Nawal El Moutawakel
Moroccan 1984 Olympic champion and Minister of Sports
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Nawal El Moutawakel (Amazigh: ⵏⴰⵡⴰⵍ ⵍⵎⵓⵜⴰⵡⴰⵇⵇⵍ; Arabic: نوال المتوكل; 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.[1][2][3] She is currently a vice president of the International Olympic Committee.[4] 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.[5][6] On 15 October 2007, King Mohammed VI appointed El Moutawakel Minister for Youth and Sports in the Moroccan cabinet.[7]
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| Born | 15 April 1962 Casablanca, Morocco | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Life
El Moutawakel was born in Casablanca, and was studying at Iowa State University[8] when she won her Olympic title, which came as a surprise in her home country. She won the final on 8 August 1984 in 54.61 seconds, more than half a second clear of the field.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]
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.[8]
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).[4]
El Moutawakel is a member[8] 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.[12] She was elected as a vice-president of the IOC in 2016 for a period of four years and re-elected in 2024.[4]
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.[13]
She sat on the IOC Executive Board from 2008 to 2012 and was elected an IOC vice-president in July 2012 at the 124th IOC Session in London, holding that office until 2016.[14] She returned to the Executive Board in July 2021, and on 24 July 2024 the 142nd IOC Session in Paris elected her a vice-president again, her term beginning on 10 August 2024.[15]
El Moutawakel was one of the ambassadors of the Morocco 2026 FIFA World Cup bid.
International competitions
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 4 × 400 m 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 | 4 × 100 m relay | 46.69 | |||
| 4th | 4 × 400 m relay | 3:38.87 | |||
| 1984 | African Championships | Rabat, Morocco | 1st | 200 m | 23.93 |
| 1st | 400 m hurdles | 56.01 | |||
| 3rd | 4 × 400 m 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
