 | Sissel Grottenberg | 2:40:01 |
| September 21 | Niagara | Canada | Kazuya Nishimoto | 2:17:35 | Mariagrazia Savasta | 2:50:49 |
| September 21 | Glasgow | United Kingdom | Kenneth Stewart | 2:14:04 | Sandra Branney | 2:37:29 |
| September 28 | Berlin | West Berlin | Boguslaw Psujek | 2:11:03 | Charlotte Teske | 2:32:10 |
| September 28 | Brussels | Belgium | Dirk Vanderherten | 2:15:32 | Nelly Aerts | 2:42:02 |
| September 28 | Ciudad Mexico | Mexico | Manuel Garcia Perez | 2:20:03 | Mericarmen Cardenas | 2:42:25 |
| September 28 | Montreal | Canada | Abebe Mekonnen | 2:10:31 | Helene Rochefort | 2:35:51 |
| September 28 | Perth | Australia | Futoshi Shinohara | 2:18:17 | Bernardine Portenski | 2:53:54 |
| September 28 | Portland | United States | Leonard Hill | 2:18:54 | Kathleen Angel | 2:47:02 |
| October 1 | Asian Games | Seoul, South Korea | — | — | Eriko Asai | 2:41:03 |
| October 5 | Asian Games | Seoul, South Korea | Takeyuki Nakayama | 2:08:21 | — | — |
| October 12 | Athens | Greece | Jos vander Water | 2:27:22 | Signe Ward | 3:06:58 |
| October 12 | Buenos Aires | Argentina | Raimundo Manquel | 2:21:10 | Angélica de Almeida | 2:54:47 |
| October 12 | Melbourne | Australia | Richard Umberg | 2:17:21 | Tani Ruckle | 2:36:06 |
| October 19 | Beijing | | Taisuke Kodama | 2:07:35 | — | — |
| October 26 | Chicago | United States | Toshihiko Seko | 2:08:27 | Ingrid Kristiansen | 2:27:08 |
| October 26 | Hamilton | New Zealand | Wojciech Ratkowski | 2:18:13 | Carol Raven | 3:07:16 |
| October 26 | Lisbon | Portugal | Cidalio Caetano | 2:16:49 | Maria Lousada | 3:20:26 |
| October 26 | Nuremberg | West Germany | Ryszard Przybyla | 2:19:44 | — | — |
| October 27 | Dublin | Ireland | Dick Hooper | 2:18:10 | Maureen Hurst | 2:46:29 |
| November 2 | Istanbul | Turkey | Hanefi Atmaca | 2:23:20 | — | — |
| November 2 | New York City | United States | Piergiovanni Poli | 2:11:06 | Grete Waitz | 2:28:06 |
| November 16 | Tokyo | | — | — | Rosa Mota | 2:27:15 |
| December 7 | Fukuoka | | Juma Ikangaa | 2:10:06 | — | — |
| December 7 | Kawaguchi | | Tetsuji Iwase | 2:19:54 | Tomoko Suzuki | 2:50:10 |
| December 7 | Honolulu | United States | Ibrahim Hussein | 2:11:44 | Carla Beurskens | 2:31:02 |
| December 17 | Tiberias Marathon | Israel | Yair Karni | 2:23:12 | Kerstin Preßler | 2:36:33 |

## Births

* January 5 — Roman Novotný, Czech long jumper
* January 11 — Claudio Licciardello, Italian sprinter
* January 15 — Mariya Abakumova, Russian javelin thrower
* January 17 — Sherry Fletcher, Grenadian sprinter
* January 23 — Gelete Burka, Ethiopian middle-distance runner
* January 24 — Montell Douglas, British sprinter
* January 31 — Walter Dix, American sprinter
* February 11 — Bob Altena, Dutch decathlete
* April 1 — Yurika Nakamura, Japanese long-distance runner
* April 2 — Moses Aliwa, Ugandan long-distance runner
* April 4 — Evelyne Nganga, Kenyan long-distance runner
* April 29 — Ingus Janevics, Latvian race walker
* May 2 — Samuel Muturi Mugo, Kenyan long-distance runner
* May 16 — Eleni Artymata, Cypriot sprinter
* June 3 — Micah Kogo, Kenyan long-distance runner
* June 8 — Yadira Guamán, Ecuadorian race walker
* June 10 — Amr Ibrahim Mostafa Seoud, Egyptian sprinter
* June 27 — LaShawn Merritt, American sprinter
* July 3 — Robina Muqimyar, Afghan sprinter
* July 17 — Viktor Kuznyetsov, Ukrainian long jumper and triple jumper
* July 19 — Philes Ongori, Kenyan long-distance runner
* July 26 — Mattias Claesson, Swedish middle-distance runner
* July 26 — Angela Moroșanu, Romanian sprinter
* July 28 — Nancy Wambui, Kenyan long-distance runner
* July 28 — Nickiesha Wilson, Jamaican hurdler
* August 3 — Fartun Abukar Omar, Somali athlete
* August 21 — Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter
* August 29 — Yerefu Birhanu, Ethiopian long-distance runner
* September 9 — Daniel Bailey, Antigua and Barbuda sprinter
* November 1 — Ksenija Balta, Estonian long jumper, sprinter and heptathlete
* November 10 — Samuel Wanjiru, Kenyan long-distance runner
* November 13 — Sergey Bakulin, Russian race walker
* November 21 — Aleksandra Zelenina, Moldovan long and triple jumper
* December 7 — Olga Mikhaylova, Russian race walker

## Deaths

* April 13 — Sulo Bärlund (75), Finnish shot putter (b. 1910)