Athletics competitions have been held at the quadrennial South American Games since the inaugural edition of the Southern Cross Games in 1978 in La Paz, Bolivia.
| Games | Year | Host city | Country | Events | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=60 | Men ! | width=60 | Women | Mixed | |||
| 1978 | 22 | 13 | — | ||||
| 1982 | 23 | 16 | — | ||||
| 1986 | 23 | 17 | — | ||||
| 1990 | 23 | 19 | — | ||||
| 1994 | 24 | 19 | — | ||||
| 1998 | 24 | 21 | — | ||||
| 2002 | 22 | 22 | — | ||||
| 2006 | 22 | 22 | — | ||||
| 2010 | 21 | 21 | — | ||||
| 2014 | 22 | 22 | — | ||||
| 2018 | 23 | 22 | — | ||||
| XII | 2022 | Asunción | 24 | 24 | 1 | ||
Medal winners for the South American Games were published in a book by written Argentinian journalist Ernesto Rodríguez III with support of the Argentine Olympic Committee (Spanish: Comité Olímpico Argentino) under the auspices of the Ministry of Education (Spanish: Ministerio de Educación de la Nación) in collaboration with the Office of Sports (Spanish: Secretaría de Deporte de la Nación). Eduardo Biscayart supplied the list of winners in athletics and their results.
List of South American Games records in athletics