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)