This article contains an overview of the year 1988 in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

International events

African Championships An African Championship is a top level international sports competition between African athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships ;Athletics *African Championships in Ath ...

Balkan Games The Balkan Athletics Championships or Balkan Games () is a regional athletics competition held between nations from the Balkans and organized by Balkan Athletics. The first games were held in Athens in 1929, and the most recent were being held in ...

* European Indoor Championships *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

* World Cross Country Championships * World Junior Championships

World records

Men

*Carl Lewis finished behind Ben Johnson (9.79) who was disqualified for a failed drugs test *4 × 400 team equalled the record by the United States on October 20, 1968, by Vincent Matthews,

Ron Freeman Ronald John Freeman III (born June 12, 1947 in Elizabeth, New Jersey) is an American former athlete. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, Freeman won a gold medal in the 4×400 m relay and a bronze medal in the 400 meters. Freeman ran the second leg on ...

Larry James George Larry James (November 6, 1947 – November 6, 2008) was an American track athlete. At the 1968 Olympics he won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay and a silver in the individual 400 m. Biography Early life James was born on November 6, ...

and Lee Evans.

Women

*Many observers believe Griffith-Joyner's time of 10.49 should not have been accepted as a record due to excessive following wind *Christyakova equalled the previous record of 7.45m with a prior jump

Men's Best Year Performers

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

:''Main race this year: Men's Olympic 100 metres''

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

:''Main race this year: Men's Olympic 200 metres''

400 metres

:''Main race this year: Men's Olympic 400 metres''

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

:''Main race this year: Men's Olympic 800 metres''

1,500 metres

:''Main race this year: Men's Olympic 1,500 metres''

Mile

3,000 metres

5,000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

:''Main race this year: Men's Olympic 5,000 metres''

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

:''Main race this year: Men's Olympic 10,000 metres''

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

Marathon

:''Main race this year: Men's Olympic Marathon''

Race Walking Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asse ...

110m hurdles

:''Main race this year: Men's Olympic 110m hurdles''

400m hurdles

:''Main race this year: Men's Olympic 400m hurdles''

3,000m steeplechase

:''Main race this year: Men's Olympic 3,000m steeplechase''

High jump

:''Main competition this year: Men's Olympic High Jump''

Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

:''Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Long Jump''

Triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

:''Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Triple Jump''

Discus

:''Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Discus Throw''

Shot put

:''Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Shot Put''

Hammer

Javelin (new design)

:''Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Javelin Throw''

Pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

:''Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Pole Vault''

Decathlon

:''Main competition this year: Men's Olympic Decathlon''

Women's Best Year Performers

:''Main race this year: Women's Olympic 100 metres''

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

:''Main race this year: Women's Olympic 200 metres''

400 metres

:''Main race this year: Women's Olympic 400 metres''

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

:''Main race this year: Women's Olympic 800 metres''

1,500 metres

:''Main race this year: Women's Olympic 1,500 metres''

Mile

3,000 metres

:''Main race this year: Women's Olympic 3,000 metres''

5,000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The ra ...

:''Main race this year: Women's Olympic 10,000 metres''

Half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcut ...

Marathon

:''Main race this year: Women's Olympic Marathon''

Race Walking Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully asse ...

100m hurdles

:''Main race this year: Women's Olympic 100m hurdles''

400m hurdles

:''Main race this year: Women's Olympic 400m hurdles''

High Jump

:''Main competition this year: Women's Olympic High Jump''

Long Jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

:''Main competition this year: Women's Olympic Long Jump''

Shot put

:''Main competition this year: Women's Olympic Shot Put''

Discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

:''Main competition this year: Women's Olympic Discus Throw''

Javelin (old design)

:''Main competition this year: Women's Olympic Javelin Throw''

Heptathlon

:''Main competition this year: Women's Olympic Heptathlon''

Births

*January 17 — Anna Bulgakova, Russian hammer thrower *January 21 —

Ashton Eaton Ashton James Eaton (born January 21, 1988) is a retired American decathlete and two-time Olympic champion, who holds the world record in the indoor heptathlon event. Eaton was the second decathlete (after Roman Šebrle) to break the 9,000-point ...

, American decathlete *January 26 —

Gilbert Yegon Gilbert Yegon (born 26 January 1988) is a Kenyan long-distance runner who competes in marathon races. He began taking part in road races in 2008, and he ran a time of 1:02:43 at the Nairobi Half Marathon for third place. He entered the Berlin H ...

, Kenyan long-distance runner *April 29 — Jan Kudlička, Czech pole vaulter *May 20 — Yomara Hinestroza, Colombian sprinter *May 26 —

Dani Samuels Dani Stevens (née Samuels, born 26 May 1988) is a retired Australian discus thrower who in 2009 became the youngest ever female world champion in the event. She is the current national and Oceanian record holder. Stevens qualified for the 2020 ...

, Australian discus thrower *June 22 — Yekaterina Yevseyeva, Kazakh high jumper *July 5 — Vincent Chepkok, Kenyan long-distance runner *August 4 — Liam Zamel-Paez, Australian high jumper *August 10 — Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, Kenyan marathon runner *August 24 —

Matteo Galvan Matteo Galvan (born 24 August 1988) is an Italian sprinter who specializes in the 200 and 400 metres. His career highlight so far is the 2009 European Indoor Championships, where he placed sixth in the 400 metres and won a gold medal in the rel ...

, Italian sprinter *August 29 —

Harry Aikines-Aryeetey Harry Leslie Aikines-Aryeetey (pronounced ''Ay-yee-tey'', born 29 August 1988) is an English sprinter. A prodigious junior runner, in 2005 he was named as the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year and the IAAF's Rising Star of the Year afte ...

, English sprinter *September 5 —

Chu Yafei Chu Yafei, also known as Zhu Yafei, (born September 5, 1988 in Inner Mongolia) is a Chinese race walker. He has represented his country at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Career While undergoing his ...

, Chinese race walker *October 31 — Eglė Balčiūnaitė, Lithuanian middle-distance runner *December 17 —

David Rudisha David Lekuta Rudisha, MBS (born 17 December 1988) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres. He is a two-time back-to-back Olympic champion from the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, a two-time World champion from t ...

, Kenyan middle-distance runner

Deaths

*July 8 — Ray Barbuti (83), American athlete (b. 1905)

References

Year Lists

{{DEFAULTSORT:1988 In Athletics (Track And Field) Athletics (track and field) by year