The 1979

Arab Athletics Championships The Arab Athletics Championships is an event organized by the Arab Athletic Association. It traditionally occurred every two years. It was not held in 1985 due to the schedule clash with the Pan Arab Games. However, due to the erratic scheduling ...

was the second edition of the international athletics competition between Arab countries. It took place in Baghdad, Iraq from 23–26 October. As of 2015, it remains the only senior international athletics competition to have been held in the country. Following the men-only inaugural tournament, the second edition marked the introduction of a women's programme. A total of 32 athletics events were contested, 22 for men and 10 for women. The men's

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

became the

combined track and field event Combined track and field events are competitions in which athletes participate in a number of track and field events, earning points for their performance in each event, which adds to a total points score. Outdoors, the most common combined events ...

to be contested at the championships, and the men's hammer throw was also added to the schedule. Women athletes, entered by four nations, competed in short track running events, as well as two jumping and three throwing field events.Pan Arab Championships
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-02-14. This represented the first major gathering of Arab women at an athletics championships – the Pan Arab Games did not admit women in the sport until six years later.Pan Arab Games
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-02-19.

Medal summary

Men

Women

Medal table

Overall

Men

Women

References

;Results
''Al Batal Al Arabi'' (N°:2)
Arab Athletics Union. Retrieved on 2015-02-14. {{Arab athletics championships Arab Athletics Championships Sport in Baghdad

Arab Athletics Championships, 1979 International athletics competitions hosted by Iraq

1970s in Baghdad