1981 in the sport of athletics

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

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)