| Event: | Athletics |
| Games: | 1986 Asian Games |
| Venue: | Olympic Stadium |
| Dates: | 29 September – 5 October |
| Prev: | 1982 |
| Next: | 1990 |
The athletics competition at the 1986 Asian Games was held in Olympic Stadium, Seoul, South Korea.
| 100 m | 10.30 | 10.44 | 10.47 | ||||
| 200 m | 20.71 = | 20.97 | 21.10 | ||||
| 400 m | 45.00 | 45.96 | 46.42 | ||||
| 800 m | 1:49.15 | 1:49.89 | 1:50.31 | ||||
| 1500 m | 3:43.88 | 3:44.51 | 3:44.68 | ||||
| 5000 m | 13:50.63 | 13:52.65 | 13:53.73 | ||||
| 10,000 m | 28:26.74 | 28:30.54 | 29:31.90 | ||||
| 110 m hurdles | 14.07 | 14.34 | 14.37 | ||||
| 400 m hurdles | 49.31 | 49.40 | 50.22 | ||||
| 3000 m steeplechase | 8:36.98 | 8:37.33 | 8:42.30 | ||||
| 4 × 100 m relay | Cai Jianming Li Feng Yu Zhuanghui Zheng Chen | 39.17 | Hideyuki Arikawa Hirofumi Miyazaki Hirofumi Koike Hiroki Fuwa | 39.31 | Sung Nak-kun Jang Jae-keun Kim Jong-il Shim Duk-sup | 39.66 | |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Koichi Konakatomi Kenji Yamauchi Hiromi Kawasumi Susumu Takano | 3:02.33 | 3:07.28 | 3:09.26 | |||
| Marathon | 2:08:21 | 2:10:08 | 2:16:55 | ||||
| 20 km walk | 1:25:46 | 1:26:57 | 1:28:03 | ||||
| High jump | 2.31 | 2.27 | 2.21 | ||||
| Pole vault | 5.40 | 5.30 | 5.00 | ||||
| Long jump | 7.94 | 7.92 | 7.80 | ||||
| Triple jump | 17.01 | 15.97 | 15.76 | ||||
| Shot put | 18.30 | 17.82 | 17.51 | ||||
| Discus throw | 58.28 | 54.14 | 52.80 | ||||
| Hammer throw | 69.20 | 66.34 | 66.28 | ||||
| Javelin throw | 76.60 | 74.44 | 74.12 | ||||
| Decathlon | 7255 | 7171 | 7163 |
| 100 m | 11.53 | 11.67 | 11.75 | ||||
| 200 m | 23.44 | 23.47 | 23.80 | ||||
| 400 m | 52.16 | 53.32 | 53.76 | ||||
| 800 m | 2:05.72 | 2:06.04 | 2:07.44 | ||||
| 1500 m | 4:21.38 | 4:22.07 | 4:23.47 | ||||
| 3000 m | 9:11.92 | 9:12.64 | 9:14.70 | ||||
| 10,000 m | 32:47.77 | 33:20.75 | 33:47.22 | ||||
| 100 m hurdles | 13.78 | 13.88 | 14.07 | ||||
| 400 m hurdles | 56.08 | 59.37 | 59.37 | ||||
| 4 × 100 m relay | 44.78 | 45.14 | 45.59 | ||||
| 4 × 400 m relay | 3:34.58 | 3:39.77 | 3:41.59 | ||||
| Marathon | 2:41:03 | 2:41:36 | 2:42:21 | ||||
| 10 km walk | 48:40 | 49:50 | 51:12 | ||||
| High jump | 1.89 = | 1.89 = | 1.89 = | ||||
| Long jump | 6.37 | 6.19 | 6.14 | ||||
| Shot put | 17.51 | 17.44 | 15.06 | ||||
| Discus throw | 59.28 | 58.94 | 50.26 | ||||
| Javelin throw | 59.42 | 55.00 | 52.78 | ||||
| Heptathlon | 5580 | 5413 | 5067 |