1985 in the sport of athletics

This page contains an overview of the year 1985 in athletics (track and field).

International Events

• African Championships
• Asian Championships
• Balkan Games
• Bolivarian Games
• Central American and Caribbean Championships
• European Indoor Championships
• South American Championships
• Pan Arab Games
• World Cross Country Championships
• World Indoor Games
• World Student Games

World records

Men

EVENT	ATHLETE	MARK	DATE	VENUE
Half Marathon	Steve Jones (GBR)	1:01:14	August 11	Birmingham, UK
	Mark Curp (USA)	1:00:55	September 15	Philadelphia, USA
Marathon	Carlos Lopes (POR)	2:07:12	April 20	Rotterdam, Netherlands
High Jump	Rudolf Povarnitsyn (URS)	2.40m	August 11	Donetsk, Soviet Union
	Igor Paklin (URS)	2.41m	September 4	Kobe, Japan
Shot Put	Ulf Timmermann (GDR)	22.62m	September 22	Berlin, Germany

Women

EVENT	ATHLETE	MARK	DATE	VENUE
400 metres	Marita Koch (GDR)	47.60	October 6	Canberra, Australia
5,000 metres	Zola Budd (GBR)	14:48.07	August 26	London, Great Britain
10,000 metres	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	30:59.42	July 27	Oslo, Norway
4x100m Relay	East Germany (GDR) • Silke Möller • Sabine Günther • Ingrid Auerswald • Marlies Göhr	41.37	October 6	Canberra, Australia
400m Hurdles	Sabine Busch (GDR)	53.55	September 22	East Berlin, East Germany

Men's Best Year Performers

100 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Carl Lewis (USA)	9.98
2.	Ben Johnson (CAN)	10.00
3.	Harvey Glance (USA)	10.05
4.	Frank Emmelmann (GDR)	10.06
5.	Terry Scott (USA)	10.08

200 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Lorenzo Daniel (USA)	20.07
2.	Kirk Baptiste (USA)	20.11
3.	Roy Martin (USA)	20.13
4.	Calvin Smith (USA)	20.14
5.	Mike Conley (USA)	20.21

400 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Michael Franks (USA)	44.47
2.	Thomas Schönlebe (GDR)	44.62
3.	Innocent Egbunike (NGR)	44.66
4.	Roddie Haley (USA)	44.67
5.	Darrell Robinson (USA)	44.71

800 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Joaquim Cruz (BRA)	1:42.49
2.	Johnny Gray (USA)	1:42.60
3.	Steve Cram (GBR)	1:42.88
4.	Sebastian Coe (GBR)	1:43.07
5.	David Mack (USA)	1:43.35

1,500 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	3:29.46
2.	Steve Cram (GBR)	3:29.67
3.	Sydney Maree (USA)	3:29.77
4.	José Luis González (ESP)	3:30.92
5.	José Manuel Abascal (ESP)	3:31.69

Mile

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Steve Cram (GBR)	3:46.32
2.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	3:46.92
3.	José Luis González (ESP)	3:47.79
4.	Sebastian Coe (GBR)	3:49.22
5.	Steve Scott (USA)	3:49.93

3,000 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	7:32.94
2.	Doug Padilla (USA)	7:38.25
3.	Steve Scott (USA)	7:38.53
4.	Thomas Wessinghage (FRG)	7:42.61
5.	Johan Fourie (RSA)	7:44.0

5,000 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Saïd Aouita (MAR)	13:00.40
2.	Sydney Maree (USA)	13:01.15
3.	Alberto Cova (ITA)	13:10.06
4.	Bruce Bickford (USA)	13:13.49
5.	Doug Padilla (USA)	13:15.44

10,000 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Bruce Bickford (USA)	27:37.17
2.	Mark Nenow (USA)	27:40.85
3.	Ed Eyestone (USA)	27:41.05
4.	Fernando Mamede (POR)	27:41.09
5.	Toshihiko Seko (JPN)	27:42.17

Half Marathon

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Mark Curp (USA)	1:00:55

110m Hurdles

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Roger Kingdom (USA)	13.14
2.	Greg Foster (USA)	13.24
3.	Andre Phillips (USA)	13.25
4.	Mark McKoy (CAN)	13.27
	Tonie Campbell (USA)

400m Hurdles

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Danny Harris (USA)	47.63
2.	Andre Phillips (USA)	47.67
3.	Harald Schmid (FRG)	47.85
4.	Aleksandr Vasiliyev (URS)	47.92
5.	Amadou Dia Bâ (SEN)	48.29

3,000m Steeplechase

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Henry Marsh (USA)	8:09.17
2.	Krzysztof Wesolowski (POL)	8:11.04
3.	Joseph Mahmoud (FRA)	8:11.07
4.	Rainer Schwarz (FRG)	8:11.93
5.	Graeme Fell (CAN)	8:12.58

High Jump

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Igor Paklin (URS)	2.41
2.	Rudolf Povarnitsyn (URS)	2.40
3.	Dietmar Mögenburg (FRG)	2.39
4.	Patrik Sjöberg (SWE)	2.38
5.	Eddy Annys (BEL)	2.36

Long Jump

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Carl Lewis (USA)	8.62
2.	Larry Myricks (USA)	8.44
3.	Jason Grimes (USA)	8.43
	Mike Conley (USA)
5.	Robert Emmiyan (URS)	8.30
	László Szalma (HUN)

Triple Jump

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Willie Banks (USA)	17.97
2.	Charles Simpkins (USA)	17.86
3.	Khristo Markov (BUL)	17.77
4.	Mike Conley (USA)	17.71
5.	Oleg Protsenko (URS)	17.69

Discus

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Imrich Bugár (TCH)	71.26
2.	Luis Delís (CUB)	70.00
3.	Jürgen Schult (GDR)	69.74
4.	Knut Hjeltnes (NOR)	69.62
5.	Juan Martínez (CUB)	69.32

Hammer

Main article: 1985 Hammer Throw Year Ranking

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Jüri Tamm (URS)	84.08
2.	Yuriy Syedikh (URS)	82.70
3.	Günther Rodehau (GDR)	82.64
4.	Christoph Sahner (FRG)	81.56
5.	Matthias Moder (GDR)	80.92

Shot Put

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Ulf Timmermann (GDR)	22.62
2.	Sergey Smirnov (URS)	22.05
3.	Alessandro Andrei (ITA)	21.95
4.	Remigius Machura (URS)	21.88
	Udo Beyer (GDR)

Javelin (old design)

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Uwe Hohn (GDR)	96.96
2.	Brian Crouser (USA)	95.10
3.	Duncan Atwood (USA)	94.06
4.	Viktor Yevsyukov (URS)	93.70
5.	Zdeněk Adamec (TCH)	92.94

Pole Vault

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Sergey Bubka (URS)	6.00
2.	Pierre Quinon (FRA)	5.90
3.	Joe Dial (USA)	5.85
4.	Vasiliy Bubka (URS)	5.80
	Mike Tully (USA)
	Thierry Vigneron (FRA)
	Pavel Bogatyryov (URS)
	Philippe Collet (FRA)
	Marian Kolasa (POL)

Decathlon

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.	Torsten Voss (GDR)	8559
2.	Uwe Freimuth (GDR)	8504
3.	Siegfried Wentz (FRG)	8440
4.	Aleksandr Nevskiy (URS)	8409
5.	John Sayre (USA)	8381

Women's Best Year Performers

100 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Marlies Göhr (GDR)	10.86
2.	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	10.92
3.	Marita Koch (GDR)	10.97
4.	Marina Zhirova (URS)	10.98
5.	Silke Möller (GDR)	10.99

200 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Marita Koch (GDR)	21.78
2.	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	21.93
3.	Valerie Brisco (USA)	21.98
4.	Silke Möller (GDR)	22.12
5.	Pam Marshall (USA)	22.39

400 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Marita Koch (GDR)	47.60
2.	Olga Bryzgina (URS)	48.27
3.	Valerie Brisco (USA)	49.56
4.	Mariya Pinigina (URS)	49.61
5.	Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH)	49.89

800 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ella Kovacs (ROU)	1:55.68
2.	Jarmila Kratochvílová (TCH)	1:55.91
3.	Ravilya Agletdinova (URS)	1:56.24
4.	Nadezhda Olizarenko (URS)	1:56.25
5.	Yekaterina Podkopayeva (URS)	1:56.65

1,500 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Mary Slaney (USA)	3:57.24
2.	Maricica Puică (ROU)	3:57.73
3.	Ravilya Agletdinova (URS)	3:58.40
4.	Natalya Artyomova (URS)	3:59.28
5.	Doina Melinte (ROU)	3:59.88

Mile

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Mary Slaney (USA)	4:16.71
2.	Maricica Puică (ROU)	4:17.33
3.	Zola Pieterse (GBR)	4:17.57
4.	Kirsty Wade (GBR)	4:19.41
5.	Ulrike Bruns (GDR)	4:21.59

3,000 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Mary Slaney (USA)	8:25.83
2.	Maricica Puică (ROU)	8:27.83
3.	Zola Pieterse (GBR)	8:28.83
4.	Zamira Zaytseva (URS)	8:35.74
5.	Ulrike Bruns (GDR)	8:36.51

5,000 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Zola Pieterse (GBR)	14:48.07
2.	Natalya Artyomova (URS)	14:54.08
3.	Olga Bondarenko (URS)	14:55.76
4.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	14:57.43
5.	Maricica Puică (ROU)	15:06.04

10,000 metres

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	30:59.42
2.	Olga Bondarenko (URS)	31:25.18
3.	Aurora Cunha (POR)	31:35.46
4.	Svetlana Guskova (URS)	31:57.80
5.	Lynn Jennings (USA)	32:03.37

Half Marathon

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Joan Benoit (USA)	1:09:44

100m Hurdles

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ginka Zagorcheva (BUL)	12.42
2.	Vera Akymova (URS)	12.59
3.	Svetlana Gusarova (URS)	12.61

400m Hurdles

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Sabine Busch (GDR)	53.33
2.	Genowefa Błaszak (POL)	54.27
3.	Tatyana Pavlova (URS)	54.34
4.	Marina Styepanova (URS)	54.37
5.	Judi Brown-King (USA)	54.38

High Jump

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Stefka Kostadinova (BUL)	2.06
2.	Tamara Bykova (URS)	2.02
3.	Silvia Costa (CUB)	2.01
4.	Charmaine Weavers (RSA)	2.00
	Louise Ritter (USA)

Long Jump

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Heike Drechsler (GDR)	7.44
2.	Yelena Khlopotnova (URS)	7.31
3.	Galina Chistyakova (URS)	7.28
4.	Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)	7.24
5.	Helga Radtke (GDR)	7.19

Shot Put

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Natalya Lisovskaya (URS)	21.73
2.	Natalya Akhrymenko (URS)	21.08
3.	Helena Fibingerová (TCH)	21.03
4.	Mihaela Loghin (ROU)	20.97
5.	Helma Knorscheidt (GDR)	20.79

Discus

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Galina Savinkova (URS)	72.96
2.	Zdeňka Šilhavá (TCH)	70.70
3.	Maritza Marten (CUB)	70.50
4.	Martina Hellmann (GDR)	69.78
5.	Florenţa Crăciunescu (ROU)	69.50

Javelin (old design)

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Petra Meier (GDR)	75.40
2.	Fatima Whitbread (GBR)	72.98
3.	Ivonne Leal (CUB)	71.82
4.	Tessa Sanderson (GBR)	71.18
5.	Tiina Lillak (FIN)	70.62

Heptathlon

RANK	1985 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.	Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)	6718
2.	Jane Frederick (USA)	6666
3.	Malgorzata Nowak (POL)	6616
4.	Sabine John (GDR)	6595
5.	Natalya Shubenkova (URS)	6510

Marathon

Year Rankings

Men

RANK	ATHLETE	TIME	DATE	EVENT
1.	Carlos Lopes (POR)	2:07.12 WR	April 20	Rotterdam, Netherlands
2.	Stephen Jones (WAL)	2:07.13	October 20	Chicago, United States
3.	Djama Robleh (DJI)	2:08.08	October 20	Chicago, United States
4.	Hussein Ahmed Salah (DJI)	2:08.09	April 14	Hiroshima, Japan
5.	Takeyuki Nakayama (JPN)	2:08.15	April 14	Hiroshima, Japan
6.	Stephen Jones (WAL)	2:08.16	April 21	London, United Kingdom
7.	Djama Robleh (DJI)	2:08.26	April 14	Hiroshima, Japan
8.	Charlie Spedding (ENG)	2:08.33	April 21	London, United Kingdom
9.	Robert de Castella (AUS)	2:08.48	October 20	Chicago, United States
10.	Mark Plaatjes (RSA)	2:08.58	May 4	Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Women

RANK	ATHLETE	TIME	DATE	EVENT
1.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	2:21:06 WR	April 21	London, United Kingdom
2.	Joan Samuelson (USA)	2:21:21	October 20	Chicago, United States
3.	Ingrid Kristiansen (NOR)	2:23:05	October 20	Chicago, United States
4.	Rosa Mota (POR)	2:23:29	October 20	Chicago, United States
5.	Carla Beurskens (NED)	2:27:50	October 20	Chicago, United States
6.	Veronique Marot (ENG)	2:28:04	October 20	Chicago, United States
7.	Sarah Rowell (ENG)	2:28:06	April 21	London, United Kingdom
8.	Carey May (IRL)	2:28:07	January 27	Osaka, Japan
9.	Grete Waitz (NOR)	2:28:34	April 21	New York, United States
10.	Sylvia Ruegger (CAN)	2:28:36	January 6	Houston, United States

National Champions

NATION	MEN'S WINNER	TIME	WOMEN'S WINNER	TIME	PLACE	DATE
Australia	Grenville Wood	2:13:37	Elizabeth Patmore	2:46:00	Sydney	June 9
Belgium	Frederik Vandervennet	2:15:49	Agnes Pardaens	2:42:25	Leuven	June 9
Canada	Roger Schwegel	2:22:32	Bernadette Duffy	2:48:09	Winnipeg	June 16
Japan	Hisatoshi Shintaku	2:09:51	—	—	Fukuoka	December 1
Netherlands	Cor Vriend	2:15:51	Eefje van Wissen	2:39:32	Enschede	June 22
West Germany	Herbert Steffny	2:12:12	Charlotte Teske	2:32:38	Frankfurt	May 19

International Races

DATE	MARATHON	NATION	MEN'S WINNER	TIME	WOMEN'S WINNER	TIME
January 27	Osaka International Ladies Marathon	Japan	—	—	Carey May	2:28:07
February 2	Auckland Marathon	New Zealand	Jeff Wells	2:16:43	Kiersti Jakobsen	2:37:12
February 10	Tokyo Marathon	Japan	Shigeru Soh	2:10:32	—	—
March 17	Barcelona Marathon	Spain	Rafael Garcia	2:18:16	Joaquina Casas	2:48:01
March 31	Vienna Marathon	Austria	Gerhard Hartmann	2:14:59	Elena Tsukhlo	2:39:01
April 15	Boston Marathon	United States	Geoff Smith	2:14:05	Lisa Rainsberger	2:34:06
April 20	Rotterdam Marathon	Netherlands	Carlos Lopes	2:07:12 WR	Wilma Rusman	2:35:32
April 21	London Marathon	United Kingdom	Stephen Jones	2:08:16	Ingrid Kristiansen	2:21:06 WR
May 5	Pittsburgh Marathon	United States	Ken Martin	2:12:57	Lisa Ondieki	2:31:54
May 5	Vancouver Marathon	Canada	Adrian Wellington	2:24:24	Kikue Teshima	2:55:34
May 6	Belfast Marathon	Belfast	Martin Deane	2:15:52	Moira O'Neill	2:45:40
May 12	Amsterdam Marathon	Netherlands	Jose Reveyn	2:19:25	Carolien Lucas	2:47:15
May 12	Paris Marathon	France	Jacky Boxberger	2:10:49	Maureen Hurst	2:43:31
May 19	Geneva Marathon	Switzerland	Nikolay Shamyeyev	2:19:17	Nadezhda Gumerova	2:36:04
June 1	Stockholm Marathon	Sweden	Tommy Persson	2:17:18	Jeanette Nordgren	2:36:43
July 21	San Francisco Marathon	United States	Ric Sayre	2:15:08	Kersti Jakosen	2:38:03
August 25	Reykjavik Marathon	Iceland	Josef Hermann	2:30:04	Leslie Watson	2:52:44
August 31	Oslo Marathon	Norway	Josef Machalek	2:19:00	Oddrun Hovsengen	2:43:39
September 29	Berlin Marathon	West Germany	Jimmy Ashworth	2:11:43	Magda Ilands	2:34:10
September 29	Portland Marathon	United States	Leonard HIll	2:19:42	Lynn Bernot	2:51:25
October 12	Enschede Marathon	Netherlands	Zoltan Köszegi	2:15:39	Eefje van Wissen	2:39:32
October 12	Niagara Marathon	Canada	Mark Coleman	2:30:29	Charlene MacDonald	3:07:20
October 13	Athens Classic Marathon	Greece	Michael Hill	2:26:20	Eryl Davies	3:04:30
October 13	Beijing Marathon	China	Shigeru Soh	2:10:23	—	—
October 13	Melbourne Marathon	Australia	Frederick Vandervennet	2:12:35	Margaret Reddan	2:44:56
October 20	Chicago Marathon	United States	Stephen Jones	2:07:13	Joan Samuelson	2:21:21
October 27	New York City Marathon	United States	Orlando Pizzolato	2:11:34	Grete Waitz	2:28:34
October 28	Dublin Marathon	Ireland	Dick Hooper	2:16:14	Julia Gates	2:41:26
November 3	Istanbul Marathon	Turkey	Mehmet Terzi	2:12:50	—	—
November 17	Buenos Aires Marathon	Argentina	Ruben Huerga	2:25:20	Derlis Maria Fraschina	3:59:47
November 17	Tokyo Marathon	Japan	—	—	Katrin Doerre	2:34:21
December 1	Fukuoka Marathon	Japan	Hisatoshi Shintaku	2:09:51	—	—
December 8	Honolulu Marathon	United States	Ibrahim Hussein	2:12:08	Carla Beurskens	2:35:51
December 17	Tiberias Marathon	Israel	Lindsay Robertson	2:15:39	Sharlet Gilbert	2:42:54

Births

• January 4 — Antar Zerguelaïne, Algerian middle distance runner
• January 4 — Nataliya Zolotukhina, Ukrainian hammer thrower
• January 6 — Nick Owens, American hammer thrower
• February 10 — Mariya Smolyachkova, Belarusian hammer thrower
• March 2 — Patrick Makau Musyoki, Kenyan distance runner
• March 16 — Olexiy Sokyrskiyy, Ukrainian hammer thrower
• March 19 — Sean Wroe, Australian sprinter
• March 21 — Vladimir Kanaykin, Russian race walker
• March 25 — Wilfried Bingangoye, Gabonese sprinter
• April 6 — Anna Avdeyeva, Russian shot putter
• April 7 — James Rendón, Colombian race walker
• April 18 — Musa Amer Obaid, Kenyan-Qatari middle distance runner
• May 4 — Henry Sugut, Kenyan long-distance runner
• May 5 — Gu Junjie, Chinese triple jumper
• May 21 — Mohsen El Anany, Egyptian hammer thrower
• May 26 — Irina Petrova, Russian race walker
• May 27 — Karina Vnukova, Lithuanian high jumper
• May 31 — Kim Hyun-Sub, South Korean race walker
• June 1 — Tirunesh Dibaba, Ethiopian long-distance runner
• June 3 — Samwel Mwera, Tanzanian middle distance runner
• June 15 — Susan McKelvie, Scottish hammer thrower
• June 17 — Ozge Gurler, Turkish athlete
• June 21 — Ryoko Kizaki, Japanese long-distance runner
• July 29 — Anja Pollmächer, German sprinter
• July 31 — Brimin Kipruto, Kenyan middle distance runner
• August 26 — Oleksiy Kasyanov, Ukrainian decathlete
• September 17 — Tracy-Ann Rowe, Jamaican sprinter
• October 12 — Boniface Kiprop Toroitich, Ugandan athlete
• November 14 — Andrey Krivov, Russian race walker
• November 16 — Rogério Bispo, Brazilian long jumper
• November 18 — Allyson Felix, American sprinter
• December 1 — Andretti Bain, Bahamian sprinter
• December 8 — Kim Deok-Hyeon, South Korean triple jumper
• December 26 — Carol Rodríguez, Puerto Rican sprinter

Deaths

• March 4 — Sverre Strandli (59), Norwegian hammer thrower (b. 1925)
• June 15 — Andy Stanfield (67), American athlete (b. 1927)
• October 30 — Edgar Bruun (80), Norwegian race walker (b. 1905)

References

• Year Lists
• Association of Road Racing Statisticians
• 1985 Year Rankings