Nawal El Moutawakel

By winning the 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, Nawal El Moutawakel became the first Moroccan, African and Arab woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Her watershed performance was watched live in her hometown of Casablanca in the early hours of the morning and locals poured onto the streets to celebrate. Her Olympic success earned her instant recognition in her country and the King of Morocco decreed that all girls born on the date of her victory were to be named in her honour. 

Her Olympic gold medal proved a major breakthrough for sporting women in Morocco and she has made the cause of health and fitness and participation of women in sport the centre piece of her philosophy.   As organiser of the Courir pour le Plaisir, an annual 10 km fun run which attracts up to 30,000 women in Casablanca, she has put her beliefs into practice.  She has also been instrumental in supporting two Laureus Sport for Good Foundation projects in Morocco aimed at encouraging women - first the Women in Sport project in Aït Iktel, one of the most isolated and disadvantaged areas of the country, and more recently the Courir pour La Vie project near Casablanca.

A former Vice-Chair of Laureus and Minister of Sport and Youth in Morocco, Nawal's influence internationally has also increased significantly in recent years. In 1995, she became a council member of the International Association of Athletics Federations and two years later she became the first Muslim woman ever to be elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

A member of the IOC Women and Sports Commission and the IOC Marketing Commission, in 2004 she was appointed Chairperson of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, which were ultimately awarded to London. And four years later she was also asked to Chair the Evaluation Commission for the 2016 Olympics. In January 2010, she was appointed Chair of the IOC Co-ordination Commission for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016, becoming the first woman ever to lead a Co-ordination Commission.

The announcement of her appointment was warmly welcomed at the time by Edwin Moses, the Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy.  He said: "Nawal has been breaking down barriers throughout her career.  She has been an agent for change in her own country and has had a dramatic affect on the role of women in Moroccan society. She is one of those rare people who have made a difference in whatever they do. And now she is doing an immensely important and valuable job for the Olympic Movement. I congratulate her and wish her well in this new role."

Nawal El Moutawakel's website

Nawal El Moutawakel's Wikipedia entry