Nawal El Moutawakel
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| Olympic medal record | |||
| Women's athletics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | 1984 Los Angeles | 400 m 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 African female Olympic champion.
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 honour [1]. 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 was president of the International Olympic Committee's evaluation commission for the selection of the town which will hold the Olympic games of 2012.
In 2006 she was one of the eight flag bearers at the 2006 Opening Ceremony.
| Olympic champions in women's 400 m hurdles |
|---|
| 1984: Nawal El Moutawakel | 1988: Debbie Flintoff-King | 1992: Sally Gunnell | 1996: Deon Hemmings | 2000: Irina Privalova | 2004: Fani Halkia |
