| Event: | Athletics |
| Games: | 1992 Summer |
| Dates: | July 31 August 9, 1992 |
| Num Events: | 43 |
| Competitors: | 1725 |
| Nations: | 156 |
| Prev: | Seoul 1988 |
| Next: | Atlanta 1996 |
At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, 43 events in athletics were contested, 24 events by men and 19 by women. The competition ran from July 31, 1992, to August 9, 1992. Fourteen world record-holders (eight men and six women) were among the contenders. Thirty former Olympic champions competed, and a total number of 1725 athletes from 156 countries.
| 100 metres | 9.96 | 10.02 | 10.04 | ||||||
| 200 metres | 20.01 | 20.13 | 20.38 | ||||||
| 400 metres | 43.50 (OR) | 44.21 | 44.24 | ||||||
| 800 metres | 1:43.66 | 1:43.70 | 1:43.97 | ||||||
| 1500 metres | 3:40.12 | 3:40.62 | 3:40.69 | ||||||
| 5000 metres | 13:12.52 | 13:12.71 | 13:13.03 | ||||||
| 10,000 metres | 27:46.70 | 27:47.72 | 28:00.07 | ||||||
| 110 metres hurdles | 13.12 | 13.24 | 13.26 | ||||||
| 400 metres hurdles | 46.78 (WR) | 47.66 | 47.82 | ||||||
| 3000 metres steeplechase | 8:08.84 | 8:09.55 | 8:10.74 | ||||||
| 4 × 100 metres relay | valign=top | Michael Marsh Leroy Burrell Dennis Mitchell Carl Lewis James Jett | 37.40 (WR) | valign=top | Oluyemi Kayode Chidi Imoh Olapade Adeniken Davidson Ezinwa Osmond Ezinwa | 37.98 | valign=top | 38.00 | |
| 4 × 400 metres relay | valign=top | Andrew Valmon Quincy Watts Michael Johnson Steve Lewis Darnell Hall | 2:55.74 (WR) | valign=top | 2:59.51 | valign=top | Roger Black David Grindley Kriss Akabusi John Regis Du'aine Ladejo
| 2:59.73 | |
| Marathon | 2:13:23 | 2:13:45 | 2:14:00 | ||||||
| 20 kilometres walk | 1:21.25 | 1:22.25 | 1:23.11 | ||||||
| 50 kilometres walk | 3:50.13 | 3:52.09 | 3:53.45 | ||||||
| High jump | 2.34 m | 2.34 m | 2.34 m | ||||||
| Pole vault | 5.80 m | 5.80 m | 5.75 m | ||||||
| Long jump | 8.67 m | 8.64 m | 8.34 m | ||||||
| Triple jump | 18.17 m w | 17.60 m | 17.36 m | ||||||
| Shot put | 21.70 m | 20.96 m | 20.94 m | ||||||
| Discus throw | 65.12 m | 64.94 m | 64.12 m | ||||||
| Hammer throw | (  Tajikistan) | 82.54 m | (  Belarus) | 81.96 m | 81.38 m | ||||
| Javelin throw | 89.66 m | 86.60 m | 83.38 m | ||||||
| Decathlon | 8611 | 8412 | 8309 |
| 100 metres | 10.82 | 10.83 | 10.84 | ||||||
| 200 metres | 21.81 | 22.02 | 22.09 | ||||||
| 400 metres | 48.83 | (  Ukraine) | 49.05 | 49.64 | |||||
| 800 metres | 1:55:54 | 1:55:99 | 1:56.80 | ||||||
| 1500 metres | 3:55.30 | 3:56.91 | 3:57.08 | ||||||
| 3000 metres | 8:46.04 | ( Ukraine) | 8:46.85 | 8:47.22 | |||||
| 10,000 metres | 31:06.02 | 31:11.75 | 31:19.89 | ||||||
| 100 metres hurdles | 12.64 | 12.69 | 12.70 | ||||||
| 400 metres hurdles | 53.23 | 53.69 | 54.31 | ||||||
| 4 × 100 metres relay | valign=top | Evelyn Ashford Esther Jones Carlette Guidry Gwen Torrence Michelle Finn | 42.11 | valign=top | 42.16 | valign=top | 42.81 | ||
| 4 × 400 metres relay | valign=top | Yelena Ruzina Lyudmyla Dzhyhalova Olga Nazarova Olha Bryzhina Liliya Nurutdinova | 3:20.20 | valign=top | Natasha Kaiser Gwen Torrence Jearl Miles Rochelle Stevens Denean Hill | 3:20.92 | valign=top | 3:24.23 | |
| Marathon | 2:32:41 | 2:32:49 | 2:33:59 | ||||||
| 10 kilometres walk | 44:32 | 44:33 | 44:41 | ||||||
| High jump | 2.02 m | 2.00 m | 1.97 m | ||||||
| Long jump | 7.14 m | ( Ukraine) | 7.12 m | 7.07 m | |||||
| Shot put | 21.06 m | 20.47 m | 19.78 m | ||||||
| Discus throw | 70.06 m | 67.78 m | 66.24 m | ||||||
| Javelin throw | 68.34 m | ( Belarus) | 68.26 m | 66.86 m | |||||
| Heptathlon | 7044 | 6845 | 6649 |
A total of 156 nations participated in the different Athletics events at the 1992 Summer Olympics.