The competition did not receive interest from several of the nation's top athletes, including Sergey Bubka, and audience attendance was also low.

The highlight performance was Lyudmila Narozhilenko's Soviet national record of 12.28 seconds in the women's 100 metres hurdles.

The women's 10 km winner Alina Ivanova finished one second slower than her Soviet record set in 1989.

The Soviet Winter Throwing Championships were held on 23–24 February in Adler at the Labor Reserves stadium.

The women's hammer throw world record was improved twice at the meeting, first by Larisa Shtyrogrishnaya (63.08 m), and then by Alla Fyodorova (64.44 m).