1980 in the sport of athletics

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• Olympic Games
• Paralympic Games
• World Cross Country Championships
• World Championships in Athletics
• Liberty Bell Classic (Olympic Boycott Games)
• Gymnasiade

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• CARIFTA Games
• CAC Junior Championships
• Pan American Junior Championships
• South American Junior Championships
• European Indoor Championships
• European Champion Clubs Cup Cross Country
• European Champion Clubs Cup
• Islamic Games
• Balkan Games

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• January 1 – Masumi Aya, Japanese hammer thrower
• January 2 – Yusuke Yachi, Japanese race walker
• January 7 – Lívia Tóth, Hungarian distance runner
• January 8 – Mitsuhiro Sato, Japanese sprinter
• January 11 – Li Xiaoxue, Chinese hammer thrower
• January 19 – Matic Osovnikar, Slovenian sprinter
• January 21 – Elva Goulbourne, Jamaican long jumper
• January 25 – Christian Olsson, Swedish athlete
• January 27 – Naleya Downer, Jamaican sprinter
• January 31 – Joel Brown, American hurdler
• January 31 – Adriana Pirtea, Romanian long-distance runner
• February 3 – Markus Esser, German hammer thrower
• February 3 – Sini Pöyry, Finnish hammer thrower
• February 4 – Yared Asmerom, Eritrean long-distance runner
• February 4 – Gary Kikaya, Congolese sprinter
• February 7 – Emma Ania, British sprinter
• February 11 – Karin Ruckstuhl, Dutch heptathlete
• February 13 – Tetyana Holovchenko, Ukrainian distance runner
• February 13 – Irina Naumenko, Kazakhstani heptathlete
• February 20 – Bram Som, Dutch track and field athlete
• February 21 – Takayuki Matsumiya, Japanese long-distance runner
• February 24 – Aki Heikkinen, Finnish decathlete
• February 25 – Marisa Barros, Portuguese long-distance runner
• February 26 – Irina Butor, Belarusian heptathlete
• March 3 – Nikolett Szabó, Hungarian javelin thrower
• March 7 – Olli-Pekka Karjalainen, Finnish hammer thrower
• March 12 – California Molefe, Botswanan athlete
• March 15 – Kim Il-Nam, North Korean long-distance runner
• March 19 – Justus Koech, Kenyan middle-distance runner
• March 23 – Teja Melink, Slovenian pole vaulter
• March 30 – Amélie Perrin, Franch hammer thrower
• April 6 – Tommi Evilä, Finnish long jumper
• April 13 – Boštjan Buč, Slovenian track and field athlete
• April 17 – Igors Kazakevičs, Latvian race walker
• April 18 – Wojciech Kondratowicz, Polish hammer thrower
• April 19 – Gudisa Shentema, Ethiopian long-distance runner
• May 1 – Inês Henriques, Portuguese race walker
• May 2 – Chris Boyles, American decathlete
• May 2 – Ronetta Smith, Jamaican sprinter
• May 10 – Mayumi Kawasaki, Japanese race walker
• May 14 – Eugène Martineau, Dutch decathlete
• May 17 – Tatyana Sibileva, Russian race walker
• May 20 – Chinatsu Mori, Japanese shot putter (d. 2006)
• May 23 – Ri Kum-Song, North Korean long-distance runner
• June 2 – Shingo Suetsugu, Japanese track and field athlete
• June 8 – Vânia Silva, Portuguese hammer thrower
• June 13 – Alistair Cragg, Irish distance runner
• June 17 – Shitaye Gemechu, Ethiopian long-distance runner
• June 19 – Sanjay Ayre, Jamaican athlete
• July 5 – Park Ju-Young, South Korean long-distance runner
• July 8 – Noraldo Palacios, Colombian javelin thrower
• July 9 – Brooke Krueger, Australian hammer thrower
• July 12 – Mikko Kyyrö, Finnish discus thrower
• July 17 – Rashid Ramzi, Moroccan athlete
• July 24 – Wilfred Bungei, Kenyan middle-distance runner
• July 27 – Alena Neumiarzhitskaya, Belarusian sprinter
• July 31 – Masato Naito, Japanese hurdler
• August 11 – Monika Pyrek, Polish pole vaulter
• August 23 – Bronwyn Eagles, Australian hammer thrower
• August 23 – Roisin McGettigan, Irish distance runner
• August 24 – Shani Marks, American triple jumper
• August 29 – Perdita Felicien, Canadian track and field athlete
• September 6 – Nailiya Yulamanova, Russian long-distance runner
• September 6 – Gulnara Vygovskaya, Russian long-distance runner
• September 8 – Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, South African middle-distance runner
• September 16 – Lukáš Melich, Czech hammer thrower
• September 25 – Jennifer Joyce, Canadian hammer thrower
• September 28 – Maurice Smith, Jamaican decathlete
• October 7 – Clarissa Claretti, Italian hammer thrower
• October 7 – Olesya Zykina, Russian track and field athlete
• October 16 – Maureen Griffin, American hammer thrower
• October 26 – Deriba Merga, Ethiopian long-distance runner
• November 9 – Tamicka Clarke, Bahamian sprinter
• November 14 – Naoko Sakamoto, Japanese long-distance runner
• November 19 – Yipsi Moreno, Cuban hammer thrower
• November 24 – Zoe Derham, English hammer thrower
• December 12 – Dejene Berhanu, Ethiopian runner
• December 13 – Venera Getova, Bulgarian discus thrower
• December 17 – Alexandra Papageorgiou, Greek hammer thrower

• February 11 – Paavo Yrjölä (77), Finnish decathlete (b. 1902)
• February 21 – Mario Lanzi (63), Italian middle-distance runner (b. 1914)
• March 31 – Jesse Owens (66), American sprinter (b. 1913)
• May 9 – Rolf Hansen (73), Norwegian long-distance runner (b. 1906)
• December 24 – Heikki Liimatainen (86), Finnish long-distance runner (b. 1894)

• [http://www.apulanta.fi/matti/yu/yl/ Year Lists]
• [https://arrs.run/MaraRank/ATM_Mara1980.htm Association of Road Racing Statisticians]
• [https://www.arrs.run/YearRank.htm 1980 Year Rankings]
• [http://digilander.libero.it/atletica2/Stagionali/WRL/1980/Index.htm Year Rankings]

{{1980 in athletics}}

{{Years in Athletics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1980 In Athletics (Track And Field)}}

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Athletics

Category:Athletics (track and field) by year