At the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, 37 events were contested in athletics. There were a total number of 1005 participating athletes from 80 countries.
The men's 50 kilometres walk competition was dropped from the Olympic athletics programme, despite its constant presence at the games since 1932. The IAAF chose to host its own world championship event instead, a month and a half after the Olympics. This foreshadowed the creation of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in the following years.[1] [2]
| 100 metres | 10.06 | 10.08 | 10.14 | ||||
| 200 metres | 20.23 | 20.29 | 20.43 | ||||
| 400 metres | 44.26 | 44.40 | 44.95 | ||||
| 800 metres | 1:43.50 WR | 1:43.86 | 1:44.12 | ||||
| 1500 metres | 3:39.17 | 3:39.27 | 3:39.33 | ||||
| 5000 metres | 13:24.76 | 13:25.16 | 13:25.38 | ||||
| 10,000 metres | 27:40.38 | 27:45:17 | 27:54.92 | ||||
| 110 metres hurdles | 13.30 | 13.33 | 13.38 | ||||
| 400 metres hurdles | 47.64 WR | 48.69 | 49.45 | ||||
| 3000 metres steeplechase | 8:08.02 WR | 8:09.11 | 8:10.36 | ||||
| 4 × 100 metres relay | Harvey Glance Johnny Jones Millard Hampton Steve Riddick | 38.33 | Manfred Kokot Jörg Pfeifer Klaus-Dieter Kurrat Alexander Thieme | 38.66 | Aleksandr Aksinin Nikolay Kolesnikov Juris Silovs Valeriy Borzov | 38.78 | |
| 4 × 400 metres relay | Herman Frazier Benny Brown Fred Newhouse Maxie Parks | 2:58.65 | Ryszard Podlas Jan Werner Zbigniew Jaremski Jerzy Pietrzyk | 3:01.43 | Franz-Peter Hofmeister Lothar Krieg Harald Schmid Bernd Herrmann | 3:01.98 | |
| Marathon | 2:09:55.0 OR | 2:10:45.8 | 2:11:12.6 | ||||
| 20 kilometres walk | 1:24:40.6 OR | 1:25:13.6 | 1:25:29.4 | ||||
| High jump | 2.25 m WR | 2.23 m | 2.21 m | ||||
| Pole vault | 5.50 m | 5.50 m | 5.50 m | ||||
| Long jump | 8.35 m | 8.11 m | 8.02 m | ||||
| Triple jump | 17.29 m | 17.18 m | 16.90 m | ||||
| Shot put | 21.05 m | 21.03 m | 21.00 m | ||||
| Discus throw | 67.50 m | 66.22 m | 65.70 m | ||||
| Hammer throw | 77.52 m OR | 76.08 m | 75.48 m | ||||
| Javelin throw | 94.58 WR | 87.92 | 87.16 m | ||||
| Decathlon | 8618 WR | 8411 | 8369 |
| 100 metres | 11.08 | 11.13 | 11.17 | |||
| 200 metres | 22.37 OR | 22.39 | 22.47 | |||
| 400 metres | 49.28 WR | 50.51 | 50.55 | |||
| 800 metres | 1:54.94 WR | 1:55.42 | 1:55.60 | |||
| 1500 metres | 4:05.48 | 4:06.02 | 4:06.09 | |||
| 100 metres hurdles | 12.77 | 12.78 | 12.80 | |||
| 4 × 100 metres relay | Marlies Oelsner Renate Stecher Carla Bodendorf Bärbel Eckert | 42.55 OR | Elvira Possekel Inge Helten Annegret Richter Annegret Kroniger | 42.59 | Tatyana Prorochenko Lyudmila Maslakova Nadezhda Besfamilnaya Vera Anisimova | 43.09 |
| 4 × 400 metres relay | Doris Maletzki Brigitte Rohde Ellen Streidt Christina Brehmer | 3:19.23 WR | Debra Sapenter Sheila Ingram Pamela Jiles Rosalyn Bryant | 3:22.81 | Inta Kļimoviča Lyudmila Aksyonova Natalya Sokolova Nadezhda Ilyina | 3:24.24 |
| High jump | 1.93 m OR | 1.91 m | 1.91 m | |||
| Long jump | 6.72 m | 6.66 m | 6.60 m | |||
| Shot put | 21.16 m OR | 20.96 m | 20.67 m | |||
| Discus throw | 69.00 m OR | 67.30 m | 66.84 m | |||
| Javelin throw | 65.94 m OR | 64.70 m | 63.96 m | |||
| Pentathlon | 4745 | 4745 | 4740 | |||
