Athletics at the 1959 World Festival of Youth and Students

The 7th World Festival of Youth and Students featured an athletics competition among its programme of events. The events were contested in Vienna, Austria in August 1959. Mainly contested among Eastern European athletes, it served as an alternative to the more Western European-oriented 1959 Universiade held in Turin the same year.World Student Games (UIE). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-09.

Four reigning men's champions from the 1958 European Athletics Championships were present at the competition: high jumper Richard Dahl, long jumper Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, javelin thrower Janusz Sidło and discus thrower Edmund Piątkowski (the latter a world record holder at the time).European Championships (Men). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-11. Sidło's fifth win in Union Internationale des Étudiants (UIE) competition made him the most successful individual athlete of the competition's history.

In the women's competition, Vera Krepkina did a 100 metres/long jump double and she became Olympic champion in the latter event a year later. The emerging Tamara Press dominated the shot put and discus throw (a year later she became an Olympic champion in both disciplines). Iolanda Balaș, reigning European champion at the time, retained her high jump title for a fourth straight UIE win.European Championships (Women). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-11.Olympic Medallists - Athletics (Women). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-11.

Medal summary Men 100 metres 10.5 10.6 10.7200 metres 21.4 21.5 21.5400 metres 48.2 48.5 48.9800 metres 1:49.3 1:51.0 1:52.91500 metres 3:49.4 3:51.1 3:54.05000 metres 14:12.6 14:13.2 14:14.4110 m hurdles 14.4 15.3 15.5400 m hurdles 53.4 53.9 54.1High jump 2.09 m 2.03 m 2.00 mPole vault 4.30 m 4.20 m 4.20 mLong jump 7.61 m 7.02 m 6.90 mTriple jump 15.21 m 14.82 m 14.57 mShot put 16.12 m 15.62 m 15.12 mDiscus throw 57.87 m 54.60 m 52.54 mHammer throw 61.23 m 60.70 m 58.95 mJavelin throw 76.53 m 75.08 m 74.27 m

Women 100 metres 11.7 11.9 12.2200 metres 24.4 24.5 24.6400 metres 58.5 58.8 60.080 m hurdles 10.9 11.3 11.4High jump 1.75 m 1.70 m 1.55 mLong jump 6.12 m 5.98 m 5.75 mShot put 16.65 m 15.25 m 15.09 mDiscus throw 55.80 m 51.20 m 50.75 mJavelin throw 54.33 m 54.09 m 52.25 m

Medal table

References

Results World Student Games (UIE). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2014-12-09.