East and Central African Championships

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]