The athletics events took place at Los Angeles Olympic Stadium, now the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metres}}Eddie Tolan|USA|1932 Summer}} | 10.3 | Ralph Metcalfe|USA|1932 Summer}} | 10.3 | Arthur Jonath|GER|1932 Summer}} | 10.4 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 200 metres}}Eddie Tolan|USA|1932 Summer}} | 21.2 | George Simpson|USA|1932 Summer}} | 21.4 | Ralph Metcalfe|USA|1932 Summer}} | 21.5 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres}}Bill Carr|USA|1932 Summer}} | 46.2 | Ben Eastman|USA|1932 Summer}} | 46.4 | Alex Wilson|CAN|1932 Summer}} | 47.4 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 800 metres}}Tommy Hampson|GBR|1932 Summer}} | 1:49.8 | Alex Wilson|CAN|1932 Summer}} | 1:49.9 | Phil Edwards|CAN|1932 Summer}} | 1:51.5 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres}}Luigi Beccali|ITA|1932 Summer}} | 3:51.2 | Jerry Cornes|GBR|1932 Summer}} | 3:52.6 | Phil Edwards|CAN|1932 Summer}} | 3:52.8 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 5000 metres}}Lauri Lehtinen|FIN|1932 Summer}} | 14:30.0 | Ralph Hill|USA|1932 Summer}} | 14:30.0 | Lauri Virtanen|FIN|1932 Summer}} | 14:44.0 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 10,000 metres}}Janusz Kusociński|POL|1932 Summer}} | 30:11.4 | Volmari Iso-Hollo|FIN|1932 Summer}} | 30:12.6 | Lauri Virtanen|FIN|1932 Summer}} | 30:35.0 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 110 metres hurdles}}George Saling|USA|1932 Summer}} | 14.6 | Percy Beard|USA|1932 Summer}} | 14.7 | Donald Finlay|GBR|1932 Summer}} | 14.8 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 400 metres hurdles}}Bob Tisdall|IRL|1932 Summer}} | 51.8 | Glenn Hardin|USA|1932 Summer}} | 51.9 | Morgan Taylor|USA|1932 Summer}} | 52.0 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase}}[1]Volmari Iso-Hollo|FIN|1932 Summer}} | 10:33.4 | Thomas Evenson|GBR|1932 Summer}} | 10:46.0 | Joe McCluskey|USA|1932 Summer}} | 10:46.2 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay}}USA|1932 Summer}} Bob Kiesel Hector Dyer Emmett Toppino Frank Wykoff | 40.0 | GER|1932 Summer}} Friedrich Hendrix Erich Borchmeyer Arthur Jonath Helmut Körnig | 40.9 | ITA|1932 Summer}} Giuseppe Castelli Gabriele Salviati Ruggero Maregatti Edgardo Toetti | 41.2 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 400 metres relay}}USA|1932 Summer}} Ivan Fuqua Edgar Ablowich Karl Warner Bill Carr | 3:08.2 | GBR|1932 Summer}} Crew Stoneley Tommy Hampson David Burghley Godfrey Rampling | 3:11.2 | CAN|1932 Summer}} James Ball Ray Lewis Phil Edwards Alex Wilson | 3:12.8 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's marathon}}Juan Carlos Zabala|ARG|1932 Summer}} | 2:31:36 | Sam Ferris|GBR|1932 Summer}} | 2:31:55 | Armas Toivonen|FIN|1932 Summer}} | 2:32:12 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 kilometres walk}}Tommy Green|GBR|1932 Summer}} | 4:50:10 | Jānis Daliņš|LAT|1932 Summer}} | 4:57:20 | Ugo Frigerio|ITA|1932 Summer}} | 4:59:06 |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump}}Duncan McNaughton|CAN|1932 Summer}} | 1.97 m | Bob Van Osdel|USA|1932 Summer}} | 1.97 m | Simeon Toribio|PHI|1932 Summer}} | 1.97 m |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's pole vault}}Bill Miller|USA|1932 Summer}} | 4.315 m | Shuhei Nishida|JPN|1932 Summer}} | 4.30 m | George Jefferson|USA|1932 Summer}} | 4.20 m |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump}}Ed Gordon|USA|1932 Summer}} | 7.64 m | Lambert Redd|USA|1932 Summer}} | 7.60 m | Chuhei Nambu|JPN|1932 Summer}} | 7.45 m |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's triple jump}}Chuhei Nambu|JPN|1932 Summer}} | 15.72 m | Erik Svensson|SWE|1932 Summer}} | 15.32 m | Kenkichi Oshima|JPN|1932 Summer}} | 15.12 m |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's shot put}}Leo Sexton|USA|1932 Summer}} | 16.00 m | Harlow Rothert|USA|1932 Summer}} | 15.67 m | František Douda|TCH|1932 Summer}} | 15.61 m |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's discus throw}}John Anderson|USA|1932 Summer}} | 49.49 m | Henri LaBorde|USA|1932 Summer}} | 48.47 m | Paul Winter|FRA|1932 Summer}} | 47.85 m |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's hammer throw}}Pat O'Callaghan|IRL|1932 Summer}} | 53.92 m | Ville Pörhölä|FIN|1932 Summer}} | 52.27 m | Peter Zaremba|USA|1932 Summer}} | 50.33 m |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's javelin throw}}Matti Järvinen|FIN|1932 Summer}} | 72.71 m | Matti Sippala|FIN|1932 Summer}} | 69.80 m | Eino Penttilä|FIN|1932 Summer}} | 68.70 m |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Men's decathlon}}James Bausch|USA|1932 Summer}} | 8462.23 | Akilles Järvinen|FIN|1932 Summer}} | 8292.48 | Wolrad Eberle|GER|1932 Summer}} | 8030.80 |
1. ^The Men's 3000 Metres Steeplechase event at the 1932 Summer Olympics was 3460 metres due to an error in lap counting – the runners did an extra lap of the track.
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Women's 100 metres}}Stanisława Walasiewicz|POL|1932 Summer}} | Hilda Strike|CAN|1932 Summer}} | Wilhelmina von Bremen|USA|1932 Summer}} |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Women's 80 metres hurdles}}Babe Didrikson|USA|1932 Summer}} | Evelyne Hall|USA|1932 Summer}} | Marjorie Clark|RSA|1932 Summer}} |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 100 metres relay}}USA|1932 Summer}} Mary Carew Evelyn Furtsch Annette Rogers Wilhelmina von Bremen | CAN|1932 Summer}} Mary Frizzel Mildred Fizzell Lillian Palmer Hilda Strike | GBR|1932 Summer}} Nellie Halstead Eileen Hiscock Gwendoline Porter Violet Webb |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump}}Jean Shiley|USA|1932 Summer}} | Babe Didrikson|USA|1932 Summer}} | Eva Dawes|CAN|1932 Summer}} |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Women's discus throw}}Lillian Copeland|USA|1932 Summer}} | Ruth Osburn|USA|1932 Summer}} | Jadwiga Wajs|POL|1932 Summer}} |
| {{DetailsLink>Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics – Women's javelin throw}}Babe Didrikson|USA|1932 Summer}} | Ellen Braumüller|GER|1932 Summer}} | Tilly Fleischer|GER|1932 Summer}} |
Of the 29 events competed new Olympic records were set in all but three: men's long jump, high jump and hammer throw. World records were set in 10 events.