1981 in the sport of athletics

This article contains an overview of the year 1981 in athletics.

International events

• Asian Championships
• Central American and Caribbean Championships
• European Indoor Championships
• South American Championships
• Universiade
• World Cross Country Championships

Men's Best Year Performers

100 metres

200 metres

400 metres

800 metres

1,500 metres

Mile

3,000 metres

5,000 metres

10,000 metres

Half Marathon

Marathon

110m Hurdles

400m Hurdles

3,000m Steeplechase

High Jump

Long Jump

Triple Jump

Discus

Hammer

Shot Put

Pole Vault

Javelin (old design)

Decathlon

Women's Best Year Performers

100 metres

200 metres

400 metres

800 metres

1,500 metres

Mile

3,000 metres

5,000 metres

10,000 metres

Marathon

100m Hurdles

400m Hurdles

High Jump

Long Jump

Discus

Shot Put

Javelin (old design)

Heptathlon

Births

January

• January 8 – Mesías Zapata, Ecuadorian race walker
• January 14 – Hyleas Fountain, American heptathlete
• January 18 – Naoyuki Daigo, Japanese high jumper
• January 24 – Jong Yong-Ok, North Korean long-distance runner
• January 27 – Fabrizio Schembri, Italian triple jumper
• January 29 – Rose Richmond, American long jumper

February

• February 12 – Amarilys Alméstica, Puerto Rican hammer thrower
• February 13 – Rosibel García, Colombian middle-distance runner
• February 15 – Rita Jeptoo, Kenyan marathon runner
• February 16 – Jessé de Lima, Brazilian high jumper
• February 17 – Shi Na, Chinese race walker
• February 19 – Shellene Williams, Jamaican sprinter
• February 25 – Marek Plawgo, Polish athlete

March

• March 11 – Yelena Konevtseva, Russian hammer thrower
• March 13 – Stefan Wenk, German javelin thrower
• March 22 – Aliaksandr Parkhomenka, Belarusian decathlete
• March 28 – Yuniel Hernández, Cuban hurdler

April

• April 13 – Moushaumi Robinson, American sprinter
• April 19 – Kazuhiro Maeda, Japanese long-distance runner

May

• May 6 – Rui Pedro Silva, Portuguese distance runner
• May 15 – Merja Korpela, Finnish hammer thrower
• May 20 – Jana Tucholke, German discus thrower
• May 21 – Anna Rogowska, Polish pole vaulter
• May 28 – Kamil Kalka, Polish race walker
• May 31 – Eileen O'Keefe, Irish hammer thrower

July

• July 9 – Rutger Smith, Dutch discus thrower and shot putter
• July 13 – Ineta Radēviča, Latvian long and triple jumper
• July 24 – Carys Parry, Welsh hammer thrower
• July 30 – Daria Onyśko, Polish sprinter

August

• August 15 – Yoshiko Fujinaga, Japanese long-distance runner
• August 30 – Aleksandr Vashchyla, Belarusian hammer thrower

September

• September 6 – Brandon Simpson, Jamaican athlete
• September 7 – Eyerusalem Kuma, Ethiopian distance runner
• September 12 – Greg Nixon, American sprinter
• September 15 – Tomas Intas, Lithuanian javelin thrower

October

• October 3 – Anna Omarova, Russian shot putter
• October 18 – Ji Young-Jun, South Korean long-distance runner

November

• November 8 – Jéssica Augusto, Portuguese long-distance runner
• November 18 – Kimberly Barrett, Jamaica-Puerto Rican shot putter
• November 21 – Werknesh Kidane, Ethiopian long-distance runner

December

• December 8 – Gabriel Ortiz, Mexican race walker
• December 22 – Marina Kuptsova, Russian high jumper

Deaths

• April 25 – Paul Bontemps (76), French long-distance runner (b. 1902)
• August 2 – Delfo Cabrera (62), Argentine long-distance runner (b. 1919)

References

• Year Lists
• Association of Road Racing Statisticians
• Year Rankings