This article contains an overview of the year 1991 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

* All-Africa Games *

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asia ...

Central American and Caribbean Championships The Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Championships is an international track and field athletics event organised by the Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation (CACAC). Only athletes representing a member nation of the confede ...

* Mediterranean Games * Pan American Games * South American Championships *

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

* World Cross Country Championships * World Indoor Championships * World Student Games

World records

Men

*''The relay team of the United States in the men's 4 × 100 m, formed by Michael Marsh,

Leroy Burrell Leroy Russel Burrell (born February 21, 1967) is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint. Early life Burrell grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, and attended Penn Wood High School, w ...

Floyd Heard Floyd Wayne Heard (born March 24, 1966, in West Point, Mississippi) is a retired track and field sprinter from the United States, best known for setting the 1986 world's best year performance in the men's 200 m. He did so on 7 July 1986 at a mee ...

and

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996 ...

, equal the current

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

, set the previous year by France at the European Championships, clocking 37.79 on 1991-08-03 at a meet in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. The first mark was set by Max Morinière,

Daniel Sangouma Daniel René Claude Sangouma (born 7 February 1965 in Saint-Denis, Réunion) is a retired French sprinter who specialized in the 100 and 200 metres. Biography At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, he won a bronze medal in the 4x100 metres rela ...

, Jean-Charles Trouabal and Bruno Marie-Rose on 1990-09-01 in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

.''

Women

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: World Championships 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: World Championships 200 metres''

400 metres

:''Main race this year: World Championships 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: World Championships 800 metres''

1,500 metres

:''Main race this year: World Championships 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: World Championships 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: World Championships 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: World Championships Marathon''

110m hurdles

:''Main race this year: World Championships 110m hurdles''

400m hurdles

:''Main race this year: World Championships 400m hurdles''

3,000m steeplechase

:''Main race this year: World Championships 3,000m steeplechase''

High jump

:''Main competition this year: World Championships 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: World Championships 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: World Championships Triple Jump''

Discus

:''Main competition this year: World Championships Discus Throw''

Shot put

:''Main competition this year: World Championships Shot Put''

Hammer

Javelin (new design)

:''Main competition this year: World Championships 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: World Championships Pole Vault''

Decathlon

Women's Best Year Performers

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

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: World Championships 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: World Championships 200 metres''

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: World Championships 800 metres''

1,500 metres

:''Main race this year: World Championships 1,500 metres''

Mile

3,000 metres

:''Main race this year: World Championships 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: World Championships 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: World Championships Marathon''

60m hurdles

100m hurdles

:''Main race this year: World Championships 100m hurdles''

400m hurdles

:''Main race this year: World Championships 400m hurdles''

High Jump

:''Main competition this year: World Championships 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: World Championships 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 ...

Shot put

:''Main competition this year: World Championships Shot Put''

Javelin (old design)

:''Main competition this year: World Championships Javelin''

Heptathlon

:''Main competition this year: World Championships Heptathlon''

Births

*January 15 —

Darya Klishina Darya Igorevna Klishina (russian: Дарья Игоревна Клишина, born 15 January 1991) is a Russian long jumper. Early life Klishina was born in 1991 in Tver, Russian SFSR. At the age of eight, she began playing volleyball, and at ...

, Russian long jumper *May 8 — Kalkidan Gezahegne, Ethiopian distance runner

Deaths

*January 1 —

Inga Gentzel Inga Kristina Gentzel (later ''Dahlgren'', 24 April 1908 – 1 January 1991) was a Swedish runner, who won a bronze medal in the 800 m at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Shortly before the Olympics she set a new world record in this event, which wa ...

(82), Swedish athlete (b. 1908) *August 10 — Ellen Braumüller (80), German athlete (b. 1910)

References

Year Lists

{{DEFAULTSORT:1991 In Athletics (Track And Field) Athletics (track and field) by year