African Championships in Athletics

The event featured a men's marathon from 1979 to 1990. Following it being dropped from the programme an African Marathon Championships was briefly contested. The event programme has roughly matched that of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, with the exception of the 50 kilometres race walk.

The following list shows changes to the event programme:

• 1982, women's heptathlon and men's 20 km walk were added to replace women's pentathlon and men's 10 km walk.
• 1985, women's 10,000 m was added.
• 1988, women's 5 km walk was added. Discontinued since 1998.
• 1992, women's triple jump was added. Men's marathon, held from 1979 to 1990 (with the exception of 1984) was permanently dropped.
• 1996, women's 5000 metres was added.
• 1998, women's hammer throw was added. Women's 3000 metres was permanently removed from the programme, while men's 3000 metres event was held for the only time.
• 2000, women's pole vault was added. Women's 10 km walk was also added before being held again in 2002 and discontinued.
• 2004, women's 3000 m steeplechase and 20 km walk were added.
• 2022, mixed 4 × 400 metres relay was added.

Championships