At the 2013 Asian Youth Games, the athletics events were held in Nanjing, Jiangsu province in China from 19–22 August.

Sri Lanka entered ten athletes, four of them won a medal for their country.

Japan's Yume Ando was a double silver medallist in the boy's throws (discus and shot put) and Nutthapong Veeravongratanasiri of Thailand was runner-up in both the boy's short sprints.

A fourth multiple medallist was Iranian Ata Asadi who reached the podium in both middle-distance running events.

[5] The standard of performances was much higher than the inaugural edition in 2009 and only ten of the games records from that event went unbeaten.

Twenty-six new games records were set, with eight new events being introduced (200 m, 3000 metres, 2000 m steeplechase and hammer throw for both sexes).

The team of athletics officials was led by Singapore's Maurice R. Nicholas, one of the country's top coaches.