Nawal El Moutawakel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Nawal El Moutawakel |
|||
| Women's Athletics | |||
Competitor for  Morocco |
|||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Gold | 1984 Los Angeles | 400m Hurdles | |
| Mediterranean Games | |||
| Gold | 1983 Casablanca | 400m Hurdles | |
| Gold | 1987 Latakia | 400m Hurdles | |
Nawal El Moutawakel (Arabic: نوال المتوكل) (born on April 15, 1962 in Casablanca) is a Moroccan hurdler, who won the inaugural women's 400 m hurdles event at the 1984 Summer Olympics, thereby becoming the first Muslim and first African female Olympic champion. In 2007, El Moutawakel was named the Minister of Sports in the upcoming cabinet of Morocco.[1]
Although she had been a quite accomplished runner, the victory of El Moutawakel, who studied at Iowa State University at the time, was a surprise. The King of Morocco declared that all girls born the day of her victory were to be named in her honor.[2] Her medal also meant the breakthrough for sporting women in Morocco and other Muslim countries.
In 1995, she became a council member of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), and in 1998 she became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Nawal El Moutawakel is a member of the International Olympic Committee and was president of the evaluation commission for the selection of the host city for the 2012 Summer Olympics. She has been tapped to lead the evaluation commission for the 2016 Summer Olympics as well.[3]
In 2006 she was one of the eight flag bearers at the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Torino, Italy.
[edit] References
| Preceded by Dot Richardson |
Flo Hyman Memorial Award 2003 |
Succeeded by Kristi Yamaguchi |
|
|||||
|
|||||
