Athletics at the 1949 World Festival of Youth and Students

The 2nd World Festival of Youth and Students featured an athletics competition among its programme of events.

Mainly contested among Eastern European athletes, it served as an alternative to the more Western European-oriented 1949 Summer International University Sports Week held in Merano the same year.

Hungary's Olga Gyarmati, the reigning long jump champion from the 1948 Summer Olympics, won her specialist event along with a silver medal in the 80 metres hurdles.

The 1946 European Championships high jump silver medallist Aleksandra Chudina also won in her speciality and medalled in four other events as well.

A handful of participants were later among the top in their field, including: Leonid Shcherbakov (1950 and 1954 European triple jump winner), Yevgeniy Bulanchik (1954 European hurdles champion) and 1952 Olympic medallists Vladimir Kazantsev, Yuriy Lituyev and Klavdiya Tochonova.