African Southern Region Athletics Championships

The African Southern Region Athletics Championships is a biennial international outdoor track and field competition between Southern African nations, organised by the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA). Typically held over two days in June or July, it was established in 1995 and replaced the African Zone VI Championships.[1] It is one of four regional championships organised by the CAA, alongside the North, East and West African Athletics Championships.[2][3][4]

African Southern Region Athletics Championships
Genre	outdoor track and field
Frequency	biennial
Venue	varies
Participants	Southern African nations
Organised by	Confederation of African Athletics

The competition is one of three senior athletics championships organised for the region, alongside the African Southern Region Cross Country Championships (held same year as the track and field meet)[5] and the African Southern Region Half Marathon Championships (held annually).[6] There is also an age category counterpart to the competition, in the form of the African Southern Region U18/U20 Athletics Championships, which is held in even-numbered years,[7][8] and the Cossasa Games – an athletics competition for Southern African students organised by the Confederation of School Sport Associations of Southern Africa.[9]

The competition is used as preparation by athletes who have been selected for the World Championships in Athletics, which takes place one to two months after the regional championships.[10] Each edition of the championships attracts around a dozen countries and around 600 athletes in total.[11]

The 2019 event was due to be hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa, but Athletics South Africa cancelled the event due to financial issues stemming from the legal case against the IAAF's testosterone rules.[12]