Nawal El Moutawakel: The Pride of Africa

By Jalal Bounouar|Morocco, Sports

Nawal El Moutawakel, currently the Vice President of the International Olympic Committee IOC, returns to
Los Angeles 33 years after her glorious achievement on August 8, 1984, when she became the first Arab-
African Muslim woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal. Nawal El Moutawakel and 11 other members of the
IOC have paid a three-day visit to the California metropolis, Los Angeles, which is competing with Paris for
organising the Olympic Games in 2024.

Nawal El Moutawakel, the pride of Morocco and Africa, is a story of success, glory, and challenge from an
amateur athlete in the streets of Casablanca to an Olympic champion, and then a Vice President of the most
prestigious sporting institution, a position only one African woman has attained. It is thanks to her struggle,
self-determination, and her hard work that Nawal El Moutawakel has been able to positively and
successfully represent the abilities and competences of African women nowadays. It is an honor to see her
supervising two big cities such as Paris and Los Angeles competing for organising the Olympic Games.

Nawal El MoutawakelFirst Moroccan, African and Arab woman to win an Olympic gold medal

Nawal El Moutawakel: The Athlete

Nawal El Moutawakel marked the history of African sports in general, and that of Morocco in particular,
during her victory in the 400-meter hurdles of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984. It is that record
that made her a legendary sportswoman, as being the first African-Arab Muslim woman to win a gold medal
at the Olympic Games and a symbol of pride for African women.

“King Hassan II called me just a few minutes after I crossed the finish line,” said Nawal El Moutawakel.
“Someone took me into a private room and said to me, ‘The King is on the phone. He wants to talk to you.’”
Then, he addressed me: “I am so proud of you, Nawal. The whole country is happy and proud of your
achievement.” “In fact, I was speechless,” said Nawal El Moutawakel. “I couldn’t believe that the king was
still awake and watching me, although it was in the early morning in Morocco.” Besides, the greatest
surprise, as Nawal El Moutawakel always mentions in her interviews, is the king’s official decision to
celebrate her victory by naming every girl born in Morocco during that day by her name.

From the Streets of Casablanca to the IOC

This militant and feminist made her sporting career the cornerstone of her entry into politics. Animated by
the desire to emancipate women through sport, Nawal El Moutawakel organises the Women’s Race every
year in Casablanca. She embodies the modern Moroccan woman and doubles her commitment to Morocco
and her sporting career through her involvement in international institutions serving sport and women in
Maghreb and Africa.

In her studies, Nawal El Moutawakel holds a Master’s Degree in Physical Education from the University of
Iowa in the United States. Her university career led her to the position of athletic coach before being a
decision maker.

Her victory in 1984 triggers the jubilation in Morocco. It marks her entry onto the political scene when the
late King Hassan II, appointed her Secretary of State for Youth and Sports to the Minister of Social Affairs.
She was, again, appointed the same position from 2007 to 2009 as Minister of Sports and Youth.

Nawal El Moutawakel has surpassed the idea that the sporting institution is a masculine environment. She
was awarded the ‘National Merit’ in 1983, became a member of the International Athletics Federation in
1993, and then in 1998, she became a member of the International Olympic Committee IOC, holding
important positions on the Executive Board. Later, she was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF
in 1999, and at the UN in 2011 for the Millennium Development Goals. Nawal El Moutawakel is ranked
among the ‘50 Most Influential African Personalities in the world,’ according to Young Africa Magazine.
Finally, in 2015, she was decorated by the Legion of Honor by President Francois Hollande, as being a
powerful and influential Moroccan and African woman. In 2016, she supervised the preparation of the 2016
Olympic Games held in Brazil.

A Symbol of Emancipation
In fact, the story of Nawal El Moutawakel is not only about being an Olympic champion and an
international official; it is also about the emancipation of women, and the great role that women from
developing countries can play at the international level. It can be said that in the field of sport, some
successes have a greater impact than others because of the symbolic value to which they are charged. That is
the case of Nawal El Moutawakel, who has created the hope of emancipation for millions of Muslim women
during the 80s, when Islamic and Arab countries were very conservative. Accordingly, she embodies the
modern Moroccan, Muslim and African woman, a figure of a movement of emancipation through sport,
culture, and integration with a political life.

Nawal El Moutawakel, along with women in Morocco, believe her victory in the Olympic Games in 1984
helped change the lives of thousands of Muslim women across the world as they were marginalized and had
no voice or role in society at that time. It was also thought that women couldn’t do well in community life,
and especially in masculine domains such as sport. However, after her triumph, athletics became the interest
of thousands of women in the Arab and Islamic world. In fact, Nawal El Moutawakel became such an iconic
public figure and symbol of emancipation and challenge for Muslim women, as expressed on a variety of
occasions, that she received letters from women, with and without the veil, thanking her for “liberating”
them and creating a new history for them.

Nawal El Moutawakel: The Vice President of the IOC

Once not customary, it was a woman who refereed the race between the five cities’ candidates for the
organisation of the Olympic Games in 2012. The same is happening now. This African woman is in charge
of supervising and selecting the city which will have the honor of organising the Olympic Games in 2024.

The year 2012 was a special year for the former 400-meter Olympic champion. Nawal El Moutawakel
(Moroccan) and Craig Reedie (English) were elected in London as new Vice Presidents of the International
Olympic Committee (IOC). Nawal El Moutawakel won a majority of 81 votes “for” and 10 “against,” and
therefore replaced China’s Zaiqing Yu, whose term had ended, and Italy’s Mario Pescante, who was to hold
the post until 2013, but preferred to resign following the withdrawal of the candidacy of Rome for the
organisation of the Olympic Games of 2020.