This article contains an overview of the year 1990 in athletics.

• African Championships
• Asian Games
• Balkan Games
• Central American and Caribbean Championships
• Commonwealth Games
• European Championships
• European Indoor Championships
• Goodwill Games
• World Cross Country Championships
• World Junior Championships

EVENT	ATHLETE	MARK	DATE	VENUE
20,000 metres	Dionísio Castro (POR)	57:18.4	31 March	La Flèche, France
4 × 100 m relay	France (FRA) • Max Morinière • Daniel Sangouma • Jean-Charles Trouabal • Bruno Marie-Rose	37.79	1 September	Split, Yugoslavia
Shot put	Randy Barnes (USA)	23.12m	20 May	Westwood, United States
Javelin (new)	Patrik Bodén (SWE)	89.10m	24 March	Austin, United States
	Steve Backley (GBR)	89.58m	2 July	Stockholm, Sweden
Half marathon	Dionicio Cerón (MEX)	1:00:46	16 September	Philadelphia, United States

EVENT	ATHLETE	MARK	DATE	VENUE
1,000 metres	Christine Wachtel (GER)	2:30.67	17 August	Berlin, Germany
Triple jump	Li Huirong (CHN)	14.54m	25 August	Sapporo, Japan

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Leroy Burrell (USA)	9.96
2.	Linford Christie (GBR)	10.02
3.	Calvin Smith (USA)	10.04
4.	Davidson Ezinwa (NGR)	10.05
	Mark Witherspoon (USA)
	Carl Lewis (USA)

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Michael Johnson (USA)	19.85
2.	Danny Everett (USA)	20.08
3.	John Regis (GBR)	20.11
4.	Leroy Burrell (USA)	20.14
5.	Robson da Silva (BRA)	20.23

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Danny Everett (USA)	44.06
2.	Roberto Hernández (CUB)	44.14
3.	Michael Johnson (USA)	44.21
4.	Andrew Valmon (USA)	44.35
5.	Darren Clark (AUS)	44.60

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Peter Elliott (GBR)	1:42.97
2.	William Tanui (KEN)	1:43.39
3.	Johnny Gray (USA)	1:43.72
4.	Paul Ereng (KEN)	1:43.78
5.	Robert Kibet (KEN)	1:44.29

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Noureddine Morceli (ALG)	3:32.60
2.	Peter Elliott (GBR)	3:32.69
3.	Gennaro Di Napoli (ITA)	3:32.78
4.	Wilfred Kirochi (KEN)	3:32.90
5.	Steve Cram (GBR)	3:33.03

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Joe Falcon (USA)	3:49.31
2.	Peter Elliott (GBR)	3:49.76
3.	Jens-Peter Herold (GDR)	3:50.59
4.	Tony Morrell (GBR)	3:51.31
5.	Abdi Bile (SOM)	3:52.01

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Khalid Skah (MAR)	7:37.09
2.	Cyrille Laventure (FRA)	7:37.74
3.	Yobes Ondieki (KEN)	7:38.15
4.	Mohamed Issangar (MAR)	7:39.40
5.	Brahim Boutayeb (MAR)	7:40.79

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Salvatore Antibo (ITA)	13:05.59
2.	Yobes Ondieki (KEN)	13:05.60
3.	Mohamed Issangar (MAR)	13:08.51
4.	Arturo Barrios (MEX)	13:08.52
5.	Khalid Skah (MAR)	13:09.55

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Arturo Barrios (MEX)	27:18.22
2.	John Ngugi (KEN)	27:19.15
3.	Salvatore Antibo (ITA)	27:25.16
4.	Hammou Boutayeb (MAR)	27:25.48
5.	Khalid Skah (MAR)	27:29.27

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Steve Moneghetti (AUS)	1:00:34

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Steve Moneghetti (AUS)	2:08:16
2.	Gelindo Bordin (ITA)	2:08:19
3.	Gidamis Shahanga (TAN)	2:08:32
4.	Jörg Peter (GDR)	2:09:23
5.	Martín Pitayo (MEX)	2:09:41

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Colin Jackson (GBR)	13.08
2.	Greg Foster (USA)	13.15
3.	Roger Kingdom (USA)	13.21
	Tony Jarrett (GBR)
5.	Renaldo Nehemiah (USA)	13.22

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Danny Harris (USA)	47.49
2.	Samuel Matete (ZAM)	47.91
3.	Kriss Akabusi (GBR)	47.92
4.	Winthrop Graham (JAM)	48.03
5.	David Patrick (USA)	48.22

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Peter Koech (KEN)	8:10.95
2.	Francesco Panetta (ITA)	8:12.66
3.	William Mutwol (KEN)	8:12.75
4.	Mark Rowland (GBR)	8:13.27
5.	Julius Kariuki (KEN)	8:13.28

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Sorin Matei (ROU)	2.40
2.	Hollis Conway (USA)	2.38
3.	Dragutin Topić (YUG)	2.37
	Sergey Dymchenko (URS)
4.	Clarence Saunders (BER)	2.36
	Javier Sotomayor (CUB)
	Doug Nordquist (USA)
	Georgi Dakov (BUL)

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Mike Powell (USA)	8.66
2.	Jaime Jefferson (CUB)	8.53
3.	Carl Lewis (USA)	8.51
4.	Robert Emmiyan (URS)	8.32
5.	Sergey Podgainiy (URS)	8.25
	Dietmar Haaf (FRG)

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Kenny Harrison (USA)	17.93
2.	Volodymyr Inozemtsev (URS)	17.90
3.	Oleg Protsenko (URS)	17.75
4.	Leonid Voloshin (URS)	17.74
5.	Mike Conley (USA)	17.56

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Romas Ubartas (URS)	68.94
2.	Wolfgang Schmidt (GDR)	68.30
3.	Mike Buncic (USA)	67.72
4.	Juan Martínez Brito (CUB)	67.50
5.	Jürgen Schult (GDR)	67.08

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Randy Barnes (USA)	23.12 WR
2.	Ulf Timmermann (GER)	21.64
3.	Pétur Guðmundsson (ISL)	21.26
4.	Jim Doehring (USA)	21.20
5.	Oliver-Sven Buder (GER)	21.06

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Igor Nikulin (URS)	84.48
2.	Igor Astapkovich (URS)	84.14
3.	Andrey Abduvaliyev (URS)	83.46
4.	Yuriy Sedykh (URS)	82.80
5.	Sergey Litvinov (URS)	81.74

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Steve Backley (GBR)	89.58
2.	Patrik Bodén (SWE)	89.10
3.	Seppo Räty (FIN)	86.92
4.	Jan Železný (TCH)	86.52
5.	Tom Petranoff (USA)	86.46

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Radion Gataullin (URS)	5.92
2.	Sergey Bubka (URS)	5.90
3.	Grigoriy Yegorov (URS)	5.87
4.	Maksim Tarasov (URS)	5.85
	Igor Potapovich (URS)

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.	Christian Plaziat (FRA)	8574
2.	Michael Smith (CAN)	8525
3.	Christian Schenk (GDR)	8481
4.	Dezső Szabó (HUN)	8436
5.	Dave Johnson (USA)	8403

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	7.08
2.	Ulrike Sarvari (FRG)	7.10
3.	Irina Sergeyeva (URS)	7.13
	Laurence Bily (FRA)
5.	Nelli Cooman (NLD)	7.14

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	10.78
2.	Katrin Krabbe (GDR)	10.89
3.	Carlette Guidry (USA)	11.03
4.	Sheila Echols (USA)	11.05
	Michelle Finn (USA)

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	21.66
2.	Katrin Krabbe (GDR)	21.95
3.	Heike Drechsler (GDR)	22.19
4.	Galina Malchugina (URS)	22.23
5.	Mary Onyali (NGR)	22.31

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Grit Breuer (GDR)	49.50
2.	Ana Fidelia Quirot (CUB)	50.03
3.	Paulien Davis (BAH)	50.05
4.	Petra Schersing (GDR)	50.31
5.	Lyudmila Dzhigalova (URS)	50.33

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Sigrun Wodars (GDR)	1:55.87
2.	Christine Wachtel (GDR)	1:56.11
3.	Nadezhda Loboyko (URS)	1:56.64
4.	Lyudmila Rogachova (URS)	1:57.1
5.	Liliya Nurutdinova (URS)	1:57.25

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Doina Melinte (ROU)	3:58.69
2.	Natalya Artyomova (URS)	4:02.53
3.	Yvonne Mai (GDR)	4:02.69
4.	Lyudmila Rogachova (URS)	4:03.07
5.	Violeta Beclea (ROM)	4:03.14

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Doina Melinte (ROU)	4:18.13
2.	Natalya Artyomova (URS)	4:22.20
3.	Yvonne Mai (GDR)	4:22.97
4.	Lynn Jennings (USA)	4:24.14
5.	Svetlana Kitova (URS)	4:24.63

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Angela Chalmers (CAN)	8:38.38
2.	Yvonne Murray (GBR)	8:39.46
3.	Liz McColgan (GBR)	8:43.14
4.	Yelena Romanova (URS)	8:43.68
5.	PattiSue Plumer (USA)	8:44.07

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Yelena Romanova (URS)	15:02.23
2.	Lynn Jennings (USA)	15:07.92
3.	PattiSue Plumer (USA)	15:07.97
4.	Viorica Ghican (ROU)	15:09.90
5.	Nadia Dandolo (ITA)	15:11.64

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Viorica Ghican (ROU)	31:18.18
2.	Uta Pippig (GDR)	31:40.92
3.	Maria Conceição Ferreira (POR)	31:45.75
4.	Yelena Romanova (URS)	31:46.83
5.	Kathrin Ullrich (GDR)	31:47.70

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Rosa Mota (POR)	1:09:33

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Rosa Mota (POR)	2:25:24
2.	Lisa Martin (AUS)	2:25:28
3.	Wanda Panfil (POL)	2:26:31
4.	Frith van der Merwe (RSA)	2:27:36
5.	Francie Larrieu Smith (USA)	2:28:01

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Ludmila Narozhilenko (URS)	7.69
2.	Monique Éwanjé-Épée (FRA)	7.84
3.	Nataliya Grygoryeva (URS)	7.85
4.	Lidiya Yurkova (URS)	7.86
5.	Anne Piquereau (FRA)	7.88

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Nataliya Grygoryeva (URS)	12.53
2.	Monique Éwanjé-Épée (FRA)	12.56
3.	Ginka Zagorcheva (BUL)	12.61
4.	Mihaela Pogacian (ROU)	12.62
5.	Ludmila Narozhilenko (URS)	12.64

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	TIME
1.	Tatyana Ledovskaya (URS)	53.62
2.	Myrtle Bothma (RSA)	54.07
3.	Anita Protti (SUI)	54.36
4.	Sandra Farmer-Patrick (USA)	54.46
5.	Monica Westén (SWE)	54.69

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	HEIGHT
1.	Yelena Yelesina (URS)	2.02 m
2.	Yolanda Henry (USA)	2.00 m
	Biljana Petrović (YUG)
	Heike Henkel (FRG)
5.	Alina Astafei (ROU)	1.98 m

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Galina Chistyakova (URS)	7.35 m
2.	Heike Drechsler (GDR)	7.30 m
3.	Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)	7.12 m
4.	Inessa Kravets (URS)	7.10 m
	Larisa Berezhnaya (URS)

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Li Huirong (CHN)	14.54 m

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Sui Xinmei (CHN)	21.66 m
2.	Huang Zhihong (CHN)	21.52 m
3.	Astrid Kumbernuss (GER)	20.77 m

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	DISTANCE
1.	Petra Felke (GDR)	73.08
2.	Zhang Li (CHN)	70.42
3.	Karen Forkel (GER)	69.38
4.	Xu Demei (CHN)	68.30
5.	Natalya Cherniyenko (URS)	67.88

RANK	1990 WORLD BEST PERFORMERS	POINTS
1.	Jackie Joyner-Kersee (USA)	6783
2.	Jane Flemming (AUS)	6695
3.	Sabine Braun (GER)	6688
4.	Heike Tischler (GER)	6572
5.	Peggy Beer (GER)	6531

• February 1 — Feyisa Lilesa, Ethiopian long-distance runner
• August 29 — Marin Premeru, Croatian discus thrower and shot putter
• October 24 — Vicky Parnov, Australian pole vaulter
• November 23 — Stanislav Emelyanov, Russian race walker

• March 27 — Percy Beard (82), American hurdler (b. 1908)
• April 10 — Fortune Gordien (67), American athlete (b. 1922)
• August 29 — Luigi Beccali (82), Italian athlete (b. 1907)
• December 31 — Robina Higgins (75), Canadian athlete (b.1915)

• 1990 Year Lists
• 1990 Year Rankings
• Association of Road Racing Statisticians