| 1996 Russian Indoor Athletics Championships | |
| Events: | 26 |
| Dates: | 23–25 February |
| Next: | 1997 |
The 1996 Russian Indoor Athletics Championships (Russian: Чемпионат России по лёгкой атлетике в помещении 1996) was the 5th edition of the national championship in indoor track and field for Russia. It was held on 23–25 February at the Alexander Gomelsky Universal Sports Hall CSKA in Moscow. A total of 26 events (13 for men and 13 for women) were contested over the two-day competition.[1] It was used for selection of the Russian team for the 1996 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
In the winter of 1996, Russian championships were also held in the following disciplines:
The Russian Combined Events Indoor Championships was held on 9–11 February 1996 in Lipetsk in the Yubileiny Sports Palace. Yelena Lebedenko set a personal record and for the first time in her career became national champion. Her score of 4735 points was the best in the world that year for women's indoor pentathlon.
| Heptathlon | Sergey Khokhlov Saint Petersburg | 5797 pts | Sergey Nikitin Kemerovo Oblast | 5691 pts | Aleksandr Averbukh Irkutsk Oblast | 5611 pts |
| Pentathlon | Yelena Lebedenko Moscow | 4735 pts | Irina Vostrikova Tatarstan | 4598 pts | Natalya Popykina Altai Krai | 4332 pts |
The Russian 24-Hour Run Indoor Championships was held on 10–11 February in Podolsk on the 133-meter circle of the arena of the local youth sports school. Competitions were held as part of the Podolsk Day super marathon and were held in memory of Nikolay Safin, who had established here the highest world achievement three years earlier (275,576 m). Elena Sidorenkova set a world record distance of 248,901 m in the women's race. However, this result (like Safin's record) was not ratified by the international association due to the uncertified track length and the lack of strict documentation of the circles passed by the participants.
| 24-hour run | Nasibulla Khusnullin Tatarstan | 262853 m | Nikolay Kruglikov Smolensk Oblast | 256457 m | Enver Balabekov Kirov Oblast | 242927 m |
| 24-hour run | Elena Sidorenkova Smolensk Oblast | 248901 m | Flyura Gimaeva Sverdlovsk Oblast | 215015 m | Zinaida Shabalina Moscow Oblast | 208346 m |
Following the results of the championships, taking into account the qualifying standards, the Russian team for the 1996 European Athletics Indoor Championships included:
† Had exemption for selection and allowed not to compete at the national championships
Belarus