“My happiest moment” - Nawal El Moutawakel sees full gender parity at Paris 2024 as biggest achievement
Imagine being the only female athlete in your team's Olympic delegation.
There’s focus on you, as you battle the fear of failure and expectation to perform and validate your inclusion.
That was the position Nawal El Moutawakel found herself in at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics. Competing in the women's 400m hurdles, an event that had just been introduced at the Games for the first time for females, she went on to become the first ever Moroccan Olympic gold medallist.
“I remember in 1984, when I was the only woman in the team, and I was wondering then why there were no women journalists, in my Moroccan team. Why were there no women coaches, referees, or a woman as a leader in the team?” she reflected in an interview with Olympics.com at the Laureus World Sports Awards 2024 nominations announcement in Madrid.
Her first Olympic experience lives long in her memory, and inspired her push for gender equality in sport.
The sprinter found herself suddenly thrust into the limelight after her trailblazing 54.61 second win which also made her the first Arabic, African, and Muslim woman to be crowned an Olympic champion.
Now, 40 years later, the IOC member is looking forward to attending the Paris 2024 Games, where for the first time in history the Olympics will achieve gender equality.
“This is the happiest moment for me,” said El Moutawakel, a former IOC Vice-President. “The biggest achievement is to see that all IFs [International Federations] are presenting women in their sport.”
“We will witness for the first time now in Paris 2024, almost, equal opportunities for women in every field. I'm so glad to see this happening.”
“When I see how far we came from in 1984, when for the very first time, I competed in an event that was not allowed for women, which is the 400m hurdles, and all of a sudden now we see women running marathons like men, competing in boxing, in wrestling …we will witness a fantastic summer Olympic Games in Paris.”