1978 in athletics
← 1977
1979 →

In 1978, the foremost international competitions in the sport of athletics were the 1978 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the 1978 European Athletics Championships.[1][2] High-profile athletics competitions were also held at the 1978 Commonwealth Games, the 1978 All-Africa Games and the 1978 Asian Games.[3][4][5]

Among the most prominent athletes that year was Kenya's Henry Rono who, in the space of 81 days, broke four world records: the 10,000 m (27:22.5), the 5000 m (13:08.4), the 3000 m steeplechase (8:05.4), and the 3000 m (7:32.1).[6][7] In the course of the season East German Marita Koch also broke a world record four times, running 22.06 for the 200 m and breaking the 400 m three times, concluding the run with a time of 48.94 to win the European title.[8]

Major Events

World

Regional

National

Marathons

World records

Men

Event Performance Athlete Nation Meeting Place Date
3000 m7:32.1Henry Rono KenyaOslo1978-06-27
5000 m13:08.4Henry Rono KenyaBerkeley1978-04-08
10,000 m27:22.47Henry Rono KenyaVienna1978-06-11
3000 m steeplechase8:05.4Henry Rono KenyaSeattle1978-05-13
High jump2.34Vladimir Yashchenko Soviet UnionTbilisi1978-06-16
Pole vault5.71Mike Tully United StatesCorvallis1978-05-19
Discus throw71.16Wolfgang Schmidt East GermanyBerlin1978-08-09
Hammer throw80.32Karl-Hans Riehm West GermanyHeidenheim1978-08-06
80.14Boris Zaitchouk Soviet UnionMoscow1978-07-09

Women

Event Performance Athlete Nation Meeting Place Date
200 m22.06Marita Koch East GermanyErfurt1978-05-28
400 m48.94Marita Koch East Germany1978 European Athletics ChampionshipsPrague1978-08-31
49.03Marita Koch East GermanyPotsdam1978-08-19
49.19Marita Koch East GermanyLeipzig1978-07-02
100 m hurdles12.48Grażyna Rabsztyn PolandFürth1978-06-10
400 m hurdles54.89Tatyana Zelentsova Soviet Union1978 European Athletics ChampionshipsPrague1978-09-02
4 × 100 metres relay42.27Johanna Klier
Monika Hamann
Carla Bodendorf
Marlies Göhr		 East GermanyPotsdam1978-08-19
High jump2.01Sara Simeoni ItalyBrescia1978-08-04
2.01Sara Simeoni Italy1978 European Athletics ChampionshipsPrague1978-08-31
Long jump7.09Vilma Bardauskienė Soviet Union1978 European Athletics ChampionshipsPrague1978-08-29
7.07Vilma Bardauskienė Soviet UnionKishinyov1978-08-18
Discus throw70.72Evelin Jahl East GermanyDresden1978-08-12

Season's bests

Best marks of the year
Event Men Women
Athlete Mark Notes Athlete Mark Notes
100 metres  Clancy Edwards (USA)
 Eddie Hart (USA)
 Steve Williams (USA)		10.07  Marlies Göhr (GDR)10.94
200 metres  Clancy Edwards (USA)20.03  Marita Koch (GDR)22.06WR
400 metres  Alberto Juantorena (CUB)44.27  Marita Koch (GDR)48.94WR
800 metres  Olaf Beyer (GDR)1:43.84  Tatyana Providokhina (URS)1:55.80
1500 metres  David Moorcroft (GBR)3:35.48  Giana Romanova (URS)3:59.01
Mile run  Thomas Wessinghage (FRG)3:52.50  Grete Waitz (NOR)4:26.90
3000 metres  Henry Rono (KEN)7:32.1WR  Grete Waitz (NOR)8:32.1
5000 metres  Henry Rono (KEN)13:08.4WR —
10,000 metres  Henry Rono (KEN)27:22.47WR —
Marathon  Shigeru So (JPN)2:09:05.6  Julie Brown (USA)2:36:23.1
100/110 metres hurdles  Greg Foster (USA)13.22  Grażyna Rabsztyn (POL)12.48WR
400 metres hurdles  Edwin Moses (USA)47.94  Tatyana Zelentsova (URS)54.89
3000 metres steeplechase  Henry Rono (KEN)8:05.4 —
High jump  Vladimir Yashchenko (URS)2.34 m  Sara Simeoni (ITA)2.01 mWR
Pole vault  Mike Tully (USA)5.71 mWR —
Long jump  Nenad Stekić (YUG)8.32 m  Vilma Bardauskienė (URS)7.09 mWR
Triple jump  João Carlos de Oliveira (BRA)17.44 m —
Shot put  Udo Beyer (GDR)22.15 m  Ilona Slupianek (GDR)22.06 m
Discus throw  Wolfgang Schmidt (GDR)71.16 mWR  Evelin Jahl (GDR)70.72 mWR
Hammer throw  Karl-Hans Riehm (URS)80.32 mWR —
Javelin throw  Michael Wessing (FRG)94.22 m  Ruth Fuchs (GDR)69.16 m
Decathlon  Guido Kratschmer (FRG)8493 pts —
4 × 100 metres relay Tobias Striders
 Guy Abrahams (PAN)
 Michael Simmons (USA)
 Don Quarrie (JAM)
 James Gilkes (GUY)		38.55  East Germany
Johanna Klier
Monika Hamann
Carla Bodendorf
Marlies Göhr		42.27WR
4 × 400 metres relay  West Germany
Martin Weppler
Franz-Peter Hofmeister
Bernd Herrmann
Harald Schmid		3:02.03  East Germany
Christiane Marquardt
Barbara Krug
Christina Lathan
Marita Koch		3:21.20

Notes

  1. ↑ IAAF World Cross Country Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  2. ↑ European Athletics Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  3. ↑ All-Africa Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  4. ↑ Commonwealth Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  5. ↑ Asian Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved 2023-08-07.
  6. ↑ Payne, Bob (November 12, 1978). "Henry Rono: Rival runners know he's world's greatest". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). p. C1.
  7. ↑ Marshall, Joe (December 3, 1979). "Rono is all revved for Moscow". Sports Illustrated. p. 98.
  8. ↑ Matti Koskimies (1 January 2012). "World Record Progression (Women)". Retrieved 12 January 2012.

References

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