1981 World Masters Athletics Championships

43.491389°S 172.705278°E / -43.491389; 172.705278 (Queen Elizabeth II Park)

1981 World Masters Athletics Championships is the fourth in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships (called World Veterans Championships, World Veterans Games, or World Veterans Track and Field Championships at the time) that took place in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 7 to 14 January 1981. The turnout was better than expected, despite the remote location, ^: 177 though no Eastern European or third world nations were represented. ^: 1

The main venue was Queen Elizabeth II Park, ^: 2 which was later destroyed by the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. A grass track outside the stadium was used to hold many running events. ^{: 9  : 20}

This edition of masters athletics Championships had a minimum age limit of 35 years for women and 40 years for men.

The governing body of this series is World Association of Veteran Athletes (WAVA). WAVA was formed during meeting at the inaugural edition of this series at Toronto in 1975, then officially founded during the second edition in 1977, then renamed as World Masters Athletics (WMA) at the Brisbane Championships in 2001.

This Championships was organized by WAVA in coordination with a Local Organising Committee (LOC) headed by John Macdonald. John Macdonald also ran in the competition and successfully defended his M45 10K title from 1979. ^{: 177  : 15}

In addition to a full range of track and field events, non-stadia events included 10K Cross Country, 10K Race Walk (women), 20K Race Walk (men), and Marathon. Many distance runners also competed in 10K and 25K road races at the 14th Annual World Veterans Distance Running Championships held around Centennial Lagoon in Palmerston North on 3 - 4 January. ^{: 8–9  : 3–5}