Moroccan sprinter Nawal Al-Moutawakel, first all categories

To stay up to date on African news, subscribe to the “Monde Afrique” newsletter from this link. Every Saturday at 6 am, find a week of current events and debates treated by the editorial staff of “Monde Afrique”.

Moroccan athlete Nawal Al-Moutawakel wins gold in the women's 400-meter hurdles at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles on August 8, 1984.

She got scared. Fear of falling, of missing an obstacle, of losing. Because a whole country is betting on it: at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984, Nawal Al-Moutawakel was the only female athlete in the Moroccan delegation.

This August 8, the young 22-year-old sprinter is in the final of the 400 meters hurdles. It is hot and humid. She is concentrated and already imagines her crossing of the Memorial Coliseum. Outside of Morocco, however, no one expects a perfect race from this near-stranger with bib 272 from Casablanca.

episode 1 Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, barefoot marathoner and first black African Olympic champion

In the absence of the USSR as well as of fourteen other countries from the communist bloc which boycotted these Games, the contenders for the supreme title are the Romanian Cristina Cojocaru, the Indian PT Usha and the American Judi Brown, copiously applauded by a crowded stadium. Nawal Al-Moutawakel studied, with her coaches, the strengths and weaknesses of her competitors: she feels capable of beating them.

For the past few months, the Moroccan has been preparing a master’s degree in physical education at the University of Iowa. And it is in this corner of the American Midwest that she progresses: she improves her strides, her speed, her technique to cross hurdles, eventually gaining precious tenths of a second.

Insolent ease

From a modest 56”59 at the Mediterranean Games in Casablanca in 1983 (which she won), she rose to 55”84 at the American university championships. At the start of the year, she even carried the African distance record at 55”37. The stopwatch is his new ally.

The eight sprinters are in the starting blocks. False start. Nawal Al-Moutawakel, red shorts and green jersey, line 3, believes that she is the culprit. We must not lose our focus. New start. The Moroccan star runs at full speed in his corridor, runs as if his life depended on it, crosses the ten hurdles with insolent ease.

Read also The meetings of African sport in 2021

A few meters from the finish, she takes a look on the left, another on the right: but where are his adversaries? Could there have been another false start and would she be the only one galloping… No, her rivals are just light years behind her.

Nawal Al-Moutawakel won the gold medal in 54”61. She almost fainted. American Judi Brown, second in the final, and Jamaican Sandra Farmer-Patrick (last) hold her back before hugging her. Moroccan flag in hand, she cries and thinks of her father, who died a few months earlier, who always encouraged her to embrace this discipline.

A turning point for sportswomen

Her feat is eternal: she brings Morocco the first Olympic title in its history and becomes the first North African, the first Arab, the first Muslim and the first African to win gold at the Games.

Who would have bet their dollars on this petite woman (1.59 m), with her tomboy look and footballer cut? International journalists understand that she comes from… Monaco. She must constantly remember that she represents the ” Morocco “ (Morocco in English). In the country, pride is at its height and King Hassan II decrees that all girls born on August 8, 1984 must be named Nawal.

This is the first time that the women’s 400-meter hurdles have been on the Olympic program. Just like the marathon or the heptathlon. Los Angeles was a turning point for sportswomen: the Olympics are becoming even more feminine. This situation would have displeased Pierre de Coubertin: the father of the modern Games did not want to see female competitors participating in his prestigious tournament.

“The true Olympic hero to me is the individual adult male. The Olympic Games should be reserved for men, the role of women should be above all to crown the winners. A female Olympiad would be impractical, uninteresting, unsightly and incorrect ”, he had declared.

Nawal Al-Moutawakel will fight for the cause of women, “Too rare” in the world of sport. This fight is not limited to practice, but also relates to access to governing bodies. Thus, the Moroccan entered, in 1998, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and multiplies the mandates: vice-president of the IOC (2012-2016), she headed the evaluation committee of the 2012 London Games or even the coordination commission for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games …

In her country, she was, among others, appointed Minister of Youth and Sports (2007-2009). At 59, Nawal Al-Moutawakel is one of the most influential women in world sport.

Summary of our series “These Africans who made the Olympics”