[1] As had previously occurred at the 1992 edition, the competition coincided with a world's fair, being held as part of Lisbon's Expo '98 event.

The 1997 London Marathon champion António Pinto won the 5000 metres gold for the hosts with a championship record time of 13:34.34 minutes.

Dana Cervantes and Alejandra García established a new record in the women's pole vault, a contest whose introduction brought the 43-event programme to near parity for the sexes (the men's steeplechase being the sole remaining difference).

[2] *   Host nation (Portugal)Four new members of the Asociación Iberoamericana de Atletismo competed at the championships for the first time: Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe.

The absence of Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama significantly reduced the participation of Central American and Caribbean athletes.