East and Central African Championships explained

Sport:	Athletics
Founded:	1955
Folded:	1990
Continent:	East and Central Africa

The East and Central African Championships was an annual international athletics competition between nations in East and Central Africa.

The event was established as the East African Championships in 1955, building upon of international athletics matches between Kenya and Uganda (first held in 1934), which had themselves expanded to include Tanganyika in 1952. The competition remained between these countries (with Tanzania replacing Tanganyika after it merged with Zanzibar) until 1969, at which point Tanzania's southern neighbour Zambia was invited. Zambia became the first host outside of the founding three nations shortly after, with the 1971 championships being held in its capital Lusaka. More countries joined in the 1970s, including Ethiopia, Somalia, and this was expanded again in the 1980s (including Djibouti, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Mozambique). Somalia hosted the 1977 edition and the Egyptian capital Cairo was the venue in 1982 and 1985.^[1]

The championships had its final edition in 1990, with the absence of founding nation Kenya indicating the lack of support for its continuation. It had lasted for 32 editions from its inception, having been missed in the years 1962, 1966, 1978 and 1980.^[1]

Editions

Edition	Year	Venue	City	Country
1st	1955		Nairobi	Kenya
2nd	1956		Moshi	Tanganyika
3rd	1957		Kampala	Uganda
4th	1958		Nairobi	Kenya
5th	1959		Arusha	Tanganyika
6th	1960		Kampala	Uganda
7th	1961		Nakuru	Kenya
—	1962
8th	1963		Kampala	Uganda
9th	1964		Kisumu	Kenya
10th	1965		Dar es Salaam	Tanzania
—	1966
11th	1967		Kisumu	Kenya
12th	1968		Dar es Salaam	Tanzania
13th	1969		Kampala	Uganda
14th	1970		Nairobi	Kenya
15th	1971		Lusaka	Zambia
16th	1972		Dar es Salaam	Tanzania
17th	1973		Nairobi	Kenya
18th	1974		Bugembe	Uganda
19th	1975		Mombasa	Kenya
20th	1976		Zanzibar City	Tanzania
21st	1977		Mogadishu	Somalia
—	1978
22nd	1979		Mombasa	Kenya
—	1980
23rd	1981		Mombasa	Kenya
24th	1982		Cairo	Egypt
25th	1983		Jinja	Uganda
26th	1984		Nairobi	Kenya
27th	1985		Cairo	Egypt
28th	1986		Nairobi	Kenya
29th	1987		Nairobi	Kenya
30th	1988	Moi International Sports Centre	Nairobi	Kenya
31st	1989		Arusha	Tanzania
32nd	1990		Jinja	Uganda

Events

By the latter years of the championships, a total of 35 athletics events had been regularly contested, 20 by men and 15 by women.

Track running

• 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres, 1500 metres, 3000 metres (women only), 5000 metres (men only), 10,000 metres (men only)

Obstacle events

• 100 metres hurdles (women only), 110 metres hurdles (men only), 400 metres hurdles, 3000 metres steeplechase (men only)

Jumping events

• Pole vault (men only), high jump, long jump, triple jump (men only)

Throwing events

• Shot put, discus throw, javelin throw, hammer throw (men only)

Relays

• 4 × 100 metres relay, 4 × 400 metres relay

Events were contested over imperial distances up to 1968.

A men's marathon was contested between 1968 and 1981, with the first race being held separately from the main championships. Combined events featured at the 1972 edition, with Uganda's Alex Ochen taking the honours in the men's decathlon and his compatriot Budesia Nyakecho doing so in the women's pentathlon. Men's 20 kilometres race walks were held between 1975 and 1981, with Ethiopians Hunde Ture (1975, 1979) and Shemsu Hassan (1981) winning these events.

Women were present at the championships at least as early as 1967, with eleven women's events being contested that year. In 1970, a women's 1500 m and 4 × 400 m relay was added and the 80 metres hurdles was replaced by the international standard 100 m distance. A 3000 m for women was first held in 1976 and a women's 400 m hurdles in 1979. A women's 5000 m was first held in 1986 (won by Kenya's Susan Sirma), though it is not known if this was contested in any of the other later editions.^[1]

Men's champions

Sprints

Year	100 metres	200 metres	400 metres
1961
1964
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1975
1976
1977
1979
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1988
1989
1990

Distance events

Year	800 metres	1500 metres	5000 metres	10,000 metres
1961
1964			?
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971				?
1972
1975
1976
1977
1979
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1988
1989
1990

Hurdling

Year	110 m hurdles	400 m hurdles	3000 m steeplechase
1961
1964	?
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1975
1976
1977
1979
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1988	?
1989
1990

Jumps

Year	Pole vault	High jump	Long jump	Triple jump
1961
1964	?	?	?
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1975
1976
1977
1979	?	?
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1988	?	?		?
1989	?
1990	?			?

Throws

Year	Shot put	Discus throw	Hammer throw	Javelin throw
1961
1964	?	?	?
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1975
1976
1977
1979
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1988		?	?
1989
1990

Relays

Year	4 × 100 metres relay	4 × 400 metres relay
1961
1964	?
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1975	?
1976
1977
1979
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1988
1989		—
1990	?	?

Marathon

• 1968: (2:23:39†)
• 1969: (2:33:06A)
• 1970: (2:18:49A)
• 1971: (2:21:22A)
• 1972: (2:39:23)
• 1976: (2:13:25)
• 1977: (2:18:55)
• 1979: (2:22:13)
• 1981: (2:17:35)

Women's champions

Sprints

Year	100 metres	200 metres	400 metres
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1975
1976
1977
1979
1981
1982
1983
1984			?
1985
1986
1988
1989
1990

Distance events

Year	800 metres	1500 metres	3000 metres
1967		—	—
1968		—	—
1969		—	—
1970			—
1971			—
1972			—
1975			—
1976
1977
1979
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1988
1989			—
1990

• Women's 3000 m was not contested in 1986 and instead a women's 5000 m was held.

Throws

Year	100 m hurdles	400 m hurdles	High jump	Long jump
1967		—
1968		—
1969		—
1970		—
1971		—
1972		—
1975		—
1976		—
1977		—
1979
1981		—
1982
1983
1985
1986	—	—
1988	?	?	?
1989
1990				—

Throws

Year	Shot put	Discus throw	Javelin throw
1967
1968
1969				1970
1971
1972
1975
1976
1977
1979
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1988		?
1989
1990

Relays

Year	4 × 100 metres relay	4 × 400 metres relay
1967		—
1968		—
1969		—
1970
1971
1972
1975	?
1976
1977
1979
1981
1982
1983
1985
1986	—
1989
1990

Notes and References

1. http://www.gbrathletics.com/ic/ecafc.htm East and Central African Championships