1982 in the sport of athletics

This article contains an overview of the year 1982 in athletics.

International Events

 * African Championships
 * Asian Games
 * Central American and Caribbean Championships
 * Commonwealth Games
 * European Championships
 * European Indoor Championships
 * World Cross Country Championships

Women

 * Marlies Göhr (GDR) equals her own world record in the women's 100 metres, clocking 10.88 seconds on 1982-07-06 at a meet in Karl-Marx-Stadt.

January

 * January 2 – Athanasia Tsoumeleka, Greek race walker
 * January 3 – Eşref Apak, Turkish hammer thrower
 * January 5 – Vadims Vasiļevskis, Latvian athlete
 * January 12 – Dimitrios Tsiamis, Greek triple jumper
 * January 24 – Hamdi Dhouibi, Tunisian decathlete

February

 * February 2 – Dorcus Inzikuru, Ugandan athlete
 * February 7 – Rumyana Karapetrova, Bulgarian javelin thrower
 * February 8 – Iryna Shtanhyeyeva, Ukrainian sprinter
 * February 9 – Zersenay Tadese, Eritrean athlete
 * February 10 – Justin Gatlin, American athlete
 * February 18 – Krisztián Pars, Hungarian hammer thrower

March

 * March 1 – Leryn Franco, Paraguayan javelin thrower
 * March 14 – Yuleidis Limonta, Cuban heptathlete
 * March 16 – Inga Kožarenoka, Latvian javelin thrower
 * March 25 – Kayoko Fukushi, Japanese long-distance runner
 * March 31 – Janice Josephs, South African heptathlete

April

 * April 15 – Jean-Jacques Nkouloukidi, Italian race walker
 * April 20 – Arnoud Okken, Dutch middle-distance runner
 * April 20 – Dennis Leyckes, German decathlete
 * April 25 – Victoria Mitchell, Australian long-distance runner

May

 * May 6 – Dilshod Nazarov, Tajikistani hammer thrower
 * May 10 – Yochai Halevi, Israeli long jumper and triple jumper
 * May 12 – Marvin Anderson, Jamaican sprinter
 * May 15 – Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jamaican athlete
 * May 20 – Mihail Stamatoyiannis, Greek shot putter
 * May 25 – Ezekiel Kemboi, Kenyan athlete
 * May 30 – Phaustin Baha Sulle, Tanzanian long-distance runner

June

 * June 3 – Yelena Isinbayeva, Russian pole vaulter
 * June 5 – Fabiano Peçanha, Brazilian middle-distance runner
 * June 11 – Vanessa Boslak, French pole vaulter
 * June 13 – Kenenisa Bekele, Ethiopian distance runner
 * June 25 – Esther Dankwah, Ghanaian sprinter

July

 * July 8 – Park Chil-Sung, South Korean race walker
 * July 14 – Vyacheslav Muravyev, Kazakhstani sprinter
 * July 23 – Thaimara Rivas, Venezuelan heptathlete

August

 * August 5 – Jo Ankier, British long-distance runner
 * August 9 – Robert Häggblom, Finnish shot putter
 * August 9 – Byron Piedra, Ecuadorian distance runner
 * August 31 – Lien Huyghebaert, Belgian athlete

September

 * September 11 – Elvan Abeylegesse, Ethiopian-born Turkish track and field athlete
 * September 15 – Matthew Boyles, American race walker
 * September 29 – Salome Chepchumba, Kenyan middle-distance runner

October

 * October 25 – Aarik Wilson, American long jumper and triple jumper

November

 * November 4 – Kamila Skolimowska, Polish hammer thrower (d. 2009)
 * November 6 – Loree Smith, American hammer thrower
 * November 9 – Eloise Wellings, Australian long-distance runner
 * November 11 – Ivan Babaryka, Ukrainian long-distance runner
 * November 11 – Asafa Powell, Jamaican sprinter
 * November 29 – Andrei Chubsa, Belarusian high jumper

December

 * December 2 – Morten Jensen, Danish long jumper
 * December 11 – Darren Gilford, Maltese athlete
 * December 25 – Samson Ramadhani, Tanzanian long-distance runner

Deaths

 * April 26 – Ville Ritola (86), Finnish Olympic gold medal runner (b. 1896)
 * June 25 – Ed Hamm (76), American athlete (b. 1906)
 * June 28 – Wiesław Maniak (41), Polish sprinter (b. 1938)
 * August 4 – Henk van der Wal (95), Dutch track and field athlete (b. 1886)