1969 European Athletics Championships
| 9th European Athletics Championships | |
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| Host city | Athens, Greece |
| Date(s) | 16 – 21 September 1969 |
| Main stadium | Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium |
| Level | Senior |
| Type | Outdoor |
| Participation | 674 athletes from 30 nations |
| Events | 38 |
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The 9th European Athletics Championships were held from 16–21 September 1969 in the Karaiskaki Stadium of Athens, the capital of Greece. New at these championships were the women's 1500 metres and the women's 4×400 metres relay event. Moreover, women's 80 metres hurdles was replaced by women's 100 metres hurdles. Contemporaneous reports on the event were given in the Glasgow Herald.
Former East German runner Jürgen May who defected was not allowed to compete for his new country West Germany, because IAAF rules require him to live there for at least three years, as he competed already for East Germany in the 1966 championships. As a consequence, West German officials withdrew their athletes from all individual events, and decided to compete only in the relay races as a symbolic gesture not to disrespect the organising country.
The Dutch decathlete Edward de Noorlander was disqualified for the use of amphetamine, the first disqualification for doping in athletics.
Complete results were published.
According to an unofficial count, 675 athletes from 30 countries participated in the event, one athlete more than the official number of 674 as published.
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