Soviet Athletics Championships
# Soviet Athletics Championships

The Soviet Athletics Championships (Russian: Чемпионат СССР по лёгкой атлетике) was an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Soviet Athletics Federation, which served as the Soviet national championship for the sport.

The early history of event traces back to two events organised by a Moscow-based skiing club: this was first held in 1920 for men only. Following the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, the next two editions in 1923 and 1924 increased in size and were held as an All-Union sports festival. A marked increase came in 1928 when 1281 athletes competed, drawing from five Union Republics, 12 regions of the Russian SDSSR and 11 foreign delegations. The event was held consistently every year from 1943 onwards. The athletics competition was incorporated into the quadrennial Spartakiad of Peoples of the USSR during the latter event's lifespan from 1956 to 1991 (with the exception of 1986).

The event programme typically was close to that featured in the Olympic Games athletics competition, though the marathon, road racewalking, and combined track and field events were usually held at separate championships. It was common for there to be both an individual Soviet Championships and a national athletics championship for clubs.

The last Soviet Athletics Championships was hosted in Kyiv in 1991 and it ceased thereafter due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. A final shared championships was held in 1992 between the Commonwealth of Independent States, after which point the newly independent nations hosted their own national championship events.

## Editions

| # | Year | Venue | Date | Stadium |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1920 | Moscow | 20–24 June | Skiing Sports Society Stadium |
| 2 | 1922 | Moscow | 3–10 September | Skiing Sports Society Stadium |
| 3 | 1923 | Moscow | 1–8 September | |
| 4 | 1924 | Moscow | 31 August – 1 September | |
| 5 | 1927 | Moscow | 20–28 August | |
| 6 | 1928 | Moscow | 11–21 August | Food Union Stadium |
| 7 | 1931 | Moscow | 15–19 June | Central Dynamo Stadium |
| 8 | 1934 | Moscow | 1–6 August | Central Dynamo Stadium |
| 9 | 1935 | Moscow | 11–12 September | Central Dynamo Stadium |
| 10 | 1936 | Moscow | 18–24 August | Central Dynamo Stadium |
| 11 | 1937 | Moscow | 20–24 August | Central Dynamo Stadium |
| 12 | 1938 | Kharkiv | 20–24 August | Dynamo Stadium |
| 13 | 1939 | Kharkiv | 24–30 August | Dynamo Stadium |
| 14 | 1940 | Moscow | 20–24 August | Central Dynamo Stadium |
| 15 | 1943 | Gorky | 3–9 September | Dynamo Stadium |
| 16 | 1944 | Moscow | 13–18 August | Central Dynamo Stadium |
| 17 | 1945 | Kyiv | 9–16 September | Republican Stadium |
| 18 | 1946 | Dnepropetrovsk | 8–15 September | Steel Stadium |
| 19 | 1947 | Kharkiv | 20 August – 5 September | Dynamo Stadium |
| 20 | 1948 | Kharkiv | 5–12 September | Dynamo Stadium |
| 21 | 1949 | Moscow | 3–9 September | Central Dynamo Stadium |
| 22 | 1950 | Kyiv | 17–23 September | Republican Stadium |
| 23 | 1951 | Minsk | 26 August – 1 September | Dinamo Stadium |
| 24 | 1952 | Leningrad | 24–30 August | Kirov Stadium |
| 25 | 1953 | Moscow | 23–25 August | Central Dynamo Stadium |
| 26 | 1954 | Kyiv | 12–16 September | Republican Stadium |
| 27 | 1955 | Tbilisi | 13–17 November | Dinamo Stadium |
| 28 | 1956 | Moscow | 5–16 August | Central Lenin Stadium |
| 29 | 1957 | Moscow | 28 August – 2 September | Central Lenin Stadium |
| 30 | 1958 | Tallinn Tbilisi | 19–21 July 28 October – 2 November | Kalevi Keskstaadion Dinamo Stadium |
| 31 | 1959 | Moscow | 9–14 August | Central Lenin Stadium |
| 32 | 1960 | Moscow Kyiv | 15–18 July 15–19 October | Central Lenin Stadium Central Stadium |
| 33 | 1961 | Tbilisi | 5–9 October | Dinamo Stadium |
| 34 | 1962 | Moscow Tashkent | 11–13 August 13–19 October | Central Lenin Stadium Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium |
| 35 | 1963 | Moscow | 9–15 August | Central Lenin Stadium |
| 36 | 1964 | Kyiv | 27–30 August | Republican Stadium |
| 37 | 1965 | Almaty | 9–17 October | Almaty Central Stadium |
| 38 | 1966 | Dnepropetrovsk Leninakan | 12–14 August 4–6 October | Meteor Stadium City Stadium |
| 39 | 1967 | Moscow | 28 July – 1 August | Central Lenin Stadium |
| 40 | 1968 | Sevan Leninakan Tsaghkadzor Yalta | 12–13 August 15–18 August 21–22 August 15 October | |
| 41 | 1969 | Noginsk Kyiv Uzhhorod Sochi | 19 July 1969 17–20 August 15–16 October 1–2 November | Noginsk City Stadium Central Stadium Avanhard Stadium Central Stadium South |
| 42 | 1970 | Minsk Fryazino | 12–14 September 12–13 September | Dinamo Stadium |
| 43 | 1971 | Moscow | 16–19 July | Central Lenin Stadium |
| 44 | 1972 | Moscow | 14–20 July | Central Lenin Stadium |
| 45 | 1973 | Moscow | 4–14 July | Central Lenin Stadium |
| 46 | 1974 | Moscow | 6–7 July 23–26 July | Central Lenin Stadium |
| 47 | 1975 | Moscow | 27–30 July | Central Lenin Stadium |
| 48 | 1976 | Kyiv Klaipėda Yerevan | 10–24 June 15 August 26–29 August | Republican Stadium City streets Hrazdan Stadium |
| 49 | 1977 | Moscow Riga | 26–29 July 2–3 July | Central Lenin Stadium Dinamo Stadium |
| 50 | 1978 | Moscow Donetsk Tbilisi | 25 June 29–30 July 15–18 September | City streets Lokomotiv Stadium Dinamo Stadium |
| 51 | 1979 | Moscow | 21–29 July | Central Lenin Stadium |
| 52 | 1980 | Moscow Donetsk | 29–21 June 6–9 September | Central Lenin Stadium Lokomotiv Stadium |
| 53 | 1981 | Leningrad Leningrad Moscow | 24–26 July 1–2 August 16–19 September | Lenin Stadium Central Lenin Stadium |
| 54 | 1982 | Moscow Leningrad (Kyiv) | | |
| 55 | 1983 | Moscow | | |
| 56 | 1984 | Donetsk | 7–9 September | Lokomotiv Stadium |
| 57 | 1985 | Leningrad | | |
| 58 | 1986 | Moscow Kyiv | | |
| 59 | 1987 | Moscow Mogilev Cheboksary Novopolotsk Bryansk Tallinn | 12 June 12 June 12 July 16–19 July 18–19 July | Start & finish at Desna Stadium |
| 60 | 1988 | Kyiv | | |
| 61 | 1989 | Leningrad | | |
| 62 | 1990 | Kyiv | | |
| 63 | 1991 | Kyiv | | |
