The athletics competition at the 1973 SEAP Games were held at the National Stadium, Singapore. Athletics events was held between 2 September to 5 September.
| 100 m |  Anat Ratanapol | 10.5 | Suchart Jairsuraparp | 10.5 | Samphon Mao | 10.7 | |
| 200 m | Anat Ratanapol | 21.6 |  Sinnayah Sabapathy | 22.3 | Samphon Mao | 22.3 | |
| 400 m | Baba Singhe Peyadesa | 48.2 | Savin Chem | 48.5 | Sayan Paratanavong | 48.9 | |
| 800 m |  Jimmy Crampton | 1:51.4 | Ramasamy Subramaniam | 1:52.9 |  Serjit Singh | 1:58.0 | |
| 1500 m | Jimmy Crampton | 3:52.8 | Ramasamy Subramaniam | 3:54.1 | K. Kumarasan | 3:55.5 | |
| 5000 m | Aung Than | 14:55.0 | P. C. Suppiah | 15:10.6 | A. Mahalingam | 15:15.8 | |
| 10,000 m | Aung Than | 31:02.8 | Ko Ko | 32:02.8 | A. Malayandy | 32:06.55 | |
| Marathon | Ko Ko | 2:26:04.2 | Hla Thein | 2:34:06.3 | Solaimuthu | 2:42:03.6 | |
| 110 m hurdles | Ishtiaq Mubarak | 14.6 | Hpone Myint | 14.9 | Bala Merican | 15.1 | |
| 400 m hurdles | Tongchai Tipyamatee | 53.5 | Karu Selvaratnam | 53.7 | Gyee Ngwe | 53.9 | |
| 3000 m steeplechase | Aung Than | 9:14.2 | S.P. Kannu | 9:18.8 | A. Manickan | 9:23.2 | |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Thailand Anat Ratanapol Suchart Jairsuraparp Panus Ariyamongkol Surapong Ariyamongkol | 40.7 | Singapore Andrew Chee Yeo Kian Chye Ong Yoke Phee Loh Chan Pew | 41.6 | Malaysia Janun Abdullah Maarof Hussein V. Sridaran Sinnayah Sabapathy | 41.9 | |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Malaysia Baba Singhe Peyadesa Sinnayah Sabapathy Harun Rasheed Othman Victor Asirvatham | 3:11.2 | Singapore Ho Mun Cheong Cheah Kim Teck Canagasabai Kunalan Godfrey Jallah | 3:11.3 | Thailand Anat Ratanapol S. Paratanawong ? ? | 3:18.1 | |
| 20 km walk | Khoo Chong Beng | 1:44:31.8 | Nadarajan Rengasamy | 1:46:54.2 | Kyaw Mying | 1:50:57.8 | |
| 50 km walk | Kyaw Mying | 4:53:16.2 | Aziz Khalil | 5:10:41.8 | S. Dorairaj | 5:19:43.6 | |
| Pole vault | Kyaw Zaw | 4.50 | Wong Chong Sai P. Munha | 4.20 | |||
| High jump | Nor Azhar Hamid | 2.12 m | Yon bin Ismail | 2.00 | Sitha Sin | 1.99 | |
| Long jump | Thant Zin | 7.29 m | Lim Hong Kang | 7.09 | Shazan Amir Rahman | 7.07 | |
| Triple jump | Shahlan Tahir | 14.83 m | Chaiyasit Suriyachan | 14.78 | Thant Zin | 14.78 | |
| Shot put | Saw Sarlawla | 14.64 m | Thien Win | 13.50 | Lim Choong Watt | 12.95 | |
| Discus throw | Nhem Yeav | 43.74 m | Zaw Weik | 43.42 | Samai Chartmontri | 41.60 | |
| Hammer throw | Muthiah Dattaya | 44.40 m | Eknath Mane | 43.62 | Ghenda Singh | 41.22 | |
| Javelin throw | Nashatar Singh Sidhu | 65.60 m | Ballang Lasung | 62.10 | Jaw Tee Jang | 60.48 | |
| Decathlon | Janardhanan Vijayan | 6,237 pts | Tang Ngai Kin | 6,044 | Win WIn | 6,023 | |
| 100 m | Eng Chiew Guay | 12.50 | Than Than | 12.55 | Aye Shwe | 12.59 | |
| 200 m | Glory Barnabas | 25.63 | Than Than Lwin | 25.68 | Aye Shwe | 25.7 | |
| 400 m | Than Than | 55.3 | Chee Swee Lee | 56.0 | Mar Mar Min | 56.2 | |
| 800 m | Mar Mar Min | 2:12.7 | Chee Swee Lee | 2:12.8 | Yamunah Ramasamy | 3:14.3 | |
| 1500 m | Nwe Nwe Yee | 4:28.2 | Yamunah Ramasamy | 4:41.2 | Mirnigar Begum | 4:41.8 | |
| 100 m hurdles | Heather Merican | 14.80 | Nwe Nwe Yee | 15.4 | C. Kiewlongya | 15.8 | |
| 200 m hurdles | Heather Merican | 28.8 sec | Gan Bee Wah | 29.1 | Nwe Nwe Yee | 29.9 | |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Singapore Eng Chiew Guay Sheila Fernando Glory Barnabas Gan Bee Wah | 47.5 | Myanmar Than Than Aye Shwe Nwe Nwe Yee ? | 47.8 | Malaysia Yamunah Nair Irene Wan Esther Thaddaus Noreen Pereira | 48.0 | |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Than Than Than Than Htay Aye Shwe Mar Mar Min | 3:38.7 | Singapore Chee Swee Lee C. Madathi Chew Kim Hua Maimoon Azlan | 3:48.8 | Malaysia Esther Thaddaus Marina Chin Junaidah Aman Noraisah Wajib | 4:00.1 | |
| 10 km walk | Su Su Yee | 55:03.20 | Margaret Tan | 55:41.7 | Cheah Bee Tin | 55:54.00 | |
| High jump | Gladys Chai | 1.65 m | Goh Li Kian Eileen Chit | 1.56 | |||
| Long jump | Aye Shwe | 5.74 m | Gladys Chai | 5.57 | Koh Hong Phang | 5.53 | |
| Shot put | Jennifer Tinlay | 13.7 m | K. Yientrong | 11.51 | Paw Shwee | 11.4 | |
| Discus throw | Jennifer Tinlay | 41.60 m | Paw Shwee | 39.86 | Uch Lay | 37.54 | |
| Javelin throw | Proch Thin | 41.18 m | Chua Kim Tee | 35.80 | Kok Yin Ping | 33.56 | |