Abderrahmane Hammad Zaheer is the Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports and a former track and field athlete who competed in the high jump. He represented his country at the Summer Olympics in 2000, taking the bronze medal and made a second appearance at the 2004 Athens Olympics. His personal best of 2.34 m is the Algerian record for the event. He retired from the sport in 2010. In 2020, he became the President of the Algerian Olympic Committee. Hammad was appointed as minister on 16 March 2023.
Baya Rahouli 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 Françoise Mbango Etone and Kéné Ndoye on both occasions. In two editions of the Pan Arab Games she has taken a clean sweep, winning eight gold medals in total.
Amine Laâlou is a Moroccan track and field athlete, who specializes in middle-distance running. He has represented his country at the Summer Olympics on two occasions; in 2004 and 2008. He began his career as an 800 metres specialist and made his global debut at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. He won medals at smaller international competitions, including the 2004 Pan Arab Games and 2005 Mediterranean Games. He reached his first global final at the 2007 World Championships, taking sixth, and was a semi-finalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Halima Hachlaf is a Moroccan runner who specializes in the 800 metres. She is the younger sister of Abdelkader Hachlaf, an international steeplechase athlete. She won silver medals in the 800 m at the Mediterranean Games and Jeux de la Francophonie in 2009. Her personal best for the distance is 1:58.27.
At the 2007 Pan Arab Games, the athletics events were held at the Military Academy Stadium in Cairo, Egypt from 21 to 24 November. A total of 46 events were contested, of which 23 by male and 23 by female athletes. Morocco was the most successful nation in the competition, taking ten gold medals in a 23-medal haul. Sudan and Tunisia won the second and third greatest number of golds with 8 and 7. The host country, Egypt, achieved six gold medals but also shared the joint highest total medal count with Morocco. Seven Games records were beaten at the 2007 edition of the event.
Seltana Aït Hammou is a Moroccan middle-distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. She represented her country at the 2004 Summer Olympics and has also competed at the World Championships in Athletics and the IAAF World Indoor Championships. She has also been the gold medallist at number of major events including the 2001 Mediterranean Games, the 2003 Military World Games, the 2007 Pan Arab Games and the 2009 Jeux de la Francophonie.
Athletics at the 2010 Asian Games was held in Guangzhou, China from 21 to 27 November 2010. A total of 47 events were contested – 24 by men and 23 by women – matching the Olympic athletics programme. The 42 track and field events on the programme were hosted at the Aoti Main Stadium while the marathons and racewalking competitions took place around the city's University Town. Sixteen Asian Games records were broken during the seven-day competition.
Ismail Al-Sabiani is a Saudi Arabian track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres.
Yousef Ahmed Masrahi is a Saudi Arabian track and field athlete, who specialises in the 400 metres sprint. His personal best time for the event is 43.93 seconds, set in 2015, and is the Asian record.
Mohammad Mutlak Khalif Al-Azemi is a Kuwaiti middle distance runner who specialises in the 800 metres. His 800 m personal bests of 1:44.13 minutes outdoors and 1:48.93 minutes indoors are the Kuwaiti records for the event. He represented his nation at the Olympic Games in 2004, 2008 and 2012, and has also made four appearances at the World Championships in Athletics.
At the 2011 Pan Arab Games, the athletics events are currently being held at Khalifa Stadium in Doha, Qatar from 15 to 20 December. A total of 45 events are to be contested, comprising 23 men's events and 22 for female athletes. The track and field events took place within the stadium while the half marathon was contested on a specially-designed course around the Aspire Zone. The shorter track events have a two-round format with qualifying heats and a final race, while the long-distance races and throwing events are contested in a straight final format with no qualifying rounds. In addition to the elite level programme, a total of 30 para-athletics events were contested between athletes with a disability on 21 and 22 December, comprising 25 men's events and five women's events.
The 1986 Arab Junior Athletics Championships was the second edition of the international athletics competition for under-20 athletes from Arab countries. It took place in Cairo, Egypt. A total of 38 athletics events were contested, 22 for men and 16 for women. Algeria, a regional power in the sport, did not send a team.
The 1988 Arab Junior Athletics Championships was the third edition of the international athletics competition for under-20 athletes from Arab countries. It took place in Damascus, Syria – the first time the event was staged in West Asia. A total of 41 athletics events were contested, 23 for men and 18 for women. Morocco, a regional power in the sport, did not send a team. Syria entered for the first time.
The 1996 Arab Junior Athletics Championships was the seventh edition of the international athletics competition for under-20 athletes from Arab countries. It took place in Latakia, Syria. 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.
The 2000 Arab Junior Athletics Championships was the ninth edition of the international athletics competition for under-20 athletes from Arab countries. It took place in Damascus, Syria – the second consecutive time the city hosted the tournament, and a sixth hosting for Syria. A total of 42 athletics events were contested, 22 for men and 20 for women. Neither Morocco, Algeria nor Qatar—all regional powers in the sport—sent a team to the meeting, which impacted the overall quality of performances.
At the 1997 Pan Arab Games, the athletics events were held at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium in Beirut, 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.
The 2007 Arab Youth Athletics Championships was the second edition of the international athletics competition for under-18 athletes from Arab countries. Organised by the Arab Athletic Federation, it took place in the Syrian capital of Damascus from 27–29 June. A total of thirty-nine events were contested, of which 20 by male and 19 by female athletes, matching the programme of the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics bar the exclusion of a girls' steeplechase event.
The 2013 Arab Youth Athletics Championships was the fourth edition of the international athletics competition for under-18 athletes from Arab countries. Organised by the Arab Athletic Federation, it took place in the Egyptian capital Cairo from 21–23 June. A total of forty events were contested, of which 20 by male and 20 by female athletes. The girls' steeplechase was contested for the first time, making the programme match that of the 2013 World Youth Championships in Athletics. The racewalking events were held on roads, rather than the usual track surface.
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.
Zahra Lachguer is a Moroccan former track and field athlete who specialised in the 400 metres hurdles. She was the gold medallist in the event at the 2002 African Championships in Athletics.
