1980 in the sport of athletics

This article contains an overview of the year 1980 in athletics. 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 competition.

A further global event, the 1980 World Championships in Athletics, was held specifically for women athletes in the 400 metres hurdles and 3000 metres disciplines, as neither event featured on the Olympic programme in spite of IAAF approval.

World

 * Olympic Games
 * Paralympic Games
 * World Cross Country Championships
 * World Championships in Athletics
 * Liberty Bell Classic (Olympic Boycott Games)
 * Gymnasiade

Regional

 * CARIFTA Games
 * CAC Junior Championships
 * Pan American Junior Championships
 * South American Junior Championships
 * European Indoor Championships
 * European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country
 * European Champion Clubs Cup
 * Islamic Games
 * Balkan Games

Births

 * January 1 – Masumi Aya, Japanese hammer thrower
 * January 2 – Yusuke Yachi, Japanese race walker
 * January 7 – Lívia Tóth, Hungarian distance runner
 * January 8 – Mitsuhiro Sato, 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, American hurdler
 * January 31 – Adriana Pirtea, Romanian long-distance runner
 * February 3 – Markus Esser, German hammer thrower
 * February 3 – Sini Pöyry, Finnish hammer thrower
 * February 4 – Yared Asmerom, Eritrean long-distance runner
 * February 4 – Gary Kikaya, Congolese sprinter
 * February 7 – Emma Ania, 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, Dutch track and field athlete
 * February 21 – Takayuki Matsumiya, Japanese long-distance runner
 * February 24 – Aki Heikkinen, Finnish decathlete
 * February 25 – Marisa Barros, 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, Botswanan athlete
 * March 15 – Kim Il-Nam, North Korean long-distance runner
 * March 19 – Justus Koech, Kenyan middle-distance runner
 * March 23 – Teja Melink, Slovenian pole vaulter
 * March 30 – Amélie Perrin, Franch hammer thrower
 * April 6 – Tommi Evilä, Finnish long jumper
 * April 13 – Boštjan Buč, 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, Portuguese race walker
 * May 2 – Chris Boyles, American decathlete
 * May 2 – Ronetta Smith, Jamaican sprinter
 * May 10 – Mayumi Kawasaki, 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, Japanese track and field athlete
 * June 8 – Vânia Silva, Portuguese hammer thrower
 * June 13 – Alistair Cragg, Irish distance runner
 * June 17 – Shitaye Gemechu, 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, Australian hammer thrower
 * July 12 – Mikko Kyyrö, Finnish discus thrower
 * July 17 – Rashid Ramzi, Moroccan athlete
 * July 24 – Wilfred Bungei, Kenyan middle-distance runner
 * July 27 – Alena Neumiarzhitskaya, Belarusian sprinter
 * July 31 – Masato Naito, 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, 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, South African middle-distance runner
 * September 16 – Lukáš Melich, Czech hammer thrower
 * September 25 – Jennifer Joyce, 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, Ethiopian long-distance runner
 * November 9 – Tamicka Clarke, Bahamian sprinter
 * November 14 – Naoko Sakamoto, Japanese long-distance runner
 * November 19 – Yipsi Moreno, Cuban hammer thrower
 * November 24 – Zoe Derham, English hammer thrower
 * December 12 – Dejene Berhanu, Ethiopian runner
 * December 13 – Venera Getova, Bulgarian discus thrower
 * December 17 – Alexandra Papageorgiou, Greek hammer thrower

Deaths

 * February 11 – Paavo Yrjölä (77), Finnish decathlete (b. 1902)
 * February 21 – Mario Lanzi (63), Italian middle-distance runner (b. 1914)
 * March 31 – Jesse Owens (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)