| Men | date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |  | Men 100m | 30.08 | Pietro Mennea |  ITA | Eugen Ray |  GDR | Vladimir Ignatenko |  URS |  | Men 200m | 01.09 | Pietro Mennea |  ITA | Olaf Prenzler |  GDR | Peter Muster |  SUI |  | Men 400m | 01.09 | Franz-Peter Hofmeister |  FRG | Karel Kolar |  TCH | Francis Demarthon |  FRA |  | Men 800m | 31.08 | Olaf Beyer |  GDR | Steve Ovett |  GBR | Sebastian Coe |  GBR |  | Men 1500m | 03.09 | Steve Ovett |  GBR | Eamonn Coghlan |  IRL | David Moorcroft |  GBR |  | Men 5000m | 02.09 | Venanzio Ortis |  ITA | Markus Ryffel |  SUI | Aleksandr Fyedotkin |  URS |  | Men 10000m | 29.08 | Martti Vainio |  FIN | Venanzio Ortis |  ITA | Aleksandr Antipov |  URS |  | Men Marathon | 03.09 | Leonid Moseyev |  URS | Nikolay Penzin |  URS | Karel Lismont |  BEL |  | Men 3000m Steeplechase | 03.09 | Bronislaw Malinowski |  POL | Patriz Ilg |  FRG | Ismu Tuokonen |  FIN |  | Men 110m Hurdles | 03.09 | Thomas Munkelt |  GDR | Jan Pusty |  POL | Arto Bryggare |  FIN |  | Men 400m Hurdles | 31.08 | Harald Schmid |  FRG | Dmitriy Stukalov |  URS | Vasiliy Arkhipenko |  URS |  | Men 4x100m Relay | 03.09 | Poland |  POL | East Germany |  GDR | Soviet Union |  URS |  | Men 4x400m Relay | 03.09 | West Germany |  FRG | Poland |  POL | Czechoslovakia |  TCH |  | Men High Jump | 02.09 | Vladimir Yashchenko |  URS | Aleksandr Grigoryev |  URS | Rolf Beilschmidt |  GDR |  | Men Pole Vault | 01.09 | Vladimir Trofimyenko |  URS | Antti Kalliomaeki |  FIN | Rauli Pudas |  FIN |  | Men Long Jump | 02.09 | Jacques Rousseau |  FRA | Nenad Stekic |  YUG | Vladimir Tsepelyev |  URS |  | Men Triple Jump | 03.09 | Milos Srejovic |  YUG | Viktor Saneyev |  URS | Anatoliy Piskulin |  URS |  | Men Shot Put | 01.09 | Udo Beyer |  GDR | Aleksandr Barishnikov |  URS | Wolfgang Schmidt |  GDR |  | Men Discus Throw | 03.09 | Wolfgang Schmidt |  GDR | Markku Tuokko |  FIN | Imrich Bugar |  TCH |  | Men Hammer Throw | 02.09 | Yuriy Sedykh |  URS | Roland Steuk |  GDR | Karl-Hans Riehm |  FRG |  | Men Javelin Throw | 30.08 | Michael Wessing |  FRG | Nikolay Grebnyev |  URS | Wolfgang Hanisch |  GDR |  | Men Decathlon | 31.08 | Aleksandr Grebenyuk |  URS | Daley Thompson |  GBR | Siegfried Stark |  GDR |  | Men 20km Walk | 30.08 | Ronald Wieser |  GDR | Pyotr Pochenchuk |  URS | Anatoly Solomin |  URS |  | Men 50km Walk | 02.09 | Jorge Llopart |  ESP | Venjamin Soldatenko |  URS | Jan Ornoch |  POL |   
| Women | date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |  | Women 100m | 30.08 | Marlies Goehr |  GDR | Linda Haglund |  SWE | Ludmila Maslakova |  URS |  | Women 200m | 01.09 | Ludmila Kondratyeva |  URS | Marlies Goehr |  GDR | Carla Bodendorf |  GDR |  | Women 400m | 31.08 | Marita Koch |  GDR | Christina Brehmer |  GDR | Irena Szewinska |  POL |  | Women 800m | 31.08 | Tatyana Providokhina |  URS | Nadyezhda Mushta |  URS | Zoya Riger |  URS |  | Women 1500m | 03.09 | Giana Romanova |  URS | Natalia Marasescu |  ROU | Totka Petrova |  BUL |  | Women 3000m | 29.08 | Svetlana Ulmasova |  URS | Natalia Marasescu |  ROU | Grete Waitz |  NOR |  | Women 100m Hurdles | 01.09 | Johanna Klier |  GDR | Tatyana Anisimova |  URS | Gudrun Berend |  GDR |  | Women 400m Hurdles | 02.09 | Tatyana Zelentsova |  URS | Silvia Hollmann |  FRG | Karin Rossley |  GDR |  | Women 4x100m Relay | 03.09 | Soviet Union |  URS | Great Britain |  GBR | East Germany |  GDR |  | Women 4x400m Relay | 03.09 | East Germany |  GDR | Soviet Union |  URS | Poland |  POL |  | Women High Jump | 31.08 | Sara Simeoni |  ITA | Rosemarie Ackermann |  GDR | Brigitte Holzapfel |  FRG |  | Women Long Jump | 30.08 | Vilma Bardauskiene |  URS | Angela Voigt |  GDR | Jarmila Nygrynova |  TCH |  | Women Shot Put | 30.08 | Ilona Slupianek |  GDR | Helena Fibingerova |  TCH | Margitta Droese |  GDR |  | Women Discus Throw | 31.08 | Evelin Jahl |  GDR | Margitta Droese |  GDR | Natalya Gorbachova |  URS |  | Women Javelin Throw | 01.09 | Ruth Fuchs |  GDR | Theresa Sanderson |  GBR | Ute Hommola |  GDR |  | Women Pentathlon | 02.09 | Margit Papp |  HUN | Burglinde Pollak |  GDR | Kristine Nitzsche |  GDR |   
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| Medals | G | S | B | All |  | 1. Soviet Union | 12 | 12 | 10 | 34 |  | 2. East Germany | 12 | 10 | 11 | 33 |  | 3. West Germany | 4 | 2 | 2 | 10 |  | 4. Italy | 4 | 1 |   | 5 |  | 5. Poland | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |  | 6. Great Britain | 1 | 4 | 2 | 7 |  | 7. Finland | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |  | 8. Yugoslavia | 1 | 1 |   | 2 |  | 9. France | 1 |   | 1 | 2 |  | 10.Hungary | 1 |   |   | 1 |  | 10.Spain | 1 |   |   | 1 |  | 12.Czechoslovakia |   | 2 | 3 | 5 |  | 13.Romania |   | 2 |   | 2 |  | 14.Switzerland |   | 1 | 1 | 2 |  | 15.Ireland |   | 1 |   | 1 |  | 15.Sweden |   | 1 |   | 1 |  | 17.Belgium |   |   | 1 | 1 |  | 17.Bulgaria |   |   | 1 | 1 |  | 17.Norway |   |   | 1 | 1 |  |  before dopping disqualifications |  | 1. Soviet Union | 13 | 12 | 11 | 36 |  | 2. East Germany | 12 | 9 | 10 | 31 |  | 14.Hungary |   | 1 |   | 1 |   
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| Points |  | 1. Soviet Union | 381.5 |  | 2. East Germany | 324.0 |  | 3. West Germany | 121. |  | 4. Great Britain | 95.5 |  | 5. Poland | 94.0 |  | 6. Italy | 72.0 |  | 7. Finland | 59.0 |  | 8. France | 53.5 |  | 9. Romania | 48.0 |  | 10.Czechoslovakia | 41.0 |  | 11.Bulgaria | 37.0 |  | 12.Switzerland | 25.5 |  | 13.Yugoslavia | 21.0 |  | 14.Spain | 15.0 |  | 15.Norway | 14.0 |  | 16.Sweden | 12.0 |  | 16.Ireland | 12.0 |  | 18.Hungary | 10.0 |  | 19.Belgium | 7.0 |  | 19.Netherlands | 7.0 |  | 21.Austria | 5.0 |  | 22.Iceland | 1.0 |   
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 |   |  | Table composed with points from 1st to 8th place. |   
|   | Points Ranking | points | Gd | Sv | Br | 4. | 5. | 6. | 7. | 8. |  | 1. |   Soviet Union | 358 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 3 |  | 2. |   East Germany | 336 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 |  | 3. |   West Germany | 127 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 2 |  | 4. |   Great Britain | 100 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5 |  | 5. |   Poland | 94 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 |  | 6. |   Italy | 71 | 4 | 1 |   | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 |  | 7. |   Finland | 59 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |   |  | 8. |   France | 50 | 1 |   | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |  | 9. |   Romania | 49 |   | 2 |   | 1 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |  | 10. |   Czechoslovakia | 46 |   | 2 | 3 |   |   | 3 | 1 | 3 |  | 11. |   Bulgaria | 34 |   |   | 1 | 4 |   | 2 |   | 2 |  | 12. |   Switzerland | 29 |   | 1 | 1 | 2 |   | 1 | 1 | 1 |  | 13. |   Yugoslavia | 22 | 1 | 1 |   |   |   |   | 3 | 1 |  | 14. |   Norway | 18 |   |   | 1 |   | 2 | 1 |   | 1 |  | 15. |   Hungary | 15 | 1 |   |   |   |   | 2 |   | 1 |  | 16. |   Spain | 14 | 1 |   |   |   | 1 |   | 1 |   |  | 17. |   Belgium | 13 |   |   | 2 |   |   |   |   | 1 |  | 18. |   Ireland | 12 |   | 1 |   | 1 |   |   |   |   |  | 18. |   Sweden | 12 |   | 1 |   |   |   |   | 2 | 1 |  | 20. |   Netherlands | 11 |   |   |   |   | 2 | 1 |   |   |  | 21. |   Austria | 5 |   |   |   | 1 |   |   |   |   |  | 22. |   Denmark | 3 |   |   |   |   |   | 1 |   |   |  | 23. |   Iceland | 2 |   |   |   |   |   |   | 1 |   |   
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