At the 1978 Commonwealth Games, the athletics events were held at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A total of 38 events were contested, 23 for men and 15 for women.

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres (wind: +7.6 m/s) details	Don Quarrie (JAM)	10.03 w	Allan Wells (SCO)	10.07 w	Hasely Crawford (TRI)	10.09 w
200 metres (wind: +4.4 m/s) details	Allan Wells (SCO)	20.12 w	James Gilkes (GUY)	20.18 w	Colin Bradford (JAM)	20.43 w
400 metres details	Rick Mitchell (AUS)	46.34	Joseph Coombs (TRI)	46.54	Glenn Bogue (CAN)	46.63
800 metres details	Mike Boit (KEN)	1:46.39	Seymour Newman (JAM)	1:47.30	Peter Lemashon (KEN)	1:47.57
1500 metres details	David Moorcroft (ENG)	3:35.48	Filbert Bayi (TAN)	3:35.59	John Robson (SCO)	3:35.60
5000 metres details	Henry Rono (KEN)	13:23.04	Mike Musyoki (KEN)	13:29.92	Brendan Foster (ENG)	13:31.35
10,000 metres details	Brendan Foster (ENG)	28:13.65	Mike Musyoki (KEN)	28:19.14	Mike McLeod (ENG)	28:34.30
Marathon details	Gidamis Shahanga (TAN)	2:15:40	Jerome Drayton (CAN)	2:16:14	Paul Bannon (CAN)	2:16:52
3000 metres steeplechase details	Henry Rono (KEN)	8:26.54	James Munyala (KEN)	8:32.21	Kip Rono (KEN)	8:34.07
110 metres hurdles (wind: +6.2 m/s) details	Berwyn Price (WAL)	13.70 w	Max Binnington (AUS)	13.73 w	Warren Parr (AUS)	13.73 w
400 metres hurdles details	Daniel Kimaiyo (KEN)	49.48	Garry Brown (AUS)	50.04	Alan Pascoe (ENG)	50.09
4 × 100 metres relay details	Scotland Allan Wells David Jenkins Cameron Sharp Drew McMaster	39.24	Trinidad and Tobago Edwin Noel Hasely Crawford Christopher Brathwaite Ephraim Serrette	39.29	Jamaica Errol Quarrie Colin Bradford Oliver Heywood Floyd Brown	39.33
4 × 400 metres relay details	Kenya Washington Njiri Daniel Kimaiyo Bill Koskei Joel Ngetich	3:03.54	Jamaica Clive Barriffe Bertland Cameron Colin Bradford Floyd Brown Seymour Newman*	3:04.00	Australia John Higham Chum Darvall Garry Brown Rick Mitchell	3:04.23
30 kilometres walk details	Olly Flynn (ENG)	2:22:04	Willi Sawall (AUS)	2:22:59	Tim Erickson (AUS)	2:26:34
High jump details	Claude Ferragne (CAN)	2.20 m	Greg Joy (CAN)	2.18 m	Dean Bauck (CAN)  Brian Burgess (SCO)	2.15 m
Pole vault details	Bruce Simpson (CAN)	5.10 m	Don Baird (AUS)	5.10 m	Brian Hooper (ENG)	5.00 m
Long jump details	Roy Mitchell (ENG)	8.06 m (w)	Chris Commons (AUS)	8.04 m (w)	Suresh Babu (IND)	7.94 m (w)
Triple jump details	Keith Connor (ENG)	17.21 m (w)	Ian Campbell (AUS)	16.93 m (w)	Aston Moore (ENG)	16.69 m
Shot put details	Geoff Capes (ENG)	19.77 m	Bruno Pauletto (CAN)	19.33 m	Bishop Dolegiewicz (CAN)	18.45 m
Discus throw details	Borys Chambul (CAN)	59.70 m	Brad Cooper (BAH)	57.30 m	Rob Gray (CAN)	55.48 m
Hammer throw details	Peter Farmer (AUS)	71.10 m	Scott Neilson (CAN)	69.92 m	Chris Black (SCO)	68.14 m
Javelin throw details	Phil Olsen (CAN)	84.00 m	Mike O'Rourke (NZL)	83.18 m	Peter Yates (ENG)	78.58 m
Decathlon details	Daley Thompson (ENG)	8467 pts	Peter Hadfield (AUS)	7623 pts	Alan Drayton (ENG)	7484 pts

Event	Gold		Silver		Bronze
100 metres (wind: +2.9 m/s) details	Sonia Lannaman (ENG)	11.27 w	Raelene Boyle (AUS)	11.35 w	Denise Boyd (AUS)	11.37 w
200 metres (wind: +5.1 m/s) details	Denise Boyd (AUS)	22.82 w	Sonia Lannaman (ENG)	22.89 w	Colleen Beazley (AUS)	22.93 w
400 metres details	Donna Hartley (ENG)	51.69	Verona Elder (ENG)	52.94	Bethanie Nail (AUS)	53.06
800 metres details	Judy Peckham (AUS)	2:02.82	Tekla Chemabwai (KEN)	2:02.87	Jane Colebrook (ENG)	2:03.10
1500 metres details	Mary Stewart (ENG)	4:06.34 GR	Chris Benning (ENG)	4:07.53	Penny Werthner (CAN)	4:08.14
3000 metres details	Paula Fudge (ENG)	9:12.95	Heather Thomson (NZL)	9:20.69	Ann Ford (ENG)	9:24.05
100 metres hurdles (wind: +3.6 m/s) details	Lorna Boothe (ENG)	12.98w	Shirley Strong (ENG)	13.08w	Sharon Colyear (ENG)	13.17w
4 × 100 metres relay details	England Beverley Goddard Kathy Smallwood Sharon Colyear Sonia Lannaman	43.70	Canada Angela Bailey Margaret Howe Marjorie Bailey Patty Loverock	44.26	Australia Colleen Beazley Denise Boyd Lyn Jacenko Roxanne Gelle	44.78
4 × 400 metres relay details	England Ruth Kennedy Joslyn Hoyte Verona Elder Donna Hartley	3:27.19 GR	Australia Bethanie Nail Denise Boyd Maxine Corcoran Judy Peckham	3:28.65	Canada Anne Mackie-Morelli Debbie Campbell Margaret Stride Rachelle Campbell	3:35.83
High jump details	Katrina Gibbs (AUS)	1.93 m GR	Debbie Brill (CAN)	1.90 m	Julie White (CAN)	1.83 m
Long jump details	Sue Reeve (ENG)	6.59 m	Erica Hooker (AUS)	6.58 m	June Griffith (GUY)	6.52 m
Shot put details	Gael Mulhall (AUS)	17.31 m	Carmen Ionesco (CAN)	16.45 m	Judy Oakes (ENG)	16.14 m
Discus throw details	Carmen Ionesco (CAN)	62.16 m	Gael Mulhall (AUS)	57.60 m	Lucette Moreau (CAN)	56.64 m
Javelin throw details	Tessa Sanderson (ENG)	61.34 m	Alison Hayward (CAN)	54.52 m	Laurie Kern (CAN)	53.60 m
Pentathlon details	Diane Konihowski (CAN)	4768 pts GR	Sue Mapstone (ENG)	4222 pts	Yvette Wray (ENG)	4211 pts

  *   Host nation (Canada)

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	England (ENG)	16	5	12	33
2	Australia (AUS)	6	11	7	24
3	Canada (CAN)*	6	8	10	24
4	Kenya (KEN)	5	4	2	11
5	Scotland (SCO)	2	1	3	6
6	Jamaica (JAM)	1	2	2	5
7	Tanzania (TAN)	1	1	0	2
8	Wales (WAL)	1	0	0	1
9	Trinidad and Tobago (TRI)	0	2	1	3
10	New Zealand (NZL)	0	2	0	2
11	Guyana (GUY)	0	1	1	2
12	Bahamas (BAH)	0	1	0	1
13	India (IND)	0	0	1	1
Totals (13 entries)		38	38	39	115

• Commonwealth Games Medallists - Men. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-07-21.
• Commonwealth Games Medallists - Women. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-07-21.