| Women | Gold | Silver | Bronze | | Women 100m | Silke Gladisch-Moller | GDR | Heike Daute-Drechsler | GDR | Merlene Ottey | JAM | | Women 200m | Silke Gladisch-Moller | GDR | Florence Griffith-Joyner | USA | Merlene Ottey | JAM | | Women 400m | Olga Vladykina-Bryzgina | URS | Petra Muller-Schersing | GDR | Kirsten Siemon-Emmelmann | GDR | | Women 800m | Sigrun Wodars-Grau | GDR | Christine Wachtel | GDR | Lyubov Gurina | URS | | Women 1500m | Tatyana Samolenko-Dorovskikh | URS | Hildegard Korner | GDR | Doina Melinte | ROM | | Women 3000m | Tatyana Samolenko-Dorovskikh | URS | Maricica Puica | ROM | Ulrike Bruns | GDR | | Women 10000m | Ingrid Christensen-Kristiansen | NOR | Yelena Zhupiyeva-Vyazova | URS | Kathrin Ullrich-Wessel | GDR | | Women Marathon | Rosa Mota | POR | Zoya Ivanova | URS | Jocelyn Villeton | FRA | | Women 100m Hurdles | Ginka Zagorcheva | BUL | Gloria Uibel-Siebert | GDR | Cornelia Riefstahl-Oschkenat | GDR | | Women 400m Hurdles | Sabine Busch | GDR | Debbie Flintoff-King | AUS | Cornelia Feuerbach-Ullrich | GDR | | Women 4x100m Relay | United States | East Germany | Soviet Union | | Women 4x400m Relay | East Germany | Soviet Union | United States | | Women High Jump | Stefka Kostadinova | BUL | Tamara Bykova | URS | Susanne Helm-Beyer | GDR | | Women Long Jump | Jackie Joyner-Kersee | USA | Yelena Belevskaya | URS | Heike Daute-Drechsler | GDR | | Women Shot Put | Natalya Lisovskaya | URS | Kathrin Neimke | GDR | Ines Muller | GDR | | Women Discus Throw | Martina Opitz-Hellmann | GDR | Diana Sachse-Gansky | GDR | Tsvetanka Khristova | BUL | | Women Javelin Throw | Fatima Whitbread | GBR | Petra Felke-Meier | GDR | Beate Peters | FRG | | Women Heptathlon | Jackie Joyner-Kersee | USA | Larisa Nikitina-Turchinskaya | URS | Jane Frederick | USA | | Women 10km Walk | Irina Strakhova | URS | Kerry Saxby-Junna | AUS | Hong Yan | CHN |
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| Medals | G | S | B | All | | 1. East Germany | 10 | 11 | 10 | 31 | | 2. United States | 10 | 4 | 6 | 20 | | 3. Soviet Union | 7 | 11 | 7 | 24 | | 4. Bulgaria | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | | 5. Kenya | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | | 6. Italy | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | | 7. Great Britain | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | | 8. Portugal | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | | 9. Switzerland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | 9. Sweden | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | 9. Norway | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | 9. Finland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | 9. Marroco | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | 9. Somalia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | 15.France | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | | 16.Australia | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | | 17.Jamaica | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | | 18.West Germany | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | | 19.Chechoslovakia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | 19.Spain | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | 19.Romania | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | | 22.Nigeria | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | | 22.Djibouti | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | | 24.Cuba | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | | 25.Brazil | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 25.Belgium | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 25.China | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
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