# 1997–98 Arab Athletics Championships

The 1997 Arab Athletics Championships was the tenth edition of the international athletics competition between Arab countries. The tournament occurred in two parts in two different years, with the sexes competing in different locations for the first and so far only time. A total of 42 athletics events were contested, 22 for men and 20 for women.
The scheduled 1997 championships was held from 10 to 12 September in Ta'if, Saudi Arabia and featured only men's events. Regional powers Morocco and Tunisia were absent from this meeting. The men's marathon and racewalking events were dropped from the programme, with the half marathon remaining as the only road event.
A corresponding women's tournament was belatedly staged between 25 and 27 June 1998 in Damascus, Syria. Only five nations participated in the women's events: Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: +2.7 m/s) | Sultan Mohamed Al-Sheib (QAT) | 10.22 | Saad Muftah Al-Kuwari (QAT) | 10.27 | Mohamed Hiba Saif (KSA) | 10.38 |
| 200 metres | Mohamed Al-Houti (OMN) | 20.81 | Ibrahim Ismail Muftah (QAT) | 20.86 | Malik Louahla (ALG) | 20.91 |
| 400 metres | Ibrahim Ismail Muftah (QAT) | 45.44 | Hamdan Al-Bishi (KSA) | 46.51 | Sami Suleiman Srour (QAT) | 47.77 |
| 800 metres | Mohammed Yagoub (SUD) | 1:51.07 | Djabir Saïd-Guerni (ALG) | 1:51.24 | Othman Mohamed Othman (KSA) | 1:52.02 |
| 1500 metres | Mohammed Yagoub (SUD) | 3:44.18 | Mohamed Suleiman (QAT) | 3:47.83 | Ahmed Karama (ALG) | 3:48.10 |
| 5000 metres | Alyan Sultan Al-Qahtani (KSA) | 14:25.08 | Jamal Abdi Hassan (QAT) | 14:43.04 | Kamal Kohil (ALG) | 14:47.08 |
| 10,000 metres | Ahmed Ibrahim Warsama (QAT) | 30:41.02 | Kamal Kohil (ALG) | 30:43.86 | Abdallah Youssef (QAT) | 31:37.57 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Saad Al-Asmari (KSA) | 8:53.08 | Jamal Abdi Hassan (QAT) | 8:56.78 | Laïd Bessou (ALG) | 8:57.90 |
| 110 metres hurdles | Mubarak Khasif (QAT) | 13.87 | Hamad Mubarak Al-Dosari (QAT) | 14.92 | Bader Abbas (KUW) | 14.25 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Mubarak Al-Nubi (QAT) | 49.63 | Ibrahim El Hefeny (EGY) | 51.06 | Ali Ismaïl Abdelmoneim (QAT) | 51.44 |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Qatar (QAT) | 39.94 | Algeria (ALG) | 40.26 | Oman (OMN) | 40.86 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Qatar (QAT) | 3:09.20 | Saudi Arabia (KSA) | 3:13.79 | Algeria (ALG) | 3:15.87 |
| Half marathon | Abdallah Youssef (QAT) | 1:06:17 | Ahmed Adam Saleh (SUD) | 1:06:19 | Abidi Saïd (DJI) | 1:07:02 |
| High jump | Fakhredin Fouad (JOR) | 2.17 m | Abderrahmane Hammad (ALG) | 2.17 m | Majed Sultan El Manaa (KSA) | 2.11 m |
| Pole vault | Ahmad Abdulkarim (QAT) | 5.05 m | Rafik Mefti (ALG) | 5.05 m | Walid Zayed (QAT) | 4.70 m |
| Long jump | Hussein Al-Sabee (KSA) | 8.01 m | Hatem Mersal (EGY) | 7.92 m | Salem Al-Ahmedi (KSA) | 7.62 m |
| Triple jump | Salem Al-Ahmedi (KSA) | 17 m | Mohamed Mohamed Adam (KSA) | 16.11 m | Ibrahim Mohamedin (QAT) | 16.03 m |
| Shot put | Bilal Saad Mubarak (QAT) | 19.65 m | Khaled Suliman Al-Khalidi (KSA) | 17.56 m | Abdallah Soursour (KUW) | 16.57 m |
| Discus throw | Khaled Suliman Al-Khalidi (KSA) | 54.68 m | Abdullah Al-Shammari (KSA) | 52.80 m | Tarek Al-Najjar (JOR) | 51.52 m |
| Hammer throw | Hakim Toumi (ALG) | 71.28 m | Cherif El Hennawi (EGY) | 70.48 m | Naser Abdullah Al-Jarallah (KUW) | 67.84 m |
| Javelin throw | Firas Al Mahamid (SYR) | 74.74 m | Ali Saleh Al-Jadani (KSA) | 74.10 m | Walid Abderrazak Mohamed (EGY) | 71.92 m |
| Decathlon | Hassan Farouk Sayed (EGY) | 6788 pts | Abdul Marzouk (KSA) | 6725 pts | Houssem Abdellatif (EGY) | 6648 pts |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Karima Meskin Saad (EGY) | 11.78 | Awatef Hamrouni (TUN) | 11.93 | Wafa Mubarak (EGY) | 11.95 |
| 200 metres | Karima Meskin Saad (EGY) | 24.1 | Awatef Hamrouni (TUN) | 25.0 | Wafa Mubarak (EGY) | 25.4 |
| 400 metres | Karima Meskin Saad (EGY) | 55.5 | Abir Nakhli (TUN) | 57.2 | Ibtissem Fathy (EGY) | 58.8 |
| 800 metres | Abir Nakhli (TUN) | 2:10.8 | Nadia Hamdy (EGY) | 2:17.6 | Natalia Farran (LIB) | 2:20.4 |
| 1500 metres | Abir Nakhli (TUN) | 4:48.9 | Natalia Farran (LIB) | 4:56.3 | Nadia Hamdy (EGY) | 5:03.3 |
| 5000 metres | Zainab Bakkour (SYR) | 17:52.9 | Mahassen Ajaj (SYR) | 19:2.9 | Samah Shaaban (EGY) | 19:53.3 |
| 10,000 metres | Zainab Bakkour (SYR) | 37:21.1 | Mahassen Ajaj (SYR) | 40:56.5 | Najoua Ibrahim (EGY) | 41:54.2 |
| 100 metres hurdles | Sheryne Khayri (EGY) | 15.0 | Rola Hambersmian (SYR) | 17.31 | Raouâa Tanta (PLE) | 19.3 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Hela Abderrehim (EGY) | 63.5 | Shaïma El-Koumi (EGY) | 65.0 | Samar Danoun (SYR) | 67.3 |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Egypt (EGY) | 49.3 | Syria (SYR) | 54.5 | Only two teams competed | Only two teams competed |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Egypt (EGY) | 3:59.7 | Lebanon (LIB) | 4:07.5 | Syria (SYR) | 4:21.5 |
| Half marathon | Zainab Bakkour (SYR) | 1:27:1 | Iman Hessine (EGY) | 1:45:5 | Mona Mohamed Mahmoud (EGY) | 1:47:05 |
| 10 km road walk | Nagwa Ibrahim (EGY) | 52:19 | Rabab Ezzine (EGY) | 57:51 | Lamis El Majrissi (SYR) | 1:04:19 |
| High jump | Rim Abdullah (SYR) | 1.55 m | Karin Buchakjian (LIB) | 1.50 m | Sheryne Khayri (EGY) | 1.50 m |
| Long jump | Monia Jelassi (TUN) | 5.74 m | Nashoua Abdelhay (EGY) | 5.41 m | Ghada Ismail Mustapha (EGY) | 5.33 m |
| Triple jump | Monia Jelassi (TUN) | 12.42 m | Ghada Ismail Mustapha (EGY) | 11.50 m | Nashoua Abdelhay (EGY) | 11.11 m |
| Shot put | Wafaa Ismail Baghdadi (EGY) | 14.78 m | Amel Ben Khaled (TUN) | 14.64 m | Hanaa El Melegi (EGY) | 13.64 m |
| Discus throw | Monia Kari (TUN) | 48.87 m | Hanan Khaled (EGY) | 43.60 m | Walae Ibrahim (EGY) | 15.12 m |
| Javelin throw | Muna El Morsi (EGY) | 39.49 m | Saoud Al-Hariss (LIB) | 39.16 m | Salam Saïd (SYR) | 38.00 m |
| Heptathlon | Saoud Al-Hariss (LIB) | 4306 | Rania Abdelaziz (EGY) | 3977 pts | Haniya El-Gameel (EGY) | 3890 pts |
* $^{nb}$ Only two women finished all events in the heptathlon.

## Medal table
### Overall

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Egypt (EGY) | 11 | 11 | 15 | 37 |
| 2 | Qatar (QAT) | 10 | 6 | 5 | 21 |
| 3 | Saudi Arabia (KSA) | 5 | 7 | 4 | 16 |
| 4 | Syria (SYR) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 13 |
| 5 | Tunisia (TUN) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| 6 | Sudan (SUD) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | Algeria (ALG) | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 8 | Lebanon (LIB) | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 9 | Jordan (JOR) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Oman (OMN) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | Kuwait (KUW) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 12 | Djibouti (DJI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 12 | Palestine (PLE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | Bahrain (BHR) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals (15 entries) | Totals (15 entries) | 42 | 42 | 41 | 125 |

### Men

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Qatar (QAT) | 10 | 6 | 5 | 21 |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia (KSA) | 5 | 7 | 4 | 16 |
| 3 | Sudan (SUD) | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Algeria (ALG) | 1 | 5 | 5 | 11 |
| 5 | Egypt (EGY) | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 |
| 6 | Jordan (JOR) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | Oman (OMN) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | Syria (SYR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Kuwait (KUW) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 | Djibouti (DJI) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Bahrain (BHR) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Lebanon (LIB) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals (13 entries) | Totals (13 entries) | 22 | 22 | 22 | 66 |

### Women

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Egypt (EGY) | 10 | 8 | 13 | 31 |
| 2 | Tunisia (TUN) | 5 | 4 | 0 | 9 |
| 3 | Syria (SYR) | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 |
| 4 | Lebanon (LIB) | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | Palestine (PLE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (5 entries) | Totals (5 entries) | 20 | 20 | 19 | 59 |