# 1979 Arab Athletics Championships

The 1979 Arab Athletics Championships was the second edition of the international athletics competition between Arab countries. It took place in Baghdad, Iraq from 23–26 October. As of 2015, it remains the only senior international athletics competition to have been held in the country.
Following the men-only inaugural tournament, the second edition marked the introduction of a women's programme. A total of 32 athletics events were contested, 22 for men and 10 for women. The men's decathlon became the combined track and field event to be contested at the championships, and the men's hammer throw was also added to the schedule. Women athletes, entered by four nations, competed in short track running events, as well as two jumping and three throwing field events. This represented the first major gathering of Arab women at an athletics championships – the Pan Arab Games did not admit women in the sport until six years later.

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Nabil Nahri (SYR) | 10.97 | Sami Shaykhali (IRQ) | 10.99 | Heitham Nadim (IRQ) | 11.06 |
| 200 metres | Heitham Nadim (IRQ) | 21.14 | Nabil Nahri (SYR) | 21.45 | Farhan Salmeen (QAT) | 21.82 |
| 400 metres | Mehdi Ahmed Salah (LBA) | 47.82 | Béchir El Fallah (LBA) | 47.96 | Fahem Abdessada (IRQ) | 47.99 |
| 800 metres | Mohamed Alouini (TUN) | 1:51.71 | Khaled Khalifa (KUW) | 1:53.98 | Salem Mohamed Salem (LBA) | 1:54.28 |
| 1500 metres | Khaled Khalifa (KUW) | 3:58.4 | Messaad Neji (QAT) | 3:58.5 | Amara Chiha (TUN) | 3:59.0 |
| 5000 metres | Abdul Amir Naji (IRQ) | 14:40.0 | Amara Chiha (TUN) | 14:41.9 | Mofleh Saad Messaoud (QAT) | 14:42.9 |
| 10,000 metres | Shabib Dagher (IRQ) | 31:41.02 | Abdul Amir Naji (IRQ) | 32:00.37 | Ibrahim Ettaher (QAT) | 32:43.08 |
| 110 metres hurdles | Abdul Jabbar Rahima (IRQ) | 14.83 | Fahan Sultan Nasir (IRQ) | 14.86 | Matar Achour (KUW) | 15.51 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Hussein Kadhum (IRQ) | 51.16 | Abdul Jabbar Rahima (IRQ) | 51.76 | Maâouia Ali El Houly (LBA) | 53.59 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Sabir Hantoush (IRQ) | 9:00.87 | Abdelkarim Jomâa (SYR) | 9:07.45 | Amara Chiha (TUN) | 9:09.32 |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Iraq (IRQ) | 41.27 | Syria (SYR) | 41.90 | Kuwait (KUW) | 42.40 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Iraq (IRQ) | 3:12.48 | Libya (LBA) | 3:14.24 | Syria (SYR) | 3:18.16 |
| Marathon | Abdullah El Souki (LBA) | 2:34:44 | Karim Abboud (IRQ) | 2:38:48 | Abdelhussein Ali (BHR) | 2:46:25 |
| High jump | Ahmed Kassim (IRQ) | 2.03 m | Ghazi Marzouk (KSA) | 2.03 m | Moncer Mohamed Salah (QAT) | 2.00 m |
| Pole vault | Mohamed Bensaad (ALG) | 4.40 m | Kesra Ahmed (IRQ) | 4.30 m | Abdallah Awadh (KSA) | 4.20 m |
| Long jump | Mehdi Khadum (IRQ) | 7.25 m | Zied Kat (SYR) | 7.09 m | Abdessalem El Bashti (LBA) | 6.98 m |
| Triple jump | Mojhed Farid (IRQ) | 15.98 m | Mehdi Khadum (IRQ) | 15.82 m | Féthi Ouertani (TUN) | 14.94 m |
| Shot put | Mohammed Al-Zinkawi (KUW) | 16.82 m | Ahmed Hassen Miled (LBA) | 16.46 m | Shokr Mahmoud (IRQ) | 15.15 m |
| Discus throw | Abderrazak Ben Hassine (TUN) | 51.46 m | Adnan Houry (SYR) | 49.08 m | Shawki Hajji (IRQ) | 47.40 m |
| Hammer throw | Youssef Ben Abid (TUN) | 52.43 m | Khaled Ghalloum (KUW) | 45.44 m | Abbes Jabbar (IRQ) | 44.62 m |
| Javelin throw | Ali Memmi (TUN) | 71.50 m | Tarek Chaabani (TUN) | 70.76 m | Matar El Karfi (KSA) | 65.30 m |
| Decathlon | Elie Sfeir (LIB) | 6576 pts | Jassem Jabr (IRQ) | 6417 pts | Abdessatar Mouelhi (TUN) | 6228 pts |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Iman Nouri (IRQ) | 12.85 | Houda Nahedh (LIB) | 13.23 | Raya Tatunji (SYR) | 13.60 |
| 200 metres | Sarra Touibi (TUN) | 25.78 | Anouar Abdelmohsen (IRQ) | 26.25 | Houda Nahedh (LIB) | 26.77 |
| 400 metres | Sarra Touibi (TUN) | 57.48 | Chaoub Kahtane (IRQ) | 59.78 | Hala El-Moughrabi (SYR) | 59.94 |
| 800 metres | Souad Derouiche (TUN) | 2:11.24 | Hala El-Moughrabi (SYR) | 2:16.62 | Ahlem Ibrahim (IRQ) | 2:29.22 |
| 100 metres hurdles | Iman Nouri (IRQ) | 15.96 | Raya Tatunji (SYR) | 16.56 | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| High jump | Kawther Akrémi (TUN) | 1.74 m | Raya Tatunji (SYR) | 1.58 m | Zeina Mina (LIB) | 1.40 m |
| Long jump | Kawther Akrémi (TUN) | 5.51 m | Iman Nouri (IRQ) | 5.43 m | Raya Tatunji (SYR) | 5.09 m |
| Shot put | Fathia Jerbi (TUN) | 11.70 m | Fayda Awada (IRQ) | 11.60 m | Raja Hatem (SYR) | 8.90 m |
| Discus throw | Fathia Jerbi (TUN) | 46.80 m | Raja Hatem (SYR) | 34.42 m | Sahera Mohamed Ali (IRQ) | 26.52 m |
| Javelin throw | Wissem Chennoufi (TUN) | 37.30 m | Hamdia Essammak (IRQ) | 35.80 m | Najah Farah (SYR) | 34.98 m |

## Medal table
### Overall

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Iraq (IRQ) | 13 | 13 | 7 | 33 |
| 2 | Tunisia (TUN) | 12 | 2 | 4 | 18 |
| 3 | Libya (LBA) | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | Kuwait (KUW) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 | Syria (SYR) | 1 | 9 | 6 | 16 |
| 6 | Lebanon (LIB) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 7 | Algeria (ALG) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Qatar (QAT) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 9 | Saudi Arabia (KSA) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 10 | Bahrain (BHR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Palestine (PLE) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals (12 entries) | Totals (12 entries) | 32 | 32 | 31 | 95 |

### Men

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Iraq (IRQ) | 11 | 8 | 5 | 24 |
| 2 | Tunisia (TUN) | 4 | 2 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | Libya (LBA) | 2 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | Kuwait (KUW) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 | Syria (SYR) | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | Algeria (ALG) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | Lebanon (LIB) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | Qatar (QAT) | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 9 | Saudi Arabia (KSA) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 10 | Bahrain (BHR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 | Palestine (PLE) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals (12 entries) | Totals (12 entries) | 22 | 22 | 22 | 66 |

### Women

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Tunisia (TUN) | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | Iraq (IRQ) | 2 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 3 | Syria (SYR) | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 4 | Lebanon (LIB) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Totals (4 entries) | Totals (4 entries) | 10 | 10 | 9 | 29 |