At the 1997 Pan Arab Games, the athletics events were held at the

Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium (CCSC) ( ar, ملعب مدينة كميل شمعون الرياضية; french: Cité sportive Camille-Chamoun) is a multi-purpose stadium with a capacity of 49,500 seats, located in the Bir Hassan area of Beir ...

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

, Lebanon from 14 to 17 July. The events were poorly attended, with the vast majority of seat in the stadium remaining empty even on the final day. However, the calibre of performances remained high in spite of this. Originally scheduled for 1996, the games were delayed due to rebuilding efforts after war with

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

– efforts that were themselves hampered by

Operation Grapes of Wrath Operation Grapes of Wrath ( he, מבצע ענבי זעם ''Mivtsa Enavi Zaam''), known in Lebanon as the April Aggression (), is the seventeen-day campaign of the Israeli Defense Forces against Hezbollah in 1996 which attempted to end rocket att ...

, which targeted areas in Beirut one year earlier. Iraqi athletes did not compete for a second time running, due to regional opposition of its

Invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait was an operation conducted by Iraq on 2 August 1990, whereby it invaded the neighboring State of Kuwait, consequently resulting in a seven-month-long Iraqi military occupation of the country. The invasion and Ira ...

. At the games, drug tests came back positive for some athletes – a first for the competition. As a result of the rescheduling, the dates for the athletics somewhat overlapped with those of the

athletics at the 1997 Mediterranean Games At the 1997 Mediterranean Games, the athletics events were held at the Stadio San Nicola in Bari, Italy from 15–19 June 1997.Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

to avoid similar clashes of the regional events, which are attended by several of the same nations.Bell, Daniel (2003). ''Encyclopedia of International Games''. McFarland and Company, Inc. Publishers, Jefferson, North Carolina. . The first day of the athletics was marred by disqualification of four sprinters (from Morocco and Algeria), who had pushed one another. A total of 41 events were contested, of which 22 by male and 19 by female athletes. Three new women's events were introduced – the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

and the

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

were entirely new, while the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

event was replaced by the

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

(coming into line with global standard set at the

1995 World Championships in Athletics The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden on 5–13 August 1995. This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nat ...

). The rest of the programme was similar to that of the

1992 Pan Arab Games The 1992 Pan Arab Games was the seventh edition of the quadrennial multi-sport event between Arab nations. It was held in Damascus, Syria between September 4 and September 18, 1992. A total of 2611 athletes from 18 countries participated in events ...

, although

racewalking Racewalking, or race walking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Referee, Race judges careful ...

events were dropped for both men and women on this occasion. The road races, held on the first day of the games, encountered traffic problems: men's bronze medallist Ahmad Adam was hit by the referee's car and a women's medallist complained that the general public driving on the same road had made her run difficult. Morocco topped the medal table with thirteen

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s. Qatar and Algeria each won eight gold medals, the former doing so entirely in the men's section and the latter being most successful in the women's competition.

Baya Rahouli Baya Rahouli ( ar, باية رحولي, born July 27, 1979 in Bab El Oued, Algiers) is an Algerian athlete who competes in the triple jump. She is a former African record holder in this event, and has two African championship titles, beating Fra ...

was the most successful athlete of the tournament, with the 17-year-old winning four golds in the women's section (

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten Hurdling, hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first h ...

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

and

). Two other athletes won multiple individual titles:

Ibrahim Ismail Muftah Ibrahim Ismail Muftah Faraj ( ar, إبراهيم إسماعيل مفتاح فرج ; born 10 May 1972, in Doha) is a retired Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a co ...

won a men's

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

double and Nadia Zétouani won both the women's

flat and

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

events. The women's high jump was won by a 14-year-old, Hamida Benhocine of Algeria.LEBANON: PAN ARAB GAMES: RESULTS OF 3RD DAY
Associated Press (1997-07-16). Retrieved on 2015-04-19.

Medal summary

Men

Women

External links

Coverage of the Games
by the Associated Press {{Pan Arab Games Athletics 1997 Pan Arab Games

Pan Arab Games The Arab Games ( ar, الألعاب العربية), also called the Pan Arab Games, are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab world. They are organized by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees. The first Game ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

International athletics competitions hosted by Lebanon

Medal summary

Men

Women

See also

External links