The Balkan Athletics Championships is a regional athletics competition held between nations from the Balkans and organized by Balkan Athletics. The first games were held in Athens in 1929 as an unofficial event, receiving official sanction the following year.
The competition was not held from 1941 to 1952, although an unofficial Balkan Games was held in 1946 and a Balkan and Central European Games in 1947, involving the same countries plus Hungary. The first women's champions were declared at those events, and a women's programme continued upon the official post-World War II relaunch in 1953.[1]
The distance for the 1979 Balkan Championships in 20 kilometres walk was mismeasured, resulting in a 20.9 km distance. The event has been held on roads, with the exception of the 1982, 1989, 1997 and 1998 races which took place on a track.
The initial event in 1929 was held over a longer distance.