# 2008 Arab Junior Athletics Championships

The 2008 Arab Junior Athletics Championships was the thirteenth edition of the international athletics competition for under-20 athletes from Arab countries. It took place between 20–23 June in Radès, Tunisia – the second time that the country hosted the tournament. A total of 44 athletics events were contested, 22 for men and 22 for women.
The host nation Tunisia topped the medal table with thirteen gold medals among a haul of 45 medals – over a third of the total on offer. Sudan was comfortably the next most successful nation, having eleven gold medals and a total of twenty, and was followed by Egypt on seven golds and ten medals overall. Syria and Bahrain each took three golds, while Qatar was the only other nation to reach double digits with a total of ten medals. Twelve of the thirteen participating nations reached the medal table, with Palestine being the only nation to miss out. Morocco and Algeria, two of the foremost athletics nations of the region, were absent.
Six athletes won multiple individual medals. Jomaa Fayza Omer of Sudan was the athlete of the tournament, as she won the 400 metres, 100 metres hurdles, and 400 metres hurdles titles, was runner-up in the 200 metres, and won a further silver and a gold in the relays with Sudan. Her team mate Amina Bakhit swept the middle-distance events with an 800 metres/1500 metres/3000 metres triple, and also shared in the relay medals. Another Sudanese, Osman Yahia Omar, claimed an 800/1500 m double on the men's side. There were doubles in both the men's and women's short sprints, with Emirati Omar Juma Al-Salfa and Syria's Ghofrane Mohammad taking doubles. Tunisia's Yousra Belkhir claimed an unusual combination of events in the form of the women's pole vault and triple jump.
Javelin thrower Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed, who broke the championship record in Radès, went on to take a medal at the 2008 World Junior Championships in Athletics two weeks later. Another Egyptian thrower, hammer runner-up Alaa el-Din el-Ashry, was still a junior by the time of the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics and reached the podium there. Three Arab junior athletes were still in the youth category and went on to win a medal at the 2009 World Youth Championships in Athletics: Awad El Karim Makki, Mohamed Ahmed Al Mannai and Hamid Mansoor.

## Medal summary
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Omar Juma Al-Salfa (UAE) | 10.53 | Thamer Nasser Al-Thany (QAT) | 10.84 | Fares Al-Sharahily (KSA) | 10.87 |
| 200 metres | Omar Juma Al-Salfa (UAE) | 21.14 | Adel Al-Essiri (KSA) | 21.29 | Awad El Karim Makki (SUD) | 21.62 |
| 400 metres | Awad El Karim Makki (SUD) | 47.48 | Nidhal Abbassi (TUN) | 48.93 | Jassem Walid Abdallah Elas (KUW) | 48.71 |
| 800 metres | Osman Yahia Omar (SUD) | 1:52.71 | Mosab Abdulrahman Belala (QAT) | 1:53.16 | Mohamed Souissi (TUN) | 1:53.71 |
| 1500 metres | Osman Yahia Omar (SUD) | 3:45.75 | Charles Lazbit Koech (QAT) | 3:47.59 | Hamza Ben Salah (TUN) | 3:48.59 |
| 5000 metres | Charles Lazbit Koech (QAT) | 15:6.98 | Bilel El Aloui (TUN) | 15:18.08 | Ahmed Mohamed Kallel (LBA) | 15:21.02 |
| 10,000 metres | Majed Saleh Ibrahim (BHR) | 30:24.40 | Bilel El Aloui (TUN) | 32:14.35 | Bilel Ferjani (TUN) | 32:25.86 |
| 110 metres hurdles | Abdulaziz Al-Mandeel (KUW) | 13.78 CR | Awned Ushana (SYR) | 14.53 | Mohamed Yahia Al-Sharahily (KSA) | 14.66 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Jassem Walid Abdallah Elas (KUW) | 52.2 | Hamed Ali Al Bishi (KSA) | 52.6 | Mutawakil Yunes (SUD) | 52.7 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Majed Saleh Ibrahim (BHR) | 8:53.93 | Hassen Najjar Abdelkarim (JOR) | 9:26.24 | Marouane Majed (TUN) | 9:29.09 |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Saudi Arabia (KSA) Hamed Ali Al Bishi Fares Al-Sharahily Mohamed Shunanat Adel Al-Essiri | 41.41 | Tunisia (TUN) M.Amin Ben Abdelaziz Sami Ayed Oussama Ben Gouider Ghassan Fersi Ala Eddine Ben Hassine Kais Jerbi | 42.39 | Oman (OMN) Ahmed Al Morji Abdelaziz Al Ayoubi Nasser Khamis Al Sayabi Jamel Al Rabhi Yakoub Al Ayoubi | 43.37 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Sudan (SUD) Nader Abdelrahman Osman Yahia Omar Awad El Karim Makki Mutawakil Yunes | 3:15.35 | Tunisia (TUN) Nidhal Abbassi Sassi Idriss Tarek Jdey Marouane Chehibi Hamza Azzouz | 3:20.42 | Qatar (QAT) Jamel Hassi Aboubaker Al Hadj Selmane Ahmed Al Manai Moussab Bellala | 3:20.86 |
| 10 km walk | Hédi Teraoui (TUN) | 42:49.22 CR | Maher Zidane (SYR) | 50:43.4 | Only two finishers | Only two finishers |
| High jump | Karim Samir Lotfy (EGY) | 2.19 m CR | Salman Ahmed El Mannaï (QAT) | 2.11 m | Osman Abdelmajid Al Rabeh (KUW) | 2.06 m |
| Pole vault | Mohamed Chenouf (TUN) | 4.70 m | Duaij Khalifa Al-Sakr (KSA) | 4.60 m | Khaled Abahnini (TUN) | 4.40 m |
| Long jump | Alaa Eddine Ben Hassine (TUN) | 7.43 m | Mubarak Jassef Al Jasser (KSA) | 7.38 m | Mohamed Khalifa Al Amari (LBA) | 6.92 m |
| Triple jump | Sergueï Vladimir (BHR) | 15.56 m | Mubarak Jassef Al Jasser (KSA) | 15.50 m | Mohamed Khalifa Al Amari (LBA) | 14.87 m |
| Shot put (6 kg) | Mohamed Béchir Ben Rehouma (TUN) | 17.22 m | Ahmed Ali Hassen Mohamed (UAE) | 16.14 m | Ibrahim Abdallah Al Foudry (KUW) | 15.98 m |
| Discus throw (1.7 kg) | Hamid Mansoor (SYR) | 56.77 m | Mohamed Ali Mejri (TUN) | 51.08 m | Ibrahim Abdallah Al Foudry (KUW) | 50.85 m |
| Hammer throw (6 kg) | Khalid Shawki Mahmood (EGY) | 69.64 m | Alaa el-Din el-Ashry (EGY) | 65.53 m | Ada Amer Ahmed Hawafdha (QAT) | 57.68 m |
| Javelin throw (800 g) | Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed (EGY) | 73.67 m CR | Badr Nasser Ennaqaoui (KUW) | 56.80 m | Jaber Jassem El Mohannadi (QAT) | 53.33 m |
| Decathlon | Mohamed Ahmed Al Mannai (QAT) | 6619 pts | Saad Fahd Al Bishi (KSA) | 6599 pts | Ahmed Ben Abdallah Mekbali (OMN) | 5803 pts |
* $^{nb1}$ There were four starters in the men's 10,000 m walk, but both Jebril Rahmet Khan and Maher Ben Halima were disqualified.

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 100 metres | Ghofrane Mohammad (SYR) | 12.04 | Saoussen Dallagi (TUN) | 12.55 | Safa Abdelhamid Ibrahim (SUD) | 12.59 |
| 200 metres | Ghofrane Mohammad (SYR) | 24.39 | Jomaa Fayza Omer (SUD) | 25.01 | Abir Barkaoui (TUN) | 25.33 |
| 400 metres | Jomaa Fayza Omer (SUD) | 56.62 | Nouha Baklouti (TUN) | 57.39 | Safa Abdelhamid Ibrahim (SUD) | 58.75 |
| 800 metres | Amina Bakhit (SUD) | 2:16.22 | Ihsen Jibril (SUD) | 2:17.06 | Haifa Tarchoun (TUN) | 2:18.39 |
| 1500 metres | Amina Bakhit (SUD) | 4:39.30 | Ihsen Jibril (SUD) | 4:41.12 | Safa Jemmali (TUN) | 4:42.14 |
| 3000 metres | Amina Bakhit (SUD) | 9:38.95 | Ihsen Jibril (SUD) | 9:40.60 | Amira Saghraoui (TUN) | 9:49.33 |
| 5000 metres | Maroua Zaidi (TUN) | 17:40.49 | Monia Zidi (TUN) | 18:37.67 | Rasha Ayub (JOR) | 19:44.20 |
| 100 metres hurdles | Jomaa Fayza Omer (SUD) | 14.81 | Selma Abdelhamid (TUN) | 15.03 | Samar Zina (TUN) | 15.11 |
| 400 metres hurdles | Jomaa Fayza Omer (SUD) | 62.13 | Nouha Baklouti (TUN) | 63.82 | Radhia Ayadi (TUN) | 64.29 |
| 3000 metres steeplechase | Raouia Aissaoui (TUN) | 11:00.62 | Monia Zidi (TUN) | 11:17.06 | Olaa Khalifa (JOR) | 11:45.78 |
| 4 × 100 m relay | Tunisia (TUN) Aya Lakhal Saoussen Dallagi Nour Elhouda Ben Saïd Hafsia Hmidi | 48.66 | Sudan (SUD) Safa Abdelhamid Alouia Maki Ihsan Jebril Jomaa Fayza Omer | 53.77 | Syria (SYR) Farah Della Ourouba Ammou Rihem Chiha Ghofrane Mohammad | 57.16 |
| 4 × 400 m relay | Sudan (SUD) Safa Abdelhamid Ihsen Jebril Amina Bakhit Jomaa Fayza Omer | 3:48.52 | Tunisia (TUN) Nouha Baklouti Radhia Ayadi Yousra Belkhir Abir Barkaoui | 3:51.05 | Jordan (JOR) Rania Al Kabali Olaa Khalifa Rasha Ayub Esra Youssef | 4:35.56 |
| 5000 m race walk | Olfa Hamdi (TUN) | 24:33.27 CR | Oruba Al-Ammou (SYR) | 25:13.11 | Imène Abdallah (TUN) | 29:13.70 |
| High jump | Basant Musaad Mohammad (EGY) | 1.67 m | Mariem Akrimi (TUN) | 1.65 m | Rahma Miled (TUN) | 1.61 m |
| Pole vault | Yousra Belkhir (TUN) | 3.20 m | Yasmeene Ali Hassen (EGY) | 3.10 m | Amel Smaâli (TUN) | 2.90 m |
| Long jump | Samar Zina (TUN) | 5.36 m | Fatma Hassen Al Harbi (BHR) | 5.28 m | Marah Della (SYR) | 5.24 m |
| Triple jump | Yousra Belkhir (TUN) | 12.34 m | Fatma Ben Hammadi (TUN) | 12.21 m | Fatma Hassen Al Harbi (BHR) | 11.28 m |
| Shot put (4 kg) | Oulaa Mohamed Atiya (EGY) | 13.44 m | Sihem Marrakchi (TUN) | 12.62 m | Asma Khalifa Abu Ali (BHR) | 10.06 m |
| Discus throw (1 kg) | Ilhem Essayed Hassen (EGY) | 43.79 m | Khouloud Babay (TUN) | 40.17 m | Ibtihel Abboud (LBA) | 38.50 m |
| Javelin throw (600 g) | Sihem Marrakchi (TUN) | 41.74 m | Ibtihel Abboud (LBA) | 31.39 m | Sheikha Sakr Eddussary (QAT) | 25.47 m |
| Hammer throw (4 kg) | Rana Ahmad Taha (EGY) | 53.36 m CR | Ilhem Essayed Hassen (EGY) | 42.50 m | Only two finishers | Only two finishers |
| Heptathlon | Niouar Jerbi (TUN) | 4296 pts | Rania Shokri El-Kubaly (JOR) | 4136 pts | Rabâa Rezgui (TUN) | 3314 pts |
* $^{nb2}$ A third competitor in the women's hammer throw, Tunisia's Najet Ben Chikha, failed to record a valid mark.

## Medal table

* Host nation (Tunisia)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Tunisia* | 13 | 17 | 15 | 45 |
| 2 | Sudan | 11 | 5 | 4 | 20 |
| 3 | Egypt | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |
| 4 | Syria | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | Bahrain | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 6 | Qatar | 2 | 4 | 4 | 10 |
| 7 | Kuwait | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 8 | United Arab Emirates | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | Saudi Arabia | 1 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
| 10 | Jordan | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 11 | Libya | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 12 | Oman | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Totals (12 entries) | Totals (12 entries) | 44 | 44 | 42 | 130 |