| 3rd Arab Junior Athletics Championships | |
|---|---|
| Host city | Damascus, Syria |
| Events | 41 |
The1988Arab Junior Athletics Championships was the third edition of the internationalathletics competition forunder-20 athletes fromArab countries. It took place inDamascus, Syria – the first time the event was staged inWest Asia. A total of 41athletics events were contested, 23 for men and 18 for women. Morocco, a regional power in the sport, did not send a team. Syria entered for the first time.[1]
Several changes were made to the event programme, bringing it into line with the standard set by the1988 World Junior Championships in Athletics. The men's 30 km road race was changed to a 20 km distance. The 15 km road walk was replaced by a 10,000 m track walk. The steeplechase distance was also extended from 2000 to 3000 m. Two new women's events were added: a10,000 metres and a 5000 km track walk. The women's walk pre-dated the introduction of such an event at either theArab Athletics Championships (1989) or thePan Arab Games (1992), making it a first for the region.[2][3]
The medal table was close, with Algeria, Syria and Tunisia each winning seven gold medals. Tunisia topped the table through their eight silver medals to Syria's six. Egypt was also close behind with six gold medals and nine silver medals. Jordan and Oman won their first gold medals in the competition's history.[1]
Ibrahim Ismail Muftah was the most successful athlete of the championships, winning all three individual men's sprints.[1] He was an Olympic finalist the following year.[4]Noureddine Morceli of Algeria, winner of the1500 metres, was the most important athlete to emerge from the tournament: we would later win three world titles and an Olympic gold in his specialism.[5] Men'sshot put winnerBilal Saad Mubarak of Qatar become one of the finest throwers of the region: he was in the top two at theAsian Athletics Championships from 1991 to 2003 and won three straight titles at thePan Arab Games.[2][6]Sherif Farouk El Hennawi of Egypt was a clear winner in thehammer throw and would win several African titles in his career. Double long-distance medallistAlyan Sultan Al-Qahtani later won an Asian title.[6]
On the women's side,Hend Kebaoui defended her400 metres hurdles title and added a400 metres gold medal and100 metres silver to that honour. Egypt'sHuda Hashem Ismail won both the100 metres hurdles andheptathlon titles (repeating the feat ofYasmina Azzizi from 1984).Karima Meskin Saad was a medallist in all the women's sprints. All of these athletes won multiple regional titles in their senior careers.[1][3]
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Tunisia (TUN) | 7 | 8 | 7 | 22 |
| 2 |  Syria (SYR) | 7 | 6 | 13 | 26 |
| 3 |  Algeria (ALG) | 7 | 1 | 4 | 12 |
| 4 |  Egypt (EGY) | 6 | 9 | 3 | 18 |
| 5 |  Bahrain (BHR) | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 |
| 6 |  Qatar (QAT) | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 7 |  Saudi Arabia (KSA) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 8 |  Jordan (JOR) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 9 |  Kuwait (KUW) | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
| 10 |  Oman (OMN) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 |  Palestine (PLE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Yemen (YEM) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (12 entries) | 41 | 41 | 41 | 123 | |
Championships of theArab Athletics Federation | ||
|---|---|---|
| Senior |  | |
| U23 | ||
| Junior | ||
| Youth | ||
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