This article contains an overview of the year 1980 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 ...

. The major athletics event of the year was the 1980 Moscow Olympics. A boycott of this competition meant many of world's leading athletes did not face each other, with many of the boycotting athletes taking part in the rival

Liberty Bell Classic The Liberty Bell Classic was a track and field athletics event organized by the Athletics Congress as part of the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott and held at Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on July 16 and 17, 1980 ...

competition. A further global event, the

1980 World Championships in Athletics The 1980 World Championships in Athletics was the second global, international athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Hosted from 14 to 16 August 1980 at the De Baandert in Sittard, Nethe ...

, was held specifically for women athletes in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

and

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

disciplines, as neither event featured on the Olympic programme in spite of

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

approval.

Major events

World

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 var ...

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

* World Cross Country Championships *

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

(Olympic Boycott Games) *

Gymnasiade The Gymnasiade, or World Gymnasiade, or World School Sport Games, or ISF World School Sport Games is an international multi-sport event which is organised by the International School Sport Federation (ISF). It is the largest event among many o ...

Regional

CARIFTA Games The CARIFTA Games is an annual athletics competition founded by the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA). The games was first held in 1972 and consists of track and field events including sprint races, hurdles, middle distance track event ...

* CAC Junior Championships *

Pan American Junior Championships The Pan American U20 Athletics Championships are a biennial sports event for track and field organized by the Association of Panamerican Athletics (APA) open for junior (U20) athletes from member and associate member associations. They were first h ...

* South American Junior Championships * European Indoor Championships *

European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country The European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country is an annual cross country running competition between the European running clubs that are the reigning national champions for their country. It is often abbreviated to the name ECCC Cross Country. It ...

* European Champion Clubs Cup *

Islamic Games The Islamic Games ( ar, الألعاب الإسلامية, tr, Islam Ülkeleri Spor Oyunlari) was a multi-sport event for athletes from Muslim countries that was held from 26 September to 6 October 1980 in İzmir, Turkey. Although 42 nations were ...

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 ...

World records

Men

Women

Season's bests

Marathon winners

Awards

Births

*January 1 –

Masumi Aya is a Japanese hammer thrower. Her personal best throw is 67.26 metres, achieved in August 2006 in Toyama Toyama may refer to: Places and organizations * Toyama Prefecture, a prefecture of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on the main Honshu ...

, Japanese hammer thrower *January 2 –

Yusuke Yachi Yusuke Yachi ( ja, 谷内雄亮; born 2 January 1980) is a Japanese race walker 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 m ...

, Japanese race walker *January 7 – Lívia Tóth, Hungarian distance runner *January 8 –

Mitsuhiro Sato is a retired Japanese sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. He finished fourth in Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay, 4 × 400 m relay at the Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2004 Olympic Games, to ...

, Japanese sprinter *January 11 – Li Xiaoxue, Chinese hammer thrower *January 19 – Matic Osovnikar, Slovenian sprinter *January 21 – Elva Goulbourne, Jamaican long jumper *January 25 – Christian Olsson, Swedish athlete *January 27 – Naleya Downer, Jamaican sprinter *January 31 –

Joel Brown Joel Brown (born January 31, 1980, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American hurdler. He finished sixth at the 2005 World Championships and seventh at the 2005 World Athletics Final. Comprises 1/4 of the World Record Shuttle Hurdle Relay team ( A ...

, American hurdler *January 31 – Adriana Pirtea, Romanian long-distance runner *February 3 –

Markus Esser Markus Esser (born 3 February 1980 in Leverkusen) is a retired German hammer throw. His personal best is 81.10 metres, achieved in July 2006 in Leverkusen. This ranks him eighth among German hammer throwers, behind Ralf Haber Ralf Haber (born 1 ...

, German hammer thrower *February 3 – Sini Pöyry, Finnish hammer thrower *February 4 –

Yared Asmerom Yared Asmerom Tesfit (born 4 February 1980 in Asmara) is an Eritrean long-distance runner who specializes in the marathon races. He was born in Asmara. Biography In 2005 he finished ninth at the World Half Marathon Championships and 25th at the ...

, Eritrean long-distance runner *February 4 –

Gary Kikaya Gary Senga Kikaya (born 4 February 1980) is a retired sprinter from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He competed in the 400 m event at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, but failed to reach the finals. Education Kikaya is the son of Kikaya bin Ka ...

, Congolese sprinter *February 7 –

Emma Ania Emma Iwebunor Ania is a former track and field sprint athlete who competed internationally for Great Britain.

, British sprinter *February 11 – Karin Ruckstuhl, Dutch heptathlete *February 13 – Tetyana Holovchenko, Ukrainian distance runner *February 13 – Irina Naumenko, Kazakhstani heptathlete *February 20 –

Bram Som Bram Som (born 20 February 1980, in Terborg) is a Dutch runner who specializes in the 800 metres. His personal best time of 1:43.45 minutes, achieved in August 2006 in Zürich, is also the current Dutch National Record. He missed the 2005 season ...

, Dutch track and field athlete *February 21 –

Takayuki Matsumiya Takayuki Matsumiya ( ja, 松宮隆行; born 21 February 1980 in Akita) is a Japanese long-distance runner who specializes in marathon races. He holds the Asian record and Japanese record over 25 km and 30 km. He has a twin brother, Yuk ...

, Japanese long-distance runner *February 24 –

Aki Heikkinen Aki Heikkinen (born 24 February 1980 in Vieremä) is a Finnish decathlete. His personal best result was 8188 points, achieved in August 2000 in Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region ...

, Finnish decathlete *February 25 –

Marisa Barros Elsa Marisa Branco Barros (born 25 February 1980), known as Marisa Barros, is a Portuguese long-distance runner who specialises in marathon running. Her personal best for the distance is 2:25:04 hours. She ran for her country at the Summer ...

, Portuguese long-distance runner *February 26 – Irina Butor, Belarusian heptathlete *March 3 – Nikolett Szabó, Hungarian javelin thrower *March 7 – Olli-Pekka Karjalainen, Finnish hammer thrower *March 12 –

California Molefe California Molefe (born 12 March 1980) is a Botswana runner who won a silver medal in 400 metres at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Moscow, becoming the first Botswana athlete to win a major international medal. His only title prior ...

, Botswanan athlete *March 15 – Kim Il-Nam, North Korean long-distance runner *March 19 –

Justus Koech Justus Koech (born 19 March 1980 in Uasin Gishu) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. He finished sixth at the 2003 World Championships in Paris and won a bronze medal at the 2003 All-Africa Games in Abuja. His ...

, Kenyan middle-distance runner *March 23 –

Teja Melink Teja Melink (born 23 March 1980) is a Slovenian pole vaulter. She finished seventh at the 2005 Summer Universiade. She also competed at the 1998 European Championships, the 2002 European Indoor Championships, the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2005 Eu ...

, Slovenian pole vaulter *March 30 – Amélie Perrin, Franch hammer thrower *April 6 – Tommi Evilä, Finnish long jumper *April 13 –

Boštjan Buč Boštjan Buč (born 13 April 1980) is a Slovenian retired track athlete who competed in various middle- and long-distance events. He represented Slovenia at the Summer Olympics in 2004 and 2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise ...

, Slovenian track and field athlete *April 17 – Igors Kazakevičs, Latvian race walker *April 18 – Wojciech Kondratowicz, Polish hammer thrower *April 19 – Gudisa Shentema, Ethiopian long-distance runner *May 1 –

Inês Henriques Inês Henriques (born 1 May 1980) is a Portuguese racewalking, race walker. Internationally, she has won bronze medals at the 2010 IAAF World Race Walking Cup and the 2010 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics. She represented Portugal at the ...

, Portuguese race walker *May 2 – Chris Boyles, American decathlete *May 2 –

Ronetta Smith Ronetta Smith (born 2 May 1980) is a Jamaican sprinter. Career A 400m runner with a personal best of 51.23 (set in May 2005), Smith has never reached an international final in an individual race. However, she was a part of the J ...

, Jamaican sprinter *May 10 –

Mayumi Kawasaki is a Japanese race walker from Ibaraki Prefecture. She represented her country in the 20 km race walk at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics. Her personal best time for the 20 km race walk is 1:28:49 hours. A three-time Asian Rac ...

, Japanese race walker *May 14 – Eugène Martineau, Dutch decathlete *May 17 – Tatyana Sibileva, Russian race walker *May 20 – Chinatsu Mori, Japanese shot putter (d. 2006) *May 23 – Ri Kum-Song, North Korean long-distance runner *June 2 –

Shingo Suetsugu is a Japanese sprinter.Athl ...

, Japanese track and field athlete *June 8 – Vânia Silva, Portuguese hammer thrower *June 13 –

Alistair Cragg Alistair Ian Cragg (born 13 June 1980 in Johannesburg) is an international track and field athlete. Born and brought up in South Africa, he has since lived in England and United States where he attended the University of Arkansas. He races for ...

, Irish distance runner *June 17 –

Shitaye Gemechu Shitaye Gemechu (born 17 June 1980) is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who specializes in marathon races. Shitaye was the women's winner of the Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon for the years 2004 - 2006. She won the 2007 edition of the Treviso M ...

, Ethiopian long-distance runner *June 19 – Sanjay Ayre, Jamaican athlete *July 5 – Park Ju-Young, South Korean long-distance runner *July 8 – Noraldo Palacios, Colombian javelin thrower *July 9 –

Brooke Krueger Brooke Krueger-Billett (born 9 July 1980 in Tailem Bend) is a female hammer thrower from Australia. She finished fourth at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, won the gold medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and finished seventh at the 2006 IAAF W ...

, Australian hammer thrower *July 12 – Mikko Kyyrö, Finnish discus thrower *July 17 –

Rashid Ramzi Rashid Ramzi ( ar, رشيد رمزي) (born July 17, 1980) is a Moroccan-Bahraini track and field athlete competing internationally for Bahrain in the 800 metres and 1500 metres. Ramzi was investigated by the IAAF after the 2008 Summer Olympics ...

, Moroccan athlete *July 24 –

Wilfred Bungei Wilfred Kipkemboi Bungei (born 24 July 1980) is a Kenyan retired Middle-distance runner, who won the 800 m gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He also won at the World indoor Championships in Moscow 2006 the 800 metres title, def ...

, Kenyan middle-distance runner *July 27 –

Alena Neumiarzhitskaya Alena Neumiarzhitskaya ( be, Алена Неўмяржыцкая; born 27 July 1980) is a Belarusian sprinter. Neumiarzhitskaya won a bronze medal in 4 x 100 metres relay at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics together with Yulia Ne ...

, Belarusian sprinter *July 31 –

Masato Naito is a retired Japanese hurdler. He is the former national record holder for the 110 metres hurdles and 60 metres hurdles. He finished fourth at the 2005 Asian Championships and third at the 2006 Asian Games. He also competed at the World Champ ...

, Japanese hurdler *August 11 – Monika Pyrek, Polish pole vaulter *August 23 – Bronwyn Eagles, Australian hammer thrower *August 23 – Roisin McGettigan, Irish distance runner *August 24 – Shani Marks, American triple jumper *August 29 –

Perdita Felicien Perdita Felicien (born August 29, 1980) is a Canadian retired hurdler. Felicien is the 2003 World champion in the 100 metres hurdles and 2004 World indoor champion in the 60 metres hurdles. She also won silver medals at the 2007 World Champions ...

, Canadian track and field athlete *September 6 – Nailiya Yulamanova, Russian long-distance runner *September 6 – Gulnara Vygovskaya, Russian long-distance runner *September 8 –

Mbulaeni Mulaudzi Mbulaeni Tongai Mulaudzi (8 September 1980 – 24 October 2014) was a South African middle distance runner, and the 2009 world champion in the men's 800 metres. His first global medal was a silver at the 2000 African Championships in Athletics ...

, South African middle-distance runner *September 16 –

Lukáš Melich Lukáš Melich (; born 16 September 1980 in Jilemnice) is a male hammer thrower from the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered ...

, Czech hammer thrower *September 25 –

Jennifer Joyce Jennifer Joyce (born September 25, 1980 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian hammer thrower. While growing up outside of Vancouver, Joyce excelled in multiple sports as a child. In addition to athletics, she participated in soccer and vol ...

, Canadian hammer thrower *September 28 – Maurice Smith, Jamaican decathlete *October 7 – Clarissa Claretti, Italian hammer thrower *October 7 – Olesya Zykina, Russian track and field athlete *October 16 – Maureen Griffin, American hammer thrower *October 26 –

Deriba Merga Deriba Merga Ejigu ( am, ደርባ መርጋ አጅጉ; born 26 October 1980) is an Ethiopian professional long-distance runner. He mainly competes in the marathon. He finished fourth in that event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and went on to win ...

, Ethiopian long-distance runner *November 9 – Tamicka Clarke, Bahamian sprinter *November 14 – Naoko Sakamoto, Japanese long-distance runner *November 19 –

Yipsi Moreno Yipsi Moreno González (born November 19, 1980, in Camagüey) is a Cuban hammer thrower. She is a triple world champion and Olympic gold medalist, a former world junior record holder and current area record holder. In 2016, after the 2008 Ol ...

, Cuban hammer thrower *November 24 – Zoe Derham, English hammer thrower *December 12 –

Dejene Berhanu Dejene Berhanu (December 12, 1980 – August 29, 2010) was a male Ethiopian runner, who specialized in the 5000 metres. Berhanu finished 11th in the short race at the 2004 World Cross Country Championships and fifth in the 5000 at the Athens ...

, Ethiopian runner *December 13 – Venera Getova, Bulgarian discus thrower *December 17 – Alexandra Papageorgiou, Greek hammer thrower

Deaths

*February 11 –

Paavo Yrjölä Paavo Ilmari Yrjölä (18 June 1902 in Hämeenkyrö – 11 February 1980 in Vilppula), also known as the ''Bear of Hämeenkyrö'' (''Hämeenkyrön karhu''), was a Finnish track and field athlete who won the gold medal in the decathlon at the ...

(77), Finnish decathlete (b. 1902) *February 21 – Mario Lanzi (63), Italian middle-distance runner (b. 1914) *March 31 –

Jesse Owens James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens (September 12, 1913March 31, 1980) was an American track and field athlete who won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games. Owens specialized in the sprints and the long jump and was recognized in his lifet ...

(66), American sprinter (b. 1913) *May 9 – Rolf Hansen (73), Norwegian long-distance runner (b. 1906) *December 24 – Heikki Liimatainen (86), Finnish long-distance runner (b. 1894)

References

Year Lists

{{DEFAULTSORT:1980 In Athletics (Track And Field) *

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 ...

Athletics (track and field) by year