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.Pan Arab Junior Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-02-22.
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.Ihab Abdelrahman El Sayed. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-05-31. 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.Alaa El-Din El-Ashry . IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-05-31. 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.World Youth Championships 2009. World Junior Athletics History (2012-10-27). Retrieved on 2015-05-31.
Medal summary
Men 100 metres10.5310.8410.87200 metres21.1421.2921.62400 metres47.4848.9348.71800 metres1:52.711:53.161:53.711500 metres3:45.753:47.593:48.595000 metres15:6.9815:18.0815:21.0210,000 metres30:24.4032:14.3532:25.86110 metres hurdles13.78 14.5314.66400 metres hurdles52.252.652.73000 metres steeplechase8:53.939:26.249:29.094 × 100 m relayHamed Ali Al BishiFares Al-SharahilyMohamed ShunanatAdel Al-Essiri41.41M.Amin Ben AbdelazizSami Ayed Oussama Ben GouiderGhassan FersiAla Eddine Ben HassineKais Jerbi42.39Ahmed Al MorjiAbdelaziz Al AyoubiNasser Khamis Al SayabiJamel Al RabhiYakoub Al Ayoubi43.374 × 400 m relayNader AbdelrahmanOsman Yahia OmarAwad El Karim MakkiMutawakil Yunes3:15.35Nidhal AbbassiSassi IdrissTarek JdeyMarouane ChehibiHamza Azzouz3:20.42Jamel HassiAboubaker Al HadjSelmane Ahmed Al ManaiMoussab Bellala3:20.8610 km walk42:49.22 50:43.4Only two finishersHigh jump2.19 m 2.11 m2.06 mPole vault4.70 m4.60 m4.40 mLong jump7.43 m7.38 m6.92 mTriple jump15.56 m15.50 m14.87 mShot put (6 kg)17.22 m16.14 m15.98 mDiscus throw (1.7 kg)56.77 m51.08 m50.85 mHammer throw (6 kg)69.64 m65.53 m57.68 mJavelin throw (800 g)73.67 m 56.80 m53.33 mDecathlon6619 pts6599 pts5803 pts There were four starters in the men's 10,000 m walk, but both Jebril Rahmet Khan and Maher Ben Halima were disqualified.
Women 100 metres12.0412.5512.59200 metres24.3925.0125.33400 metres56.6257.3958.75800 metres2:16.222:17.062:18.391500 metres4:39.30 4:41.124:42.143000 metres9:38.95 9:40.609:49.335000 metres17:40.4918:37.6719:44.20100 metres hurdles14.8115.03 15.11400 metres hurdles62.1363.82 64.293000 metres steeplechase11:00.6211:17.0611:45.784 × 100 m relay Aya LakhalSaoussen DallagiNour Elhouda Ben SaïdHafsia Hmidi48.66Safa AbdelhamidAlouia MakiIhsan JebrilJomaa Fayza Omer53.77Farah DellaOurouba AmmouRihem ChihaGhofrane Mohammad57.164 × 400 m relaySafa AbdelhamidIhsen JebrilAmina BakhitJomaa Fayza Omer3:48.52 Nouha BakloutiRadhia AyadiYousra BelkhirAbir Barkaoui3:51.05Rania Al KabaliOlaa KhalifaRasha AyubEsra Youssef4:35.565000 m race walk24:33.27 25:13.1129:13.70High jump1.67 m 1.65 m 1.61 mPole vault3.20 m3.10 m2.90 mLong jump5.36 m5.28 m5.24 mTriple jump12.34 m12.21 m11.28 mShot put (4 kg)13.44 m12.62 m10.06 mDiscus throw (1 kg)43.79 m40.17 m38.50 mJavelin throw (600 g)41.74 m31.39 m25.47 mHammer throw (4 kg)53.36 m 42.50 mOnly two finishersHeptathlon4296 pts4136 pts3314 pts A third competitor in the women's hammer throw, Tunisia's Najet Ben Chikha, failed to record a valid mark.
Medal table
References
Results Championnats Arabes sur piste JuniorsRades, 20 au 23-06-2008. Tunis Athletisme. Retrieved on 2015-05-31. Al Batal Al Arabi, Volume 66 (pp. 25–36). Arab Athletics Federation (2008). Retrieved on 2015-05-31. Gomri, Slim (2008-06-24). Arab Junior Championships. IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-07-08.