| 100 m, Men | Andre Cason |  USA | Olapade Adeniken |  NGR | Joel Isasi |  CUB | 
| 200 m, Men | Robson da Silva |  BRA | Félix Stevens |  CUB | Kevin Braunskill |  USA | 
| 400 m, Men | Roberto Hernández |  CUB | Sérgio de Menezes |  BRA | Oliver Bridges |  USA | 
| 800 m, Men | Ari Suhonen |  FIN | Ikem Billy |  GBR | Simon Doyle |  AUS | 
| 1,500 m, Men | Kip Cheruiyot |  KEN | Peter Rono |  KEN | Bob Dielis |  NED | 
| 5,000 m, Men | Stefano Mei |  ITA | Charles Cheruiyot |  KEN | Antonio Serrano |  ESP | 
| 10,000 m, Men | Julius Kariuki |  KEN | Zeki Öztürk |  TUR | Antonio Serrano |  ESP | 
| Marathon, Men | Tibor Baier |  HUN | Rustam Shagiyev |  URS | Kennedy Manyisa |  KEN | 
| 110 m Hurdles, Men | Roger Kingdom |  USA | Emilio Valle |  CUB | Florian Schwarthoff |  GER | 
| 400 m Hurdles, Men | Reggie Davis |  USA | Vladimir Budko |  URS | Kevin Henderson |  USA | 
| 3,000 m Steeplechase, Men | Patrick Sang |  KEN | Engelbert Franz |  GER | Thierry Brusseau |  FRA | 
| 4 x 100 m Relay, Men | United States |  USA | Soviet Union |  URS | France |  FRA | 
| 4 x 400 m Relay, Men | Jamaica |  JAM | United States |  USA | Germany |  GER | 
| 20 km Walk, Men | Walter Arena |  ITA | Miguel Prieto |  ESP | Andrew Jachno |  AUS | 
| High Jump, Men | Javier Sotomayor |  CUB | Hollis Conway |  USA | Rudolf Povarnitsyn |  URS | 
| Pole Vault, Men | Bernhard Zintl |  GER | Dean Starkey |  USA | Javier García |  ESP | 
| Long Jump, Men | Jaime Jeffersón |  CUB | Vladimir Ratushkov |  URS | Lee Starks |  USA | 
| Triple Jump, Men | Igor Lapshin |  URS | Tord Henriksson |  SWE | Oleg Sakirkin |  URS | 
| Shot Put, Men | Lars Nilsen |  NOR | Mike Stulce |  USA | Kalman Konya |  GER | 
| Discus Throw, Men | Kamy Keshmiri |  USA | Erik de Bruin |  NED | Roberto Moya |  CUB | 
| Hammer Throw, Men | Ihar Astapkovich |  URS | Heinz Weis |  GER | Ken Flax |  USA | 
| Javelin Throw, Men | Steve Backley |  GBR | Pascal Lefèvre |  FRA | Marko Hyytiäinen |  FIN | 
| Decathlon, Men | Dave Johnson |  USA | Mikhail Medved |  URS | Dezső Szabó |  HUN | 
| 100 m, Women | Liliana Allen |  CUB | Anita Ann Howard |  USA | Nataliya Voronova |  URS | 
| 200 m, Women | Galina Malchugina |  URS | Liliana Allen |  CUB | Esther Jones |  USA | 
| 400 m, Women | Ana Fidelia Quirós |  CUB | Jearl Miles |  USA | Lyudmila Dzhigalova |  URS | 
| 800 m, Women | Ana Fidelia Quirós |  CUB | Ellen van Langen |  NED | Inna Yevseyeva |  URS | 
| 1,500 m, Women | Paula Ivan |  ROU | Suzy Favor-Hamilton |  USA | Lyudmila Rogachova |  URS | 
| 3,000 m, Women | Paula Ivan |  ROU | Viorica Ghican |  ROU | Regina Chistyakova |  URS | 
| 10,000 m, Women | Viorica Ghican |  ROU | Masami Ishizaka |  JPN | Lizanne Bussières |  CAN | 
| Marathon, Women | Irina Bogacheva |  URS | Akemi Takayama |  JPN | Kim Yeon-Gu |  KOR | 
| 100 m Hurdles, Women | Monique Éwanjé-Épée |  FRA | Lidziya Yurkauna |  URS | Claudia Zaczkiewicz |  GER | 
| 400 m Hurdles, Women | Margarita Khromova |  URS | Rosey Edeh |  CAN | Irmgard Trojer |  ITA | 
| 4 x 100 m Relay, Women | United States |  USA | Soviet Union |  URS | Germany |  GER | 
| 4 x 400 m Relay, Women | United States |  USA | Germany |  GER | Soviet Union |  URS | 
| 5,000 m Walk, Women | Ileana Salvador |  ITA | Vera Makolova |  URS | Sari Essayah |  FIN | 
| High Jump, Women | Galina Astafei |  ROU | Silvia Costa |  CUB | Jin Ling |  CHN | 
| Long Jump, Women | Yolanda Chen |  URS | Marieta Ilcu |  ROU | Katja Trostel |  GDR | 
| Shot Put, Women | Huang Zhihong |  CHN | Belsy Laza |  CUB | Zhou Tianhua |  CHN | 
| Discus Throw, Women | Hou Xuemei |  CHN | Gabi Reinsch |  GDR | Maritza Martén |  CUB | 
| Javelin Throw, Women | Silke Renk |  GDR | Brigitte Graune |  GER | Päivi Alafrantti |  FIN | 
| Heptathlon, Women | Larisa Nikitina |  URS | Sabine Braun |  GER | Jane Flemming |  AUS | 
| Basketball, Men | United States |  USA | Soviet Union |  URS | Germany |  GER | 
| Épée individual, Men | Carlos Pedroso |  CUB | Maurizio Randazzo |  ITA | Wilfredo Loyola |  CUB | 
| Épée team, Men | Italy |  ITA | Cuba |  CUB | Germany |  GER | 
| Foil individual, Men | Mauro Numa |  ITA | Zsolt Érsek |  HUN | Stefano Cerioni |  ITA | 
| Foil team, Men | Cuba |  CUB | Hungary |  HUN | Italy |  ITA | 
| Sabre individual, Men | Bence Szabó |  HUN | Tonhi Terenzi |  ITA | Jarosław Kisiel |  POL | 
| Sabre team, Men | Poland |  POL | Hungary |  HUN | Italy |  ITA | 
| Épée individual, Women | Diána Eőri |  HUN | Taymi Chappé |  CUB | Dong Wen |  CHN | 
| Épée team, Women | Hungary |  HUN | Poland |  POL | Sweden |  SWE | 
| Foil individual, Women | Diana Bianchedi |  ITA | Zsuzsa Jánosi-Németh |  HUN | Giovanna Trillini |  ITA | 
| Foil team, Women | Italy |  ITA | Germany |  GER | China |  CHN | 
| Single Sculls, Men | Igor Antonov |  URS | Allen Green |  USA | Anton Obholzer |  GBR | 
| Coxless Pairs, Men | Dragoș Neagu / Ioan Snep |  ROU | Gunther Sack / Frank Richter |  GER | Derek Porter / Ian Swan |  CAN | 
| Double Sculls, Men | Dmitry Grechenko / Leonid Shaposhnykov |  URS | Alberto Belgeri / Roberto Fusaro |  ITA | Konstantinos Ditsios / Pantelis Papaterpos |  GRE | 
| Coxed Fours, Men | Romania |  ROU | Germany |  GER | Netherlands |  NED | 
| Eights, Men | Italy |  ITA | Soviet Union |  URS | Germany |  GER | 
| Lightweight Single Sculls, Men | Svilen Neykov |  BUL | John Murphy |  CAN | José María de Marco |  ESP | 
| Lightweight Coxless Fours, Men | Germany |  GER | Spain |  ESP | France |  FRA | 
| Lightweight Quadruple Sculls, Men | China |  CHN | Spain |  ESP | United States |  USA | 
| Single Sculls, Women | Elisabeta Lipa |  ROU | Zhang Li |  CHN | Alison Gill |  GBR | 
| Coxless Pairs, Women | Bender / Schmidt |  GER | Zeng Meilan / Lin Zhiai |  CHN | Sandy Kendall / Reynolds |  USA | 
| Coxless Fours, Women | Romania |  ROU | Canada |  CAN | China |  CHN | 
| Quadruple Sculls, Women | Bulgaria |  BUL | Soviet Union |  URS | East Germany |  GDR | 
| Lightweight Double Sculls, Women | Liang Sanmei / Zhang Huajie |  CHN | Melania Meunier / Sanya Remmler |  USA | Aleksandra Dzierzkowska / Elzbieta Pakzer |  POL |