1981 in the sport of athletics explained

1981 in athletics
Major World Competitions:	N/A
Previous:	1980
Next:	1982

This article contains an overview of the year 1981 in athletics.

International events

Asian Championships
Central American and Caribbean Championships
European Indoor Championships
South American Championships
Universiade
World Cross Country Championships

Men's Best Year Performers

100 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		10.00
2.		10.04
3.		10.05
4.		10.10
5.		10.11

200 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		20.20
2.		20.21
3.		20.26
4.		20.33
5.		20.34

400 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		44.58
2.		44.70
3.		44.86
4.		44.90
5.		44.92

800 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		1:41.73
2.		1:44.3
3.		1:44.31
4.		1:44.49
5.		1:44.63

1,500 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		3:31.57
2.		3:31.95
3.		3:31.96
4.		3:32.30
5.		3:33.49

Mile

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		3:47.33
2.		3:48.40
3.		3:48.83
4.		3:49.45
5.		3:49.67

3,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		7:36.69
2.		7:36.75
3.		7:41.41
4.		7:43.42
5.		7:44.99

5,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		13:06.20
2.		13:10.40
3.		13:11.99
4.		13:13.47
5.		13:15.59

10,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		27:27.7
2.		27:38.43
3.		27:39.44
4.		27:40.69
5.		27:40.78

110m Hurdles

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		12.93
2.		13.03
3.		13.36
4.		13.38
5.		13.40

400m Hurdles

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		47.14
2.		48.10
3.		48.53
4.		48.64
5.		48.81

3,000m Steeplechase

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		8:12.13
2.		8:13.32
3.		8:16.66
4.		8:18.57
5.		8:18.58

High Jump

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.		2.33

3.		2.31

Long Jump

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.		8.62
2.		8.45
3.		8.35
4.		8.21
5.		8.19

Triple Jump

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.		17.56
2.		17.37
3.		17.34
4.		17.31
5.		17.30

Discus

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.		69.98
2.		69.60
3.		68.76
4.		68.32
5.		67.86

Hammer

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.		80.56
2.		80.18
3.		79.60
4.		78.72
5.		78.72

Shot Put

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.		22.02
2.		21.69
3.		21.60
4.		21.20
5.		21.11

Pole Vault

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.		5.81

3.		5.75
4.		5.70

Javelin (old design)

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.		92.48
2.		91.98
3.		91.04
4.		90.54
5.		90.38

Decathlon

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.		8334
2.		8281
3.		8221
4.		8204
5.		8220

Women's Best Year Performers

100 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		10.90
2.		11.07
3.		11.09

5.		11.12

200 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		21.84
2.		21.97
3.		22.07
4.		22.35
5.		22.42

400 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		48.61
2.		49.27
3.		50.50
4.		50.83
5.		50.98

800 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		1:56.98
2.		1:57.16
3.		1:57.42
4.		1:57.55
5.		1:57.56

1,500 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		3:57.78
2.		3:58.29
3.		3:58.70
4.		3:58.89
5.		3:59.67

Mile

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		4:20.89
2.		4:21.40
3.		4:21.82
4.		4:22.5
5.		4:23.8

3,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		8:34.30
2.		8:34.80
3.		8:38.34
4.		8:44.6
5.		8:44.64

5,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		15:14.51
2.		15:24.6
3.		15:34.76

10,000 metres

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		32:17.19
2.		32:20.40
3.		32:36.00
4.		32:37.40
5.		32:46.56

100m Hurdles

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		12.68
2.		12.85
3.		12.93^[1]
4,		12.97

400m Hurdles

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.		54.79
2.		55.49
3.		55.51^[2]
4.		55.54
5.		55.78

High Jump

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.		1.97 m
2.		1.96 m

Long Jump

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.		6.96 m
2.		6.91 m

4.		6.90 m
5.		6.89 m

Discus

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.		71.46 m
2.		71.30 m
3.		69.86 m
4.		69.70 m
5.		68.98 m

Shot Put

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.		21.61 m
2.		21.57 m
3.		21.14 m
4.		21.09 m
5.		21.08 m

Javelin (old design)

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.		71.88 m
2.		68.86 m
3.		67.24 m
4.		66.60 m
5.		66.34 m

Heptathlon

RANK	1981 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.		6788
2.		6365
3.		6333
4.		6295
5.		6291

Births

January

January 8 – Mesías Zapata, Ecuadorian race walker
January 14 – Hyleas Fountain, American heptathlete
January 18 – Naoyuki Daigo, Japanese high jumper
January 24 – Jong Yong-Ok, North Korean long-distance runner
January 27 – Fabrizio Schembri, Italian triple jumper
January 29 – Rose Richmond, American long jumper

February

February 12 – Amarilys Alméstica, Puerto Rican hammer thrower
February 13 – Rosibel García, Colombian middle-distance runner
February 15 – Rita Jeptoo, Kenyan marathon runner
February 16 – Jessé de Lima, Brazilian high jumper
February 17 – Shi Na, Chinese race walker
February 19 – Shellene Williams, Jamaican sprinter
February 25 – Marek Plawgo, Polish athlete

March

March 11 – Yelena Konevtseva, Russian hammer thrower
March 13 – Stefan Wenk, German javelin thrower
March 22 – Aliaksandr Parkhomenka, Belarusian decathlete
March 28 – Yuniel Hernández, Cuban hurdler

April

April 13 – Moushaumi Robinson, American sprinter
April 19 – Kazuhiro Maeda, Japanese long-distance runner

May

May 6 – Rui Pedro Silva, Portuguese distance runner
May 15 – Merja Korpela, Finnish hammer thrower
May 20 – Jana Tucholke, German discus thrower
May 21 – Anna Rogowska, Polish pole vaulter
May 28 – Kamil Kalka, Polish race walker
May 31 – Eileen O'Keefe, Irish hammer thrower

July

July 9 – Rutger Smith, Dutch discus thrower and shot putter
July 13 – Ineta Radēviča, Latvian long and triple jumper
July 24 – Carys Parry, Welsh hammer thrower
July 30 – Daria Onyśko, Polish sprinter

August

August 15 – Yoshiko Fujinaga, Japanese long-distance runner
August 30 – Aleksandr Vashchyla, Belarusian hammer thrower

September

September 6 – Brandon Simpson, Jamaican athlete
September 7 – Eyerusalem Kuma, Ethiopian distance runner
September 12 – Greg Nixon, American sprinter
September 15 – Tomas Intas, Lithuanian javelin thrower

October

October 3 – Anna Omarova, Russian shot putter
October 18 – Ji Young-Jun, South Korean long-distance runner

November

November 8 – Jéssica Augusto, Portuguese long-distance runner
November 18 – Kimberly Barrett, Jamaica-Puerto Rican shot putter
November 21 – Werknesh Kidane, Ethiopian long-distance runner

December

December 8 – Gabriel Ortiz, Mexican race walker
December 22 – Marina Kuptsova, Russian high jumper

Deaths

April 25 – Paul Bontemps (76), French long-distance runner (b. 1902)
August 2 – Delfo Cabrera (62), Argentine long-distance runner (b. 1919)

References

Web site: World Top Performers . GBR Athletics . 14 April 2018 .
Web site: World Top Performers . GBR Athletics . 14 April 2018.