Nawal El Moutawakel

Nawal El Moutawakel (Amazigh: ⵏⴰⵡⴰⵍ ⵍⵎⵓⵜⴰⵡⴰⵇⵇⵍ; Template:Langx; born 15 April 1962) is a Moroccan former hurdler, who won the inaugural women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and is the first Moroccan, Arab, African, and Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Nawal El Moutawakel Wise Muslim Women. Retrieved 9 April 2011</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She is currently a vice president of the International Olympic Committee.<ref name="ioc">Ms Nawal EL MOUTAWAKEL, IOC site.</ref> In August 2024, the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) voted her as the fourth best female athlete of the past 100 years after Serena Williams, Nadia Comăneci and Simone Biles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2007, El Moutawakel was named the Minister of Sports in the upcoming cabinet of Morocco.

Life

El Moutawakel was born in Casablanca, and was studying at Iowa State University<ref name="FT"/> when she won her Olympic title, which came as a surprise in her home country. King Hassan II of Morocco telephoned her to give his congratulations, and he declared that all girls born the day of her victory were to be named in her honor.<ref>Olympic report Template:Webarchive</ref> Her medal also meant the breakthrough for sporting women in Morocco and other mostly Muslim countries.

She was a pioneer for Muslim and African athletes in that she confounded long-held beliefs that women of such backgrounds could not succeed in athletics.<ref>Benchrif, Mohamed (11 March 1999). Nawal El Moutawakel – Pioneer and militant for Progress Template:Webarchive. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-31.</ref>

In 1993 she started running for fun, a 5 km run for women in Casablanca that has since become the biggest women's race held in a Muslim majority country, with up to 30,000 who came to run.<ref name=FT>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 1995, El Moutawakel became a council member of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), now known as World Athletics, and in 1998 she became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).<ref name="ioc"/>

El Moutawakel is a member<ref name="FT"/> of the International Olympic Committee, and she was the president of the evaluation commissions for the selection of the host city for the Summer Olympics of 2012 and 2016.<ref>IOC Announces 2016 Summer Games Evaluation Commission Template:Webarchive</ref> She was elected as a vice-president of the IOC in 2016 for a period of four years and re-elected in 2024.<ref name="ioc"/>

In 2006, El Moutawakel was one of the eight honored to bear the Olympic flag at the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Turin, Italy. On 26 July 2012, she carried the London Olympics torch through Westminster.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

El Moutawakel was one of the ambassadors of the Morocco 2026 FIFA World Cup bid.

International competitions

1979	Mediterranean Games	Split, Yugoslavia	6th	100 m	12.13
			5th	200 m	24.64
1981	Universiade	Bucharest, Romania	15th (sf)	100 m	12.18
			16th (h)	200 m	24.23
	Arab Championships	Tunis, Tunisia	1st	100 m	11.86
			1st	200 m	24.30
	World Cup	Rome, Italy	8th	100 m	11.921
			7th	4 × 100 m relay	46.151
1982	African Championships	Cairo, Egypt	2nd	100 m	11.7
			1st	100 m hurdles	13.8
			1st	400 m hurdles	58.42
			3rd	Template:Nowrap relay	3:47.40
1983	Universiade	Edmonton, Alberta	–	400 m hurdles	DQ
	Maghreb Championships	Casablanca, Morocco	1st	200 m	24.0
			1st	100 m hurdles	13.4
			1st	400 m hurdles	58.5
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	33rd (h)	100 m hurdles	14.85
			12th (sf)	400 m hurdles	57.10
	Mediterranean Games	Casablanca, Morocco	1st	400 m hurdles	56.59
			3rd	Template:Nowrap relay	46.69
			4th	Template:Nowrap relay	3:38.87
1984	African Championships	Rabat, Morocco	1st	200 m	23.93
			1st	400 m hurdles	56.01
			3rd	Template:Nowrap relay	3:54.41
	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, United States	1st	400 m hurdles	54.61
1985	African Championships	Cairo, Egypt	1st	400 m hurdles	56.00
	Universiade	Kobe, Japan	3rd	400 m hurdles	55.59
	World Cup	Canberra, Australia	4th	400 m hurdles	56.051
			7th	4 × 400 m relay	3:36.861
1987	Arab Championships	Algiers, Algeria	1st	200 m	24.33
			1st	400 m	54.28
			1st	400 m hurdles	59.93
	Universiade	Zagreb, Yugoslavia	1st	400 m hurdles	55.21
	World Championships	Rome, Italy	18th (h)	400 m hurdles	57.21
	Mediterranean Games	Latakia, Syria	1st	400 m hurdles	56.28

¹Representing Africa

See also

• Politics of Morocco
• Sport in Morocco

External links

• Template:World Athletics
• Template:Olympics.com
• Template:Olympedia

Template:S-start Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-end Template:Cabinet of Abbas El Fassi {{#invoke:Navbox|navbox}} Template:Footer African Champions women's 200 metres Template:Footer African Champions women's 100 metres hurdles Template:Footer African Champions women's 400 metres hurdles Template:Footer Mediterranean Champions 400m Hurdles Women Template:Footer Universiade Champions 400m Hurdles Women Template:Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award