Nawal El Moutawakel
Nawal El Moutawakel (Amazigh: ⵏⴰⵡⴰⵍ ⵍⵎⵓⵜⴰⵡⴰⵇⵇⵉⵍ:; Arabic: نوال المتوكل; born on 15 April 1962) is a Moroccan former hurdler, who won the inaugural women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and was the first Moroccan to become an Olympic medalist (gold). In 2007, El Moutawakel was named the Minister of Sports in the upcoming cabinet of Morocco.
Contents
- 1 Life
- 2 International compe*ions
- 3 See also
- 4 References
- 5 External links
Life
El Moutawakel was born in Casablanca, and was studying at Iowa State University when she won her Olympic *le, which came as a surprise in her home country. King H*an 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. 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.
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.
In 1995, El Moutawakel became a council member of the International *ociation of Athletics Federations (IAAF), now known as World Athletics, and in 1998 she became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
El Moutawakel is a member 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. Since 2012 she is a vice-president of the 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.
El Moutawakel was one of the amb*adors of the Morocco 2026 FIFA World Cup bid.
International compe*ions
1Representing Africa
See also
- Politics of Morocco
- Sport in Morocco
References
External links
- Nawal El Moutawakel at Olympics.com
- Nawal El Moutawakel at Olympic.org (archived)
- Nawal El Moutawakel at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)