In 1984, Nawal El Moutawakel made Olympic history when she won the inaugural women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1984 Summer Olympics, becoming not only the first Moroccan athlete but also the first African woman and the first Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
In a time when many still believed that women couldn’t do well in sports and when religious conservatism was ubiquitous, El Moutawakel was fortunate to have been born and raised in Casablanca, Morocco where men and women were on a more equal footing. At home, her family treated their sons and daughters equally and encouraged them to experience modern living without forgetting their Moroccan roots.
Raised in a family that played various sports, El Moutawakel was a natural athlete. At the age of 16, she decided to pursue athletics and received full support from her parents. After competing in her first cross-country competition, she chose to specialize in the sprints and eventually in 400 m hurdles.
After rigorous training, El Moutawakel bagged her first African title in 1982 and reached the semi-finals at the first World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki in the following year. Her talent led her to getting a track athletic scholarship in Iowa State University.
At first, her father was reluctant about letting his daughter study in the USA, but finally agreed and believed that she should get an education. Unfortunately, a week after El Moutawakel moved to the USA, her father died in a tragic car crash, which, later on, became one of the reasons for her early retirement as an athlete.
Eight months after the death of her father, 22-year-old Nawal El Moutawakel became a gold medalist Olympian after a 54.61-second run, forever changing her life and the lives of countless female athletes all over the world. Immediately after her triumph, El Moutawakel received a phone call from King Hassan II who congratulated her and declared that all every girl born that day would be called Nawal in her honor.
Despite retiring at the age of 25 due to a number of emotional and physical reasons, Nawal El Moutawakel dedicated her life to athletics and is widely considered to be a pioneer and role model. Now at 60 years old, the “Gazelle of the Atlas'' proved that her win wasn’t only for herself, but for all female athletes “with and without the veil.” Women began looking up to El Moutawakel as she became a symbol of liberation in the Arab and Islamic world. According to el-Moutawakel, she wanted to “bring women outside to feel the power of sports together [...] like a mini-revolution” — and so she did.
El Moutawakel challenged social norms and traditional cultural codes of behavior for Arab women, while simultaneously breaking Western stereotypes. In 1993 she started “Courir pour le plaisir”, the first Moroccan women's 5K race in Casablanca that has since become the biggest women’s race held in a Muslim country. Aside from sports, she encouraged and inspired Moroccan women to be proactive in the fight against AIDS and illiteracy, and in raising awareness about environmental issues.
El Moutawakel became a council member of International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1995, was named Secretary of State to the Minister of Social Affairs, responsible for Youth and Sport (1997-1998), was the Moroccan Minister of Youth and Sports (2007-2009), and has been an active member of the International Olympic Committee since 1998.
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