1981 IAAF World Cross Country Championships

The 1981 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Madrid, Spain, at the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela on March 28, 1981. A report on the event was given in the Glasgow Herald.

Complete results for men, junior men, women, medallists, and the results of British athletes were published.

Senior men's race (12 km)

 * Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

Junior men's race (7.25 km)

 * Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

Senior women's race (4.41 km)

 * Note: Athletes in parentheses did not score for the team result

Medal table (unofficial)

 * Note: Totals include both individual and team medals, with medals in the team competition counting as one medal.

Participation
An unofficial count yields the participation of 460 athletes from 39 countries. This is in agreement with the official numbers as published.


 * (15)
 * (14)
 * (15)
 * 🇦🇹 (6)
 * (21)
 * (21)
 * (2)
 * (16)
 * (21)
 * 🇪🇹 ethiopia (8)
 * 🇫🇮 (13)
 * (20)
 * (8)
 * (2)
 * 🇮🇪 (21)
 * 🇮🇱 (3)
 * (20)
 * 🇰🇪 (9)
 * (1)
 * 🇱🇺 (1)
 * 🇲🇦 (5)
 * (14)
 * (15)
 * (10)
 * 🇳🇴 (6)
 * (7)
 * (21)
 * 🇷🇴 romania (1)
 * (14)
 * (20)
 * (19)
 * 🇪🇸 spain (21)
 * (1)
 * (6)
 * 🇹🇳 (13)
 * 🇹🇷 (1)
 * (21)
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (20)
 * (8)