| Event: | Athletics |
| Games: | 1978 Asian Games |
| Venue: | National Stadium |
| Dates: | 14–19 December |
| Prev: | 1974 |
| Next: | 1982 |
The 1978 Asian Games were held in National Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand from 14 December to 19 December. The event was not sanctioned by the International Amateur Athletics Federation due to the organizers' refusal to invite Israel.
| 100 m | 10.44 | 10.60 | 10.66 | ||||
| 200 m | 21.42 | 21.54 | 21.59 | ||||
| 400 m | 46.71 | 46.79 | 47.18 | ||||
| 800 m | 1:48.8 | 1:49.7 | 1:49.9 | ||||
| 1500 m | 3:47.5 | 3:48.0 | 3:48.1 | ||||
| 5000 m | 14:22.0 | 14:27.2 | 14:28.1 | ||||
| 10,000 m | 30:07.7 | 30:16.9 | 30:18.4 | ||||
| 110 m hurdles | 14.28 | 14.33 | 14.43 | ||||
| 400 m hurdles | 50.81 | 50.98 | 51.24 | ||||
| 3000 m steeplechase | 8:40.7 | 8:44.8 | 8:46.2 | ||||
| 4 × 100 m relay | 40.32 | 40.33 | 40.54 | ||||
| 4 × 400 m relay | Eiji Natori Yasuhiro Harada Junichi Usui Takashi Nagao | 3:08.3 | Murali Kuttan Harkamaljit Singh Uday Krishna Prabhu Sriram Singh | 3:08.4 | Talib Faisal Abbas Laibi Hassan Kadhim Fahim Abdul-Sada | 3:09.4 | |
| Marathon | 2:15:29.7 | 2:15:57.4 | 2:16:10.3 | ||||
| 20 km walk | 1:31:54.4 | 1:31:58.8 | 1:33:56.8 | ||||
| High jump | 2.20 | 2.18 | 2.18 | ||||
| Pole vault | 5.10 | 5.05 | 5.00 | ||||
| Long jump | 7.85 | 7.76 | 7.75 | ||||
| Triple jump | 16.56 | 16.47 | 16.29 | ||||
| Shot put | 17.61 | 17.44 | 17.40 | ||||
| Discus throw | 56.26 | 55.26 | 53.32 | ||||
| Hammer throw | 68.26 | 63.96 | 63.34 | ||||
| Javelin throw | 79.24 | 71.60 | 70.70 | ||||
| Decathlon | 7003 | 6833 | 6743 |
| 100 m | 12.20 | 12.21 | 12.22 | ||||
| 200 m | 24.81 | 24.99 | 25.05 | ||||
| 400 m | 55.09 | 55.74 | 56.23 | ||||
| 800 m | 2:07.7 | 2:07.9 | 2:08.3 | ||||
| 1500 m | 4:18.9 | 4:28.2 | 4:33.3 | ||||
| 3000 m | 9:24.7 | 9:35.4 | 9:36.5 | ||||
| 100 m hurdles | 13.95 | 14.23 | 14.55 | ||||
| 400 m hurdles | 1:01.32 | 1:01.89 | 1:02.09 | ||||
| 4 × 100 m relay | 46.20 | Emiko Konishi Yukiko Osako Junko Kushibuchi Tomoko Maeda | 46.78 | 47.00 | |||
| 4 × 400 m relay | Keiko Nagasawa Mayumi Kubota Tomoko Maeda Masae Kiguchi | 3:46.29 | Huang Dongsheng Liang Lihua Guo Guimei Zhang Huifen | 3:46.87 | Jang Geun-ok Chang Yong-ae Jung Dong-sun Kim Ok-sun | 3:48.78 | |
| High jump | 1.88 | 1.82 | 1.80 | ||||
| Long jump | 6.28 | 6.05 | 6.05 | ||||
| Shot put | 17.70 | 16.72 | 15.59 | ||||
| Discus throw | 55.92 | 51.22 | 47.22 | ||||
| Javelin throw | 57.22 | 54.98 | 54.08 | ||||
| Pentathlon | 4133 | 3837 | 3731 |