1972 Olympics: Track & Field
Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff 
Men
| Event | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 100m | Valery Borzov, USSR | 10.14 | |
| Robert Taylor, USA | 10.24 | ||
| Lennox Miller, JAM | 10.33 | ||
| 200m | Valery Borzov, USSR | 20.00 | |
| Larry Black, USA | 20.19 | ||
| Pietro Mennea, ITA | 20.30 | ||
| 400m | Vince Matthews, USA | 44.66 | |
| Wayne Collett, USA | 44.80 | ||
| Julius Sang, KEN | 44.92 | ||
| 800m | Dave Wottle, USA | 1:45.9 | |
| Yewgeniy Arzhanov, USSR | 1:45.9 | ||
| Mike Boit, KEN | 1:46.0 | ||
| 1500m | Pekka Vasala, FIN | 3:36.3 | |
| Kipchoge Keino, KEN | 3:36.8 | ||
| Rodney Dixon, NZL | 3:37.5 | ||
| 5000m | Lasse Viren, FIN | 13:26.4 | OR |
| Mohamed Gammoudi, TUN | 13:27.4 | ||
| Ian Stewart, GBR | 13:27.6 | ||
| 10,000m | Lasse Viren, FIN | 27:38.4 | WR |
| Emiel Puttemans, BEL | 27:39.6 | ||
| Miruts Yifter, ETH | 27:41.0 | ||
| Marathon | Frank Shorter, USA | 2:12:19.8 | |
| Karel Lismont, BEL | 2:14:31.8 | ||
| Mamo Wolde, ETH | 2:15:08.4 | ||
| 110m H | Rod Milburn, USA | 13.24 | =WR |
| Guy Drut, FRA | 13.34 | ||
| Thomas Hill, USA | 13.48 | ||
| 400m H | John Akii-Bua, UGA | 47.82 | WR |
| Ralph Mann, USA | 48.51 | ||
| David Hemery, GBR | 48.52 | ||
| 3000m Steeple | Kip Keino, KEN | 8:23.6 | OR |
| Benjamin Jipcho, KEN | 8:24.6 | ||
| Tapio Kantanen, FIN | 8:24.8 | ||
| 20k Walk | Peter Frenkel, E. Ger | 1:26:42.4 | OR |
| Vladimir Golubnichiy, USSR | 1:26:55.2 | ||
| Hans Reimann, E. Ger | 1:27:16.6 | ||
| 50k Walk | Bernd Kannenberg, W. Ger | 3:56:11.6 | OR |
| Venjamin Soldatenko, USSR | 3:58:24.0 | ||
| Larry Young, USA | 4:00:46.0 | ||
| 4x100m | USA (Larry Black, Robert Taylor, Gerald Tinker, Eddie Hart) | 38.19 | =WR |
| Soviet Union | 38.50 | ||
| West Germany | 38.79 | ||
| 4x400m | KEN (Charles Asati, Hezaklah Nyamau, Robert Ouko, Julius Sang) | 2:59.8 | |
| Great Britain | 3:00.5 | ||
| France | 3:00.7 |
| Event | Mark | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| High Jump | Yuri Tarmak, USSR | 7- 33/4 | |
| Stefan Junge, E. Ger | 7-3 | ||
| Dwight Stones, USA | 7-3 | ||
| Pole Vault | Wolfgang Nordwig, E. Ger | 18- 01/2 | OR |
| Robert Seagren, USA | 17-81/2 | ||
| Jan Johnson, USA | 17-61/2 | ||
| Long Jump | Randy Williams, USA | 27- 01/2 | |
| Hans Baumgartner, W. Ger | 26-10 | ||
| Arnie Robinson, USA | 26-4 | ||
| Triple Jump | Viktor Saneyev, USSR | 56-111/4 | |
| Jörg Drehmel, E. Ger | 56-91/4 | ||
| Nelson Prudencio, BRA | 55-111/4 | ||
| Shot Put | Wladyslaw Komar, POL | 69- 6 | OR |
| George Woods, USA | 69-51/2 | ||
| Hartmut Briesenick, E. Ger | 69-41/4 | ||
| Discus | Ludvik Danek, CZE | 211- 3 | |
| Jay Silvester, USA | 208-4 | ||
| Rickard Bruch, SWE | 208-0 | ||
| Hammer | Anatoly Bondarchuk, USSR | 247- 8 | OR |
| Jochen Sachse, E. Ger | 245-11 | ||
| Vasiliy Khmelevski, USSR | 242-101/2 | ||
| Javelin | Klaus Wolfermann, W. Ger | 296-10 | OR |
| Janis Lusis, USSR | 296-9 | ||
| William Schmidt, USA | 276-111/2 | ||
| Decathlon | Nikolai Avilov, USSR | 8454 pts | WR |
| Leonid Litvinenko, USSR | 8035 | ||
| Ryszard Katus, POL | 7984 |
Women
| Event | Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 100m | Renate Stecher, E. Ger | 11.07 | |
| Raelene Boyle, AUS | 11.23 | ||
| Silvia Chivas, CUB | 11.24 | ||
| 200m | Renate Stecher, E. Ger | 22.40 | =WR |
| Raelene Boyle, AUS | 22.45 | ||
| Irena Szewinska-Kirszenstein, POL | 22.74 | ||
| 400m | Monika Zehrt, E. Ger | 51.08 | OR |
| Rita Wilden, W. Ger | 51.21 | ||
| Kathy Hammond, USA | 51.64 | ||
| 800m | Hildegard Falck, W. Ger | 1:58.55 | OR |
| Niole Sabaite, USSR | 1:58.7 | ||
| Gunhild Hoffmeister, E. Ger | 1:59.2 | ||
| 1500m | Lyudmila Bragina, USSR | 4:01.4 | WR |
| Gunhild Hoffmeister, E. Ger | 4:02.8 | ||
| Paola Cacchi, ITA | 4:02.9 | ||
| 100m H | Annelie Ehrhardt, E. Ger | 12.59 | WR |
| Valeria Bufanu, ROM | 12.84 | ||
| Karin Balzer, E. Ger | 12.90 | ||
| 4x100m | W. Ger. (Christiane Krause, Ingrid Mickler, Annegret Richter, Heidemarie Rosendahl) | 42.81 | =WR |
| East Germany | 42.95 | ||
| Cuba | 43.36 | ||
| 4x400m | E. Ger. (Dägmar Käsling, Rita Kühne, Helga Seidler, Monika Zehrt) | 3:23.0 | WR |
| United States | 3:25.2 | ||
| West Germany | 3:26.5 |
| Event | Mark | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| High Jump | Ulrike Meyfarth, W. Ger | 6- 31/2 | =WR |
| Yordanka Blagoyeva, BUL | 6-2 | ||
| Ilona Gusenbauer, AUT | 6-2 | ||
| Long Jump | Heidemarie Rosendahl, W. Ger | 22- 3 | |
| Diana Yorgova, BUL | 27-21/2 | ||
| Eva Suranova, CZE | 21-103/4 | ||
| Shot Put | Nadezhda Chizhova, USSR | 69- 0 | WR |
| Margitta Gummel, E. Ger | 66-43/4 | ||
| Ivanka Khristova, BUL | 63-6 | ||
| Discus | Faina Melnik, USSR | 218- 7 | OR |
| Argentina Menis, ROM | 213-5 | ||
| Vassilka Stoyeva, BUL | 211-1 | ||
| Javelin | Ruth Fuchs, E. Ger | 209- 7 | OR |
| Jaqueline Todten, E. Ger | 205-2 | ||
| Kathy Schmidt, USA | 196-8 | ||
| Pentathlon | Mary Peters, GBR | 4801 pts | WR |
| Heide Rosendahl, W. Ger | 4791 | ||
| Burglinde Pollak, E. Ger | 4768 |
