The 1998 Arab Junior Athletics Championships was the eighth edition of the international athletics competition for under-20 athletes from Arab countries. It took place in Damascus, Syria – the second time the city hosted the tournament, and a fifth hosting for Syria. Damascus also hosted the senior Arab women's championships that year. A total of 41 athletics events were contested, 22 for men and 19 for women. Morocco, a regional power in the sport, did not send a team to the meeting.Pan Arab Junior Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-02-22.

The women's 10,000 metres was dropped from the programme; the 3000 metres was restored to partner the new 5000 metres race, in line with the changes at the 1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics. Due to technical limitations, performances in track races were timed to the tenth of a second, rather than the international standard to one hundredth of a second.

Tunisia topped the medal table with thirteen gold medals – all but one of them from the women's competition. Runners-up Qatar took nine gold medals but success was limited to the men's events. Algeria placed third with eight gold medals.

In the men's competition, Fawzi Al-Shammari completed a 200/400 m sprint double – a feat he would repeat at the 2003 Asian Athletics Championships. The long jump champion Hussein Al-Sabee was a global finalist the following year and had won three consecutive Asian titles five years later. Qatari gold medallists Rashid Shafi Al-Dosari (discus) and Ahmad Hassan Moussa (decathlon) would also become Asian champions.Asian Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-02-25.

On the women's side Atawef Hamrouni took a 100/200 m sprint double and won senior Arab sprint titles later in her career. The 5000 m champion Souad Aït Salem was the most prominent female athlete to emerge – she would win Arab, African and Mediterranean long-distance titles in the following years. High jump winner Sarah Bouaoudia won that title and the heptathlon title at the 2004 Pan Arab Games.Pan Arab Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-02-25.Pan Arab Games. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-02-25.

Medal summary

Men 100 metres 10.3 =CR 10.5 10.6200 metres 21.0 =CR 21.5 21.7400 metres 45.7 CR 46.2 47.4800 metres 1:52.5 1:52.7 1:53.11500 metres 3:55.7 3:55.8 3:56.45000 metres 15:03.2 15:05.3 15:10.410,000 metres 31:24.9 31:25.5 31:36.9110 m hurdles 14.4 15.0 15.0400 m hurdles 51.5 51.6 52.13000 metres steeplechase 9:16.8 9:21.0 9:25.94×100 m relay 40.1 CR 41.5 41.64×400 m relay 3:14.1 3:14.7 3:15.110,000 m walk 45:40 47:10 48:48High jump 2.10 m 2.04 m 2.01 mPole vault 5.00 m 4.20 m 4.10 mLong jump 7.41 m 7.23 m 7.23 mTriple jump 15.97 m CR 15.87 m 15.40 mShot put 16.25 m CR 16.16 m 16.01 mDiscus throw 50.65 m CR 49.43 m 46.57 mHammer throw 59.12 m 58.09 m 56.30 mJavelin throw 65.47 m 61.44 m 57.16 mDecathlon 6767 pts CR 6268 pts 6177 pts

Women 100 metres 12.2 12.4 12.6200 metres 24.7 CR 25.2 25.4400 metres 57.9 58.7 59.7800 metres 2:12.7 2:15.9 2:18.11500 metres 4:49.2 4:50.0 4:52.93000 metres 9:58.1 10:09.8 10:15.85000 metres 17:32.1 CR 17:42.4 18:08.2100 m hurdles 14.2 CR 14.8 15.7400 m hurdles 64.0 68.2 71.14×100 m relay 49.0 52.7 54.74×400 m relay 3:53.2 CR 4:13.0 4:32.75000 m walk 26:11.4 26:22.3 26:47.6High jump 1.64 m 1.61 m 1.61 mLong jump 5.57 m 5.53 m 5.27 mTriple jump 12.65 m 12.24 m 11.72 mShot put 13.01 m CR 11.58 m 11.27 mDiscus throw 40.98 m 38.37 m 31.34 mJavelin throw 41.39 m 40.44 m 39.53 mHeptathlon 4197 pts 4108 pts 3212 pts

Medal table

References