Nawal El Moutawakel
El Moutawakel in 2009 | ||
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Women's athletics | ||
Representing Morocco | ||
Olympic Games | ||
1984 Los Angeles | 400 m hurdles | |
Mediterranean Games | ||
1983 Casablanca | 400 m hurdles | |
1987 Latakia | 400 m hurdles |
Nawal El Moutawakel (Amazigh: Nawal Lmutawakkil; Arabic: نوال المتوكل; born on April 15, 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).[1][2][3] 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[4] 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.[5] Her medal also meant the breakthrough for sporting women in Morocco and other mostly Muslim countries.
She was a pioneer for Muslim and Arabic athletes in that she confounded long-held beliefs that women of such backgrounds could not succeed in athletics.[6]
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.[4]
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).
El Moutawakel is a member[4] 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.[7] Since 2012 she is a Vice-President of the IOC.[8]
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.[9]
El Moutawakel was one of the ambassadors of the Morocco bid for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
International competitions[]
Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing Morocco | |||||
1979 | Mediterranean Games | Split, Yugoslavia | 6th | 100 m | 12.13 |
5th | 200 m | 24.64 | |||
1981 | 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 | |||
1983 | Universiade | Edmonton, Canada | – | 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 x 100 m relay | 46.69 | |||
1984 | African Championships | Rabat, Morocco | 1st | 200 m | 23.93 |
1st | 400 m hurdles | 56.01 | |||
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[]
References[]
- ^ Billings, Andrew C. (2008). Olympic media. New York: Routledge. p. 3. ISBN 0-415-77250-8. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
Taiwan Winter Olympics Boycott.
- ^ Nawal El Moutawakel Wise Muslim Women. Retrieved 9 April 2011
- ^ Benbachir, Simo (21 July 2019). "El Moutawakel… la championne qui trône sur le cœur des Marocains". Maroc Local et Nouvelles du Monde | Nouvelles juives du Maroc, dernières nouvelles (in French). Retrieved 17 February 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Sarah Duguid (9 June 2012). "The Olympians: Nawal el-Moutawakel, Morocco". Financial Times Magazine.
- ^ Olympic report Archived 15 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Benchrif, Mohamed (1999-03-11). Nawal El Moutawakel - Pioneer and militant for Progress Archived 15 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-31.
- ^ IOC Announces 2016 Summer Games Evaluation Commission Archived 26 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ms Nawal EL MOUTAWAKEL, IOC site.
- ^ "BBC - Olympic Torch Relay - Camden to Westminster". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
External links[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nawal El Moutawakel. |
- Nawal El Moutawakel at the International Olympic Committee
- Nawal El Moutawakel at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
- 1962 births
- Living people
- Moroccan Muslims
- Sportspeople from Casablanca
- Moroccan sportsperson-politicians
- Moroccan female hurdlers
- Olympic athletes of Morocco
- Olympic gold medalists for Morocco
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics
- World Athletics Championships athletes for Morocco
- International Olympic Committee members
- Iowa State Cyclones women's track and field athletes
- Government ministers of Morocco
- National Rally of Independents politicians
- Moroccan emigrants to the United States
- Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Morocco
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1983 Mediterranean Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Mediterranean Games
- Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Women government ministers of Morocco
- Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics
- Universiade gold medalists for Morocco
- Universiade bronze medalists for Morocco
- Medalists at the 1985 Summer Universiade
- Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade