1985 in the sport of athletics

This article contains an overview of the year 1985 in the sport of athletics.

International Events

 * African Championships
 * Asian Championships
 * Balkan Games
 * Bolivarian Games
 * Central American and Caribbean Championships
 * European Indoor Championships
 * South American Championships
 * Pan Arab Games
 * World Cross Country Championships
 * World Cup
 * World Indoor Games
 * World Student Games

Births

 * January 4 — Antar Zerguelaïne, Algerian middle distance runner
 * January 4 — Nataliya Zolotukhina, Ukrainian hammer thrower
 * January 6 — Nick Owens, American hammer thrower
 * February 10 — Mariya Smolyachkova, Belarusian hammer thrower
 * March 2 — Patrick Makau Musyoki, Kenyan distance runner
 * March 16 — Olexiy Sokyrskiyy, Ukrainian hammer thrower
 * March 19 — Sean Wroe, Australian sprinter
 * March 21 — Vladimir Kanaykin, Russian race walker
 * March 25 — Wilfried Bingangoye, Gabonese sprinter
 * April 6 — Anna Avdeyeva, Russian shot putter
 * April 7 — James Rendón, Colombian race walker
 * April 18 — Musa Amer Obaid, Kenyan-Qatari middle distance runner
 * May 4 — Henry Sugut, Kenyan long-distance runner
 * May 5 — Gu Junjie, Chinese triple jumper
 * May 21 — Mohsen El Anany, Egyptian hammer thrower
 * May 26 — Irina Petrova, Russian race walker
 * May 27 — Karina Vnukova, Lithuanian high jumper
 * May 31 — Kim Hyun-Sub, South Korean race walker
 * June 1 — Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopian long-distance runner
 * June 3 — Samwel Mwera, Tanzanian middle distance runner
 * June 15 — Susan McKelvie, Scottish hammer thrower
 * June 17 — Ozge Gurler, Turkish athlete
 * June 21 — Ryoko Kizaki, Japanese long-distance runner
 * July 29 — Anja Pollmächer, German sprinter
 * July 31 — Brimin Kipruto, Kenyan middle distance runner
 * August 26 — Oleksiy Kasyanov, Ukrainian decathlete
 * September 17 — Tracy-Ann Rowe, Jamaican sprinter
 * October 12 — Boniface Kiprop Toroitich, Ugandan athlete
 * November 14 — Andrey Krivov, Russian race walker
 * November 16 — Rogério Bispo, Brazilian long jumper
 * November 18 — Allyson Felix, American sprinter
 * December 1 — Andretti Bain, Bahamian sprinter
 * December 8 — Kim Deok-Hyeon, South Korean triple jumper
 * December 20 — Gilbert Kirwa, Kenyan marathon runner
 * December 26 — Carol Rodríguez, Puerto Rican sprinter

Deaths

 * March 4 — Sverre Strandli (59), Norwegian hammer thrower (b. 1925)
 * June 15 — Andy Stanfield (67), American athlete (b. 1927)
 * October 30 — Edgar Bruun (80), Norwegian race walker (b. 1905)