Medal summary
Men
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 200 metres |  Calvin Smith (USA) | 20.54 | Kirk Baptiste (USA) | 20.57 |  Desai Williams (CAN) | 20.76 |
| 400 metres | Mike Franks (USA) | 44.87 | Ray Armstead (USA) | 45.24 | Mark Rowe (USA) | 45.56 |
| 1500 metres |  José Manuel Abascal (ESP) | 3:36.21 |  Omer Khalifa (SUD) | 3:36.45 | Steve Scott (USA) | 3:36.88 |
| 5000 metres | Doug Padilla (USA) | 13:27.79 | Sydney Maree (USA) | 13:28.04 |  Thomas Wessinghage (FRG) | 13:29.01 |
| 110 m hurdles | Tonie Campbell (USA) | 13.27 | Andre Phillips (USA) | 13.29 | Sam Turner (USA) | 13.44 |
| Pole vault |  Sergey Bubka (URS) | 5.85 m |  Thierry Vigneron (FRA) | 5.80 m | Aleksandr Krupskiy (URS) Pierre Quinon (FRA) | 5.70 m |
| Long jump | Mike Conley, Sr. (USA) | 8.22 m | Larry Myricks (USA) | 8.22 m |  László Szalma (HUN) | 8.11 m |
| Discus throw |  Imrich Bugár (TCH) | 66.26 m |  Knut Hjeltnes (NOR) | 64.60 m | Géjza Valent (TCH) | 63.44 m |
| Javelin throw | Tom Petranoff (USA) | 90.80 m | Duncan Atwood (USA) | 90.30 m |  Dave Ottley (GBR) | 84.32 m |
Women
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres | Florence Griffith (USA) | 11.00 | Alice Brown (USA) | 11.04 |  Merlene Ottey (JAM) | 11.09 |
| 800 metres | Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH) | 1:59.09 | Milena Strnadová (TCH) | 2:00.09 | Kirsty McDermott (GBR) | 2:00.23 |
| 3000 metres | Mary Slaney (USA) | 8:25.83 |  Maricica Puică (ROM) | 8:27.83 | Zola Budd (GBR) | 8:28.83 |
| 400 m hurdles | Judi Brown-King (USA) | 54.38 |  Debbie Flintoff (AUS) | 54.80 | Tonja Brown (USA) | 54.86 |
| High jump |  Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) | 2.00 m | Louise Ritter (USA) | 1.98 m | Tamara Bykova (URS) | 1.95 m |
| Long jump | Jackie Joyner (USA) | 6.91 m | Galina Chistyakova (URS) | 6.83 m | Carol Lewis (USA) | 6.73 m |
| Shot put | Mihaela Loghin (ROM) | 20.82 m | Helena Fibingerová (TCH) | 20.32 m | Natalya Lisovskaya (URS) | 19.86 m |
