# Athletics at the 1997 Arab Games

At the 1997 Pan Arab Games, the athletics events were held at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium in Beirut, Lebanon from 14 to 17 July. The events were poorly attended, with the vast majority of seat in the stadium remaining empty even on the final day. However, the calibre of performances remained high in spite of this.
Originally scheduled for 1996, the games were delayed due to rebuilding efforts after war with Israel – efforts that were themselves hampered by Operation Grapes of Wrath, which targeted areas in Beirut one year earlier. Iraqi athletes did not compete for a second time running, due to regional opposition of its Invasion of Kuwait. At the games, drug tests came back positive for some athletes – a first for the competition. As a result of the rescheduling, the dates for the athletics somewhat overlapped with those of the athletics at the 1997 Mediterranean Games. Future Pan Arab Games were scheduled in the year before the Summer Olympics to avoid similar clashes of the regional events, which are attended by several of the same nations. The first day of the athletics was marred by disqualification of four sprinters (from Morocco and Algeria), who had pushed one another.
A total of 41 events were contested, of which 22 by male and 19 by female athletes. Three new women's events were introduced – the triple jump and the half marathon were entirely new, while the 3000 metres event was replaced by the 5000 metres (coming into line with global standard set at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics). The rest of the programme was similar to that of the 1992 Pan Arab Games, although racewalking events were dropped for both men and women on this occasion. The road races, held on the first day of the games, encountered traffic problems: men's bronze medallist Ahmad Adam was hit by the referee's car and a women's medallist complained that the general public driving on the same road had made her run difficult.
Morocco topped the medal table with thirteen gold medals. Qatar and Algeria each won eight gold medals, the former doing so entirely in the men's section and the latter being most successful in the women's competition. Baya Rahouli was the most successful athlete of the tournament, with the 17-year-old winning four golds in the women's section (100 metres, 100 metres hurdles, long jump and triple jump). Two other athletes won multiple individual titles: Ibrahim Ismail Muftah won a men's 200 metres/400 metres double and Nadia Zétouani won both the women's 400 metres flat and 400 metres hurdles events. The women's high jump was won by a 14-year-old, Hamida Benhocine of Algeria.

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres (wind: +0.9 m/s) | Saad Al-Kuwari (QAT) | 10.40 GR | Sultan Mohamed Al-Sheib (QAT) | 10.43 | Hamed Sadek (KUW) | 10.61 |
| 200 metres | Ibrahim Ismail Muftah (QAT) | 20.95 | Mohamed Al-Houti (OMN) | 21.18 | Hamoud Al-Dalhami (OMN) | 21.18 |
| 400 metres | Ibrahim Ismail Muftah (QAT) | 45.50 | Samir-Abel Louahla (ALG) | 46.25 | Fawzi Al-Shammari (KUW) | 47.05 |
| 800 metres | Djabir Saïd-Guerni (ALG) | 1:46.84 | Mohammed Yagoub (SUD) | 1:46.95 | Mahmoud Al-Kheirat (SYR) | 1:49.17 |
| 1500 metres | Azzeddine Seddiki (MAR) | 3:36.95 | Mohamed Suleiman (QAT) | 3:38.59 | Mohammed Yagoub (SUD) | 3:38.68 |
| 5000 metres | Ahmed Ibrahim Warsama (QAT) | 13:35.73 GR | Alyan Al-Qahtani (KSA) | 13:41.11 | Saeed Briwi (MAR) | 13:48.21 |
| 10,000 metres | Mustapha Bamouh (MAR) | 29:22.69 | Alyan Al-Qahtani (KSA) | 29:26.89 | Lahcen Benyoussef (MAR) | 29:28.83 |
| 110 metres hurdles | Mubarak Khasif (QAT) | 14.17 | Si Mohamed Boukrouna (MAR) | 14.41 | Ziad Abdulrazzaq (KUW) | 14.41 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Mubarak Al-Nubi (QAT) | 48.95 GR | Mustapha Sdad (MAR) | 49.14 | Zeid Abou Hamed (SYR) | 49.68 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Saad Al-Asmari (KSA) | 8:21.40 GR | Ali Ezzine (MAR) | 8:25.51 | Abderrahmane Daas (ALG) | 8:28.69 |
| 4×100 metres relay | Oman (OMN) Ahmed Hodayeb Jihad Abdallah al-Shiekh Hamoud Al-Dalhami Mohamed Saeed Askaree | 40.36 | Kuwait (KUW) | 40.62 | Saudi Arabia (KSA) | 40.81 |
| 4×400 metres relay | Algeria (ALG) | 3:05.59 | Qatar (QAT) Ibrahim Ismail Muftah Ali Ismail Doka Sami Juma Suleiman Abdulrahman Hassan | 3:07.22 | Kuwait (KUW) | 3:10.81 |
| Marathon | Tahar Mansouri (TUN) | 2:28:19 | Foula Seliman (EGY) | 2:30:45 | Ahmed Adam Saleh (SUD) | 2:35:35 |
| High jump | Fakhredin Fouad (JOR) | 2.17 m | Abderrahmane Hammad (ALG) | 2.17 m | Jean-Claude Rabbath (LIB) | 2.14 m |
| Pole vault | Ahmad Abdulkarim (QAT) | 5.22 m GR | Sameh Hassan Farid (EGY) | 4.80 m | Waleed Al-Shamali (QAT) | 4.80 m |
| Long jump | Younès Moudrik (MAR) | 8.11 m GR | Abdul Rahman Al-Nubi (QAT) | 7.66 m | Khaled Farham Al-Bekheet (KUW) | 7.64 m |
| Triple jump | Salem Al-Ahmedi (KSA) | 15.86 m | Mohamed Adam Mohamed (KSA) | 15.67 m | Oussama Ibrahim (EGY) | 15.54 m |
| Shot put | Bilal Saad Mubarak (QAT) | 18.97 m GR | Khaled Suliman Al-Khalidi (KSA) | 17.64 m | Dhiya Abdalrahman (EGY) | 17.39 m |
| Discus throw | Sameh Mohamed El Hattab (EGY) | 51.80 m | Rashid Shafi Al-Dosari (QAT) | 51.60 m | Dhiya Abdalrahman (EGY) | 50.44 m |
| Hammer throw | Cherif El Hennawi (EGY) | 69.12 m GR | Hakim Toumi (ALG) | 67.00 m | Naser Abdullah Al-Jarallah (KUW) | 66.86 m |
| Javelin throw | Firas Al Mahamid (SYR) | 72.56 m GR | Maher Ridane (TUN) | 72.20 m | Ghanem Jaouhar (KUW) | 70.74 m |
| Decathlon | Anis Riahi (TUN) | 7506 pts | Rédouane Youcef (ALG) | 7315 pts | Houssem Abdellatif (EGY) | 6735 pts |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Baya Rahouli (ALG) | 11.98 | Fatima Zahra Dkouk (MAR) | 12.05 | Siham El Hanifi (MAR) | 12.20 |
| 200 metres | Siham El Hanifi (MAR) | 24.64 | Saliha Hammadi (ALG) | 24.96 | Awatef Hamrouni (TUN) | 25.35 |
| 400 metres | Nadia Zétouani (MAR) | 54.98 | Hanan Khiouich (MAR) | 56.19 | Nahida Touhami (ALG) | 57.03 |
| 800 metres | Hasna Benhassi (MAR) | 2:06.29 | Samira Raif (MAR) | 2:06.53 | Abir Nakhli (TUN) | 2:07.45 |
| 1500 metres | Samira Raif (MAR) | 4:15.15 GR | Mouria Souad Banida (ALG) | 4:16.16 | Aarfa Khayra (ALG) | 4:18.16 |
| 5000 metres | Zahra Ouaziz (MAR) | 16:01.68 GR | Bouchra Benthami (MAR) | 16:46.31 | Souad Aït Salem (ALG) | 17:04.85 |
| 10,000 metres | Fatiha Klilech (MAR) | 35:29.31 GR | Zhor El Kamch (MAR) | 35:36.09 | Soulef Bouguerra (TUN) | 36:25.48 |
| 100 metres hurdles | Baya Rahouli (ALG) | 14.11 GR | Fatima Zahra Dkouk (MAR) | 14.64 | Naïma Bentahar (ALG) | 14.80 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Nadia Zétouani (MAR) | 58.58 | Zahra Lachgar (MAR) | 60.13 | Nabila Jami (TUN) | 64.07 |
| 4×100 metres relay | Morocco (MAR) | 47.07 | Algeria (ALG) | 47.66 | Egypt (EGY) | 50.97 |
| 4×400 metres relay | Morocco (MAR) | 3:43.14 | Algeria (ALG) | 3:44.37 | Tunisia (TUN) | 4:00.49 |
| Half marathon | Dalila Mial (ALG) | 1:26:40 GR | Sonia Agoun (TUN) | 1:28.03 | Amal Al-Matari (JOR) | 1:29.02 |
| High jump | Hamida Benhocine (ALG) | 1.63 m | Karin Buchakjian (LIB) Zuheira Najrawi (ALG) | 1.60 m | Not awarded | Not awarded |
| Long jump | Baya Rahouli (ALG) | 6.09 m | Nagwa Abd El Hay Riad (EGY) | 5.95 m | Fatima Zahra Dkouk (MAR) | 5.91 m |
| Triple jump | Baya Rahouli (ALG) | 13.51 m w GR | Nagwa Abd El Hay Riad (EGY) | 11.79 m | Alaa Abdulhadi (JOR) | 11.27 m |
| Shot put | Wafaa Ismail Baghdadi (EGY) | 15.70 m GR | Nada Kawar (JOR) | 15.66 m | Hanan Ahmed Khaled (EGY) | 14.96 m |
| Discus throw | Nada Kawar (JOR) | 51.18 m | Hanan Ahmed Khaled (EGY) | 48.78 m | Jeannette Ayoub (LIB) | 37.88 m |
| Javelin throw (old javelin model) | Saoud Al-Hariss (LIB) | 40.22 m | Zahra Lachgar (MAR) | 38.76 m | Pauline Makdesi (LIB) | 36.58 m |
| Heptathlon | Shirin Mohamed Kheiri El Atrabi (EGY) | 4268 pts | Naïma Bentahar (ALG) | 4026 pts | Saoud Al-Hariss (LIB) | 3992 pts |