Medal record
Women's Athletics
Competitor for  Morocco
Olympic Games
Gold	1984 Los Angeles	400m Hurdles
Mediterranean Games
Gold	1983 Casablanca	400m Hurdles
Gold	1987 Latakia	400m 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 female Muslim born on the continent of Africa to become an Olympic champion.^[1] In 2007, El Moutawakel was named the Minister of Sports in the upcoming cabinet of Morocco.

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 telephoned El Moutawakel to give his congratulations, and he declared that all girls born the day of her victory were to be named in her honor.^[2] Her medal also meant the breakthrough for sporting women in Morocco and other mostly Muslim countries.

In 1995, El Moutawakel became a council member of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), and in 1998 she became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

El Moutawakel is a member of the International Olympic Committee, and she was the president of the evaluation commission for the selection of the host city for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. She has been tapped to lead the evaluation commission for the 2016 Summer Olympics as well.^[3]

In 2006, El Moutawakel was one of the eight bearers of the Olympic flag at the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Torino, Italy.

[edit] References

• International Olympic Committee profile