| Events at the 2008 African Championships in Athletics  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Track events | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| 400 m | men | women | ||
| 800 m | men | women | ||
| 1500 m | men | women | ||
| 5000 m | men | women | ||
| 10,000 m | men | women | ||
| 100 m hurdles | women | |||
| 110 m hurdles | men | |||
| 400 m hurdles | men | women | ||
| 3000 m steeplechase | men | women | ||
| 4×100 m relay | men | women | ||
| 4×400 m relay | men | women | ||
| Road events | ||||
| 20 km walk | men | women | ||
| Field events | ||||
| High jump | men | women | ||
| Pole vault | men | women | ||
| Long jump | men | women | ||
| Triple jump | men | women | ||
| Shot put | men | women | ||
| Discus throw | men | women | ||
| Hammer throw | men | women | ||
| Javelin throw | men | women | ||
| Combined events | ||||
| Heptathlon | women | |||
| Decathlon | men | |||
The women's 100 metres hurdles event at the 2008 African Championships in Athletics was held at the Addis Ababa Stadium on April 30–May 1.
The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women. For the race, ten hurdles of a height of 83.8 centimetres (33.0 in) are placed along a straight course of 100 metres (109.36 yd). The first hurdle is placed after a run-up of 13 metres from the starting line. The next 9 hurdles are set at a distance of 8.5 metres from each other, and the home stretch from the last hurdle to the finish line is 10.5 metres long. The hurdles are set up so that they will fall over if bumped into by the runner, but weighted so this is disadvantageous. Fallen hurdles do not count against runners provided that they do not run into them on purpose. Like the 100 metres sprint, the 100 m hurdles begins with athletes in starting blocks.
The 16th African Championships in Athletics was held in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, from April 30 to May 4, 2008. The competition venue was the Addis Ababa Stadium. It is the largest Athletics event held in Ethiopia to date. It was the first time in its then 29-year history the African Championships in Athletics were held in Eastern Africa, despite the region's well-documented success in long-distance running.
Addis Ababa Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is used mostly for football matches although it also has athletics facilities. The stadium has a capacity of 35,000 people.
