19 2002 in athletics (track and field)

The 13th African Championships in Athletics were held in Tunis and Radès, Tunisia in August, 2002.

The 27th European Athletics Indoor Championships were held from Friday, 1 March to Sunday, 3 March 2002 in Vienna, the capital city of Austria. This was the last edition to be held in an even year to avoid it occurring in the same year as the outdoor European Athletics Championships.

The 2002 AAA Championships was an outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA), held from 12–14 July at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, England. It was considered the de facto national championships for the United Kingdom.

The 2001–02 Australian Athletics Championships was the 80th edition of the national championship in outdoor track and field for Australia. It was held from 11–14 April 2002 at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in Brisbane. It served as a selection meeting for Australia at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. The 5000 metres events were held separately in Melbourne on 7 March 2002.

Athletics at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games

The track and field competition at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games was held at the Estadio Nacional Flor Blanca in San Salvador, El Salvador, between 1 and 6 December 2002. Results were reported and discussed in detail on a day-by-day basis.

At the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the athletics events were held at the City of Manchester Stadium on 26–30 July 2002. The route for the marathon event crossed Manchester city centre and finished in the stadium. The race walk events began alongside the Lowry Centre at Salford Quays. There were twenty-five men's events and 23 women's events; the schedules were identical except that there were men's 3000 metres steeplechase and 50 kilometres walk events. Pole vaulter Dominic Johnson won a bronze medal, Saint Lucia's only medal of the Games.

The East African Half Marathon Championships was an international half marathon competition among athletes from East Africa. The competition was the first dedicated road running championship. The event was contiguous with other regional competitions in the sport of athletics, including the East African Athletics Championships and the East African Cross Country Championships. An East African Marathon Championships was also briefly held during this period, having only one outing in 2002.

The 18th European Athletics Championships were held from 6 August to 11 August 2002 in the Olympic Stadium of Munich, Germany.

2002 European Cross Country Championships

The 9th European Cross Country Championships were held at Medulin in Croatia on 8 December 2002. Serhiy Lebid took his third title in the men's competition and Helena Javornik won the women's race.

The 2002 European Cup was the 23rd edition of the European Cup of athletics.

The 2002 German Athletics Championships were held at the Lohrheidestadion in Bochum-Wattenscheid on 5–7 July 2002.

The 11th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on May 5, 2002 in the city of Brussels, Belgium. A total of 198 athletes, 123 men and 75 women, from 60 countries took part. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results were given both for the men's race and for the women's race.

The 2002 Ibero-American Championships in Athletics was the tenth edition of the international athletics competition between Ibero-American nations which was held at the Estadio Cementos Progreso in Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala on 11 and 12 May. A total of 328 athletes participated in the 44-event programme. The 3000 metres was introduced for both men and women, replacing the longer 10,000 metres event.

The 2002 Lithuanian Athletics Championships were held at the S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium in Kaunas on August 13 and August 14, 2002.

2002 NACAC Under-25 Championships in Athletics

The 2nd NACAC Under-25 Championships in Athletics were held in San Antonio, Texas, United States on August 9–11, 2002. As in 2000 the event was open for athletes younger than 25 years. A detailed report on the results was given. However, the results were affected by doping.

Athletics events at the 2002 South American Games were held at the Estádio Olímpico do Pará in Belém, Brazil, between August 1–3, 2002. For the first time, the tournament was restricted to junior athletes (U-20). The results were used to determine the medals awarded for this year's South American Junior Championships.

The 2002 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was organised by USA Track & Field and held from June 21 to 23 at the Cobb Track & Angell Field in Palo Alto, California. The three-day competition served as the national championships in track and field for the United States. The same facility would host this meet the following year, but this was the last year to use the three day format as the four-day format was adopted in 2003. The combined track and field events were contested at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley, California in the two days preceding the start of the main programme.

The 9th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was hosted by Madrid, September 21–22, 2002, in the Estadio La Peineta. The IAAF world cup event is currently held every four years.

The 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Kingston, Jamaica from July 16 to July 21, 2002.