At the 1997 East Asian Games, the athletics events were held at the Busan Gudeok Stadium in Busan, South Korea from 10 to 19 May. Forty-three events were contested, 23 by male and 20 by female athletes.East Asian Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-03-11.

In terms of country performance the competition was a closely contested affair between Japan, which dominated the men's events, and China which led in the women's proceedings. Both finished with a total of 16 gold medals, but China's strength in depth showed in the minor medals as it took a medal haul of 52 (ten more than Japan). Kazakhstan took the third-most gold medals with seven, while the hosts (South Korea) won 18 medals to be the third-best medalling team, although this was one of their weaker sports.

In terms of athletes, Minori Hayakari provided a boost to Japan by winning silver in the 800 metres and a bronze in the 1500 metres event. Wang Zhicheng of China also won two individual medals: a 5000 metres silver, and 10,000 metres bronze. A number of athletes went on to further success at the 1998 Asian Games: Japan's Koji Ito and Koji Murofushi won gold in their events, and China had particular success with their field eventers as Ren Ruiping, Li Meisu and Li Shaojie all took Asian Games gold medals.Asian Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2010-03-11.

Medal summary

Men

100 metresWind: 4.0 m/s 10.04 w 10.30 w 10.36 w200 metres 20.98 GR 21.05 21.23400 metres 45.84 GR 46.08 46.50800 metres 1:49.00 1:50.75 1:50.761500 metres 3:49.90 GR 3:49.97 3:51.185000 metres 13:55.84 14:03.62 14:22.9610,000 metres 28:44.60 GR 29:29.08 29:49.54110 metre hurdles 13.67 GR 13.70 13.85400 metre hurdles 49.60 GR 50.41 50.733000 metre steeplechase 8:39.28 GR 8:45.38 8:54.164×100 metre relay 39.32 GR 39.43 40.314×400 metre relay 3:04.35 =GR 3:09.11 3:09.77 Half marathon 1:07:06 1:07:16 1:08:1720 km track walk 1:23:58.59 1:23:59.99 1:27:39.38 High jump 2.28 m GR 2.24 m 2.24 m Pole vault 5.50 m GR 5.40 m 5.40 m Long jump 8.13 m 8.03 m w 7.92 m Triple jump 16.89 m GR 16.71 m 16.39 m Shot put 19.47 m 18.57 m 18.28 m Discus throw 62.58 m GR 60.42 m 60.14 m Hammer throw 73.40 m 69.56 m 68.68 m Javelin throw 77.80 m GR 73.74 m 72.42 m Decathlon 7372 pts 7103 pts 7045 pts

Women 100 metresWind: 2.5 m/s 11.46 w 11.49 w 11.55 w200 metres 23.44 GR 23.82 24.09400 metres 52.92 GR 53.48 54.17800 metres 2:06.16 2:07.65 2:10.051500 metres 4:19.36 4:19.80 4:21.375000 metres 15:37.53 GR 15:38.73 15:46.8810,000 metres 31:31.85 GR 32:47.20 33:02.25100 metre hurdles 13.16 GR 13.29 13.31400 metre hurdles 55.90 GR 58.00 58.064×100 metre relay 45.05 45.16 45.524×400 metre relay 3:35.27 3:36.60 3:54.05 Half marathon 1:14:19 GR 1:14:22 1:14:3110,000 m track walk 46:23.25 47:08.09 47:20.49 High jump 1.91 m GR 1.88 m 1.88 m Long jump 6.59 m GR 6.42 m 6.25 m Triple jump 14.47 m GR 13.50 m 13.13 m Shot put 19.07 m 18.26 m 17.56 m Discus throw 63.82 m GR 61.94 m 51.90 m Javelin throw 56.92 m 56.10 m 51.06 m Heptathlon 5971 pts 5737 pts 5560 pts

Medal table

References

External links Official website from Olympic Council of Asia