The 1988 Arab Junior Athletics Championships was the third edition of the international athletics competition for under-20 athletes from Arab countries. It took place in Damascus, Syria – the first time the event was staged in West Asia. A total of 41 athletics 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.Pan Arab Junior Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-02-22.

Several changes were made to the event programme, bringing it into line with the standard set by the 1988 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: a 10,000 metres and a 5000 km track walk. The women's walk pre-dated the introduction of such an event at either the Arab Athletics Championships (1989) or the Pan Arab Games (1992), making it a first for the region.Pan Arab Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-02-22.Pan Arab Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-02-22.

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.

Ibrahim Ismail Muftah was one of the athletes of the championships, winning all three individual men's sprints. He was an Olympic finalist the following year.Ibrahim Ismail. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-02-22. Noureddine Morceli of Algeria, winner of the 1500 metres, was among the athletes to emerge from the tournament, and later won three world titles and an Olympic gold in his specialism.Noureddine Morceli. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-02-22. Men's shot put winner Bilal Saad Mubarak of Qatar later became a prominent throwers in the region: he was in the top two at the Asian Athletics Championships from 1991 to 2003 and won three straight titles at the Pan Arab Games.Asian Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-02-22. Sherif Farouk El Hennawi of Egypt won the hammer throw and later won several African titles in his career. Double long-distance medallist Alyan Sultan Al-Qahtani later won an Asian title.

On the women's side, Hend Kebaoui defended her 400 metres hurdles title and added a 400 metres gold medal and 100 metres silver to that honour. Egypt's Huda Hashem Ismail won both the 100 metres hurdles and heptathlon titles (repeating the feat of Yasmina 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.

Medal summary

Men 100 metres 10.3 CR 10.4 10.6200 metres 21.0 CR 21.9 22.2400 metres 47.1 CR 47.9 48.5800 metres 1:53.2 1:53.9 1:54.41500 metres 3:48.8 CR 3:56.8 3:57.25000 metres 15:05.7 15:14.1 15:50.210,000 metres 31:23.3 32:20.5 33:21.5110 m hurdles 14.1 CR 14.3 14.7400 m hurdles 52.8 54.3 54.93000 metres steeplechase 8:57.9 9:15.7 9:26.04 × 100 m relay 41.8 CR 42.1 42.24 × 400 m relay 3:17.2 3:18.9 3:18.920 km road race 1:04:43 1:08:08 1:11:0710,000 m walk 49:07.1 51:47.5 52:56.1High jump 2.03 m 2.00 m 2.00 mPole vault 4.10 m 4.05 m 3.90 mLong jump 7.19 m 7.17 m 7.09 mTriple jump 15.56 m 15.14 m 14.98 mShot put 15.55 m 15.41 m 14.42 mDiscus throw 44.94 m 43.88 m 43.84 mHammer throw 64.84 m CR 53.04 m 51.64 mJavelin throw 62.84 m 59.78 m 58.04 mDecathlon 6438 pts CR 5927 pts 4968 pts

Women 100 metres 12.1 CR 12.2 12.5200 metres 24.9 CR 25.0 26.0400 metres 55.8 CR 57.9 60.7800 metres 2:20.5 2:24.5 2:30.01500 metres 4:41.9 5:05.5 5:17.43000 metres 10:33.8 10:44.3 11:54.710,000 metres 42:26.4 48:46.0 53:23.3100 m hurdles 14.8 CR 15.5 15.8400 m hurdles 60.3 CR 65.2 74.94 × 100 m relay 49.2 49.9 52.04 × 400 m relay 3:54.0 CR 4:02.7 4:13.45000 m walk 27:50.8 28:57.1 29:33.2High jump 1.51 m 1.51 m 1.45 mLong jump 5.73 m 5.36 m 5.24 mShot put 12.38 m CR 10.82 m 9.45 mDiscus throw 39.02 m 35.38 m 25.78 mJavelin throw 32.90 m 32.42 m 20.44 mHeptathlon 4323 pts CR 3773 pts 2665 pts

Medal table

References