
Athletics was an African Games event at its inaugural edition in 1965 and has continued to feature prominently at the competition in each of its subsequent editions.

Athletics was one of the sports at the biennial Central Asian Games. Athletics competitions were held at every edition of the games since 1995 and it is one of the core sports of the games.

Athletics is one of the sports at the quadrennial National Games of China. Athletics competitions have been at every edition of the competition since its formation in 1910 as the Chinese National Games. The Games is the highest level athletics event for Chinese athletes, ahead of the annual Chinese Athletics Championships.

Athletics is one of the sports at the biennial Games of the Small States of Europe. Athletics competitions have been held at every edition of the games since 1985 and is one of the eight core sports of the games.

The athletics competition at the Inter-Allied Games was held at the Stade Pershing from 22 June to 6 July 1919 in Paris, France. The event was open to all military personnel from countries that were among the Allies of World War I.

Athletics has been contested at every Summer Olympics since the birth of the modern Olympic movement at the 1896 Summer Olympics. The athletics program traces its earliest roots to events used in the ancient Greek Olympics. The modern program includes track and field events, road running events, and racewalking events. Cross country running was also on the program in earlier editions but it was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics.

Athletics competitions have been held at every Pacific Games since the inaugural edition 1963 in Suva, Fiji and at every Pacific Mini Games since the inaugural edition 1981 in Honiara, Solomon Islands. Both events are open for the 22 member federations of the Pacific Games Council. The Pacific Games started as South Pacific Games and were renamed in 2011, whereas the Pacific Mini Games started as South Pacific Mini Games and were renamed in 2009.
At the 1995 Pacific Ocean Games, the athletics events were held at the Estadio Olímpico Pascual Guerrero in Cali, Colombia from June 24 to July 2. A total of 31 events were contested, of which 14 by male and 17 by female athletes. The athletics competition did not attract many of the highest level athletes from the Pacific Rim countries and the host nation athletes were foremost among in the medallists. Colombia topped the medal table with 14 gold medals and 41 medals overall. The United States won the next highest number of gold medals, with four, while Chile had the next highest medal total, with ten.

Athletics has been contested at every Summer Paralympics since the first games in 1960. Men and women from all disability groups compete in the sport.

Athletics has featured as a sport at the Youth Olympic Summer Games since its first edition in 2010. The Youth Olympic Games are multi-sport event and the games are held every four years just like the Olympic Games. Athletes under the age of 18 can participate in the Games. This age group corresponds with the youth category of athletics competition.