2011 in the sport of athletics

In 2011, the foremost athletics event was the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu. The other major global level competition held in 2011 was the World Cross Country Championships.

The 2011 season marked the re-establishment of the African Cross Country Championships, an event created in response to the change of the World Cross Championships from an annual to a biennial format. It was also the first year since 1992 that the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was not held, as that competition also switched to a two-year schedule.

World

 * World Championships in Athletics
 * World Cross Country Championships
 * IAAF Diamond League
 * World Youth Championships in Athletics
 * IPC Athletics World Championships
 * World Student Games
 * Military World Games

Regional

 * CAC Championships
 * NACAC Cross Country Championships
 * Pan American Games
 * Pan American Junior Championships
 * South American Championships
 * South American Cross Country Championships
 * European Indoor Championships
 * European Cross Country Championships
 * European Team Championships
 * European U23 Championships
 * European Junior Championships
 * European Youth Olympic Festival
 * Commonwealth Youth Games
 * Asian Championships
 * Pan Arab Games
 * Southeast Asian Games
 * All-Africa Games
 * African Junior Championships
 * African Cross Country Championships

Season's bests

 * † = Russia's Anastasiya Kapachinskaya ran 49.35 in July in at the Russian National Championships in Cheboksary, but this was annulled after she later failed a drug test.
 * † = Russia's Mariya Abakumova threw 71.99, a championship record, at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, but this was annulled after she later failed a drug test.
 * † = Croatia's Sandra Perković had a throw of 69.99 m in June in Varaždin, but this was annulled after she later failed a drug test.
 * † = Russia's Tatyana Chernova accumulated 6880 points at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, but this was annulled after she later failed a drug test.

Deaths

 * 3 January – Zbigniew Jaremski (61), 400 m relay silver medallist at the 1976 Olympics
 * 16 January – Stefka Yordanova (64), 1973 European indoor champion over 800 m
 * 3 February – Robert Young (95), 400 m relay silver medallist at the 1936 Olympics
 * 5 February – Albert Yator (17), Kenyan world junior steeplechase medalist
 * 13 February – Inese Jaunzeme (78), javelin thrower and Latvia's first Olympic champion
 * 19 February – Ollie Matson (70), 400 m runner and 1952 Olympic medallist
 * 25 February – Peter Hildreth (82), 1950 European Championships medallist in the hurdles
 * 14 March – Eduard Gushchin (60), 1968 Olympic medallist in the shot put
 * 19 April – Grete Waitz (57), distance runner and world champion and record holder in the marathon
 * 16 May – Samuel Wanjiru (24), first Kenyan to win the Olympic marathon and a former half marathon world record holder
 * 28 May – Romuald Klim (78), 1964 Olympic champion and former world record holder in the hammer throw
 * 30 May – Ricky Bruch, (64) former world record holder in the discus throw
 * 6 June – Benjamín González (53), World and European indoor medallist over 400 and 800 metres
 * 10 June – Cosimo Caliandro (29), 3000 metres gold medallist at the 2007 European Indoors
 * 10 July – Ragnar Lundberg (86), pole vaulter and 1950 European champion
 * 12 July – Kurt Lundquist (85), 400 m runner and 1948 Olympic relay medallist
 * 17 August – Pierre Quinon (49), 1984 Olympic pole vault champion
 * 2 October – Vera Popkova (68), 1971 European indoor champion over 400 metres
 * 13 October – Abdoulaye Seye (77), sprinter and 1960 Olympic medallist over 200 m
 * 12 December – Sunday Bada (42), 1997 World indoor champion over 400 metres and Olympic relay gold medallist