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]
Event | Performance | Athlete | Nation | Meeting | Place | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3000 m | 7:32.1 | Henry Rono | Kenya | Oslo | 1978-06-27 | |
5000 m | 13:08.4 | Henry Rono | Kenya | Berkeley | 1978-04-08 | |
10,000 m | 27:22.47 | Henry Rono | Kenya | Vienna | 1978-06-11 | |
3000 m steeplechase | 8:05.4 | Henry Rono | Kenya | Seattle | 1978-05-13 | |
High jump | 2.34 | Vladimir Yashchenko | Soviet Union | Tbilisi | 1978-06-16 | |
Pole vault | 5.71 | Mike Tully | United States | Corvallis | 1978-05-19 | |
Discus throw | 71.16 | Wolfgang Schmidt | East Germany | Berlin | 1978-08-09 | |
Hammer throw | 80.32 | Karl-Hans Riehm | West Germany | Heidenheim | 1978-08-06 | |
80.14 | Boris Zaitchouk | Soviet Union | Moscow | 1978-07-09 |
Event | Performance | Athlete | Nation | Meeting | Place | Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
200 m | 22.06 | Marita Koch | East Germany | Erfurt | 1978-05-28 | |
400 m | 48.94 | Marita Koch | East Germany | 1978 European Athletics Championships | Prague | 1978-08-31 |
49.03 | Marita Koch | East Germany | Potsdam | 1978-08-19 | ||
49.19 | Marita Koch | East Germany | Leipzig | 1978-07-02 | ||
100 m hurdles | 12.48 | Grażyna Rabsztyn | Poland | Fürth | 1978-06-10 | |
400 m hurdles | 54.89 | Tatyana Zelentsova | Soviet Union | 1978 European Athletics Championships | Prague | 1978-09-02 |
4 × 100 metres relay | 42.27 | Johanna Klier Monika Hamann Carla Bodendorf Marlies Göhr | East Germany | Potsdam | 1978-08-19 | |
High jump | 2.01 | Sara Simeoni | Italy | Brescia | 1978-08-04 | |
2.01 | Sara Simeoni | Italy | 1978 European Athletics Championships | Prague | 1978-08-31 | |
Long jump | 7.09 | Vilma Bardauskienė | Soviet Union | 1978 European Athletics Championships | Prague | 1978-08-29 |
7.07 | Vilma Bardauskienė | Soviet Union | Kishinyov | 1978-08-18 | ||
Discus throw | 70.72 | Evelin Jahl | East Germany | Dresden | 1978-08-12 |
Athletics is a group of sporting events that involves competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking. The most common types of athletics competitions are track and field, road running, cross-country running, and racewalking.
Henry Rono is a Kenyan retired track and field athlete who specialised in various long-distance running events. Although he never competed at the Olympics, Rono is remembered as one of the most prolific collegiate competitors in the history of track in the United States, as well as being the former record holder for the 3000 metres steeplechase for over a decade. Rono also set the world record for the 5000 metres twice: once in 1978, then again in 1981.
Andrew Lemoncello is a Scottish long distance runner who competes in the 3000 metres steeplechase and the marathon events. He won a team junior gold medal at the 2001 European Cross Country Championships and won a scholarship to attend Florida State University in 2004. At Florida State he was second in the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship in the steeplechase.
John Bryan Bronson is an American 400-meter hurdler, who won the bronze medal at the 1997 World Championships in Athens. He also represented his country at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He won three consecutive titles at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships from 1996 to 1998.
Nicholas Henry Rose is a British former international track and field athlete. He competed in a variety of middle-distance and long-distance running events. He is the current European record holder in the 10K run (road), and British record holder in the 4×1 mile relay event. He set the world record in the half-marathon in 1979. His personal best in the half-marathon is 1:01:03, the second fastest British time after Steve Jones. He also held the British record in the indoor 2 miles event with 8:18.4—a record which stood for 24 years exactly.
Kathy Butler is a long-distance runner who competes in the 10,000 metres and marathon, as well as cross country running and road running. Born in Scotland, she has competed internationally for both Great Britain and Canada.
This article contains an overview of the year 1995 in athletics.
This article contains an overview of the year 1996 in athletics.
This article contains an overview of the year 1997 in athletics.
This article contains an overview of the year 1979 in athletics.
In India, the sport of athletics was introduced during the period of the British Raj. The sport is governed at national level by the Athletics Federation of India, which was formed in 1946. Despite its large population, few Indian athletes have won a medal in a global or major championship. This began to change in the 21st century, when Indians started taking greater interest in athletics more generally and improved facilities for the sport began to be built at a local level. At a continental level, it has been among the more successful Asian nations, though some distance behind China and Japan.
In 2013, the foremost competition in athletics was the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow. The International Association of Athletics Federations will hold two other global level competitions this year: the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics. The IAAF World Cross Country Championships will return after its move to a biennial format.
Patrick Tiernan is an Australian long-distance runner. While competing for Vilanova University, he won the 2016 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships. He has represented Australia in several global competitions, including the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. He held the Australian record in the 10000 m from 2020 to 2022. Tiernan competes professionally for PUMA.
George Kiprotich "Kip" Rono is a Kenyan former steeplechase runner. He won a gold medal in the event at the 1979 African Championships in Athletics and was the first African steeplechase winner at the 1979 IAAF World Cup.
Leleith Hodges is a Jamaican former track and field sprinter who competed mainly in the 100 metres. She was one of Jamaica's most prominent female runners of the 1970s.
Emma Bates is an American long-distance runner, who competes primarily in the marathon. Her achievements include winning the USA Marathon Championships in 2018, placing second in the 2021 Chicago Marathon, and finishing fifth in the 2023 Boston Marathon. Bates also represented the United States in the marathon at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, where she set a personal best of 2:23.18 and finished seventh. Her highest position on the World Athletics Rankings was No. 14 in the marathon in 2022.
John Barry Nuttall was a British male long-distance runner who competed in track and cross country running. He competed for Great Britain at the 1996 Summer Olympics. He also represented his country twice at the World Championships in Athletics and five times at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. He was a silver medallist at the 1994 IAAF World Cup and a bronze medallist at the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
Leonard Essau Korir is a Kenyan-born American long-distance runner who competes over distances from 5000 meters to the marathon. He is a two-time NCAA champion, winning an indoor 5000 m title and outdoor 10,000 meters title in 2011 for the Iona Gaels. He gained United States citizenship and began competing for his adoptive nation in 2016.
Charlton Ehizuelen is a Nigerian former track and field athlete who competed in the long jump and triple jump. He set personal bests of 8.26 m and 16.82 m for the events, respectively. The latter mark from 1975 remains the Nigerian indoor record.
Ann Ford is an English former middle and long-distance runner. She finished in the top ten at five IAAF World Cross Country Championships, including fourth-place finishes in 1974 and 1976. She also won a World Cross Country Championship team gold medal in 1974 and a bronze medal in 1979 and 1982. She was also a team winner at the International Cross Country Championships in 1972.