Knowing the First Muslim Athlete to Win Olympic Gold
- abc.net.
Jakarta – The Olympic Games are an international sporting event held every four years, featuring various sports contested by thousands of athletes from around the world.
It's the largest and most prestigious sports competition globally, with over 200 countries participating. The upcoming Olympics will take place in Paris, France, from July 26th to August 11th, 2024, showcasing 329 events across 32 sports. The first Olympics were held in 1896 in Athens, Greece.
Throughout its history, the games have produced numerous unforgettable moments, one involves Nawal El Moutawakel, a Moroccan athlete.
At 22 years old, she captivated the world by clinching Morocco's first Olympic gold medal and challenging prevailing perceptions.
She was highly revered as the first Muslim woman athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. Her victory in the 400m hurdles at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles etched her name in history.
Nawal El Moutawakel
- abc.net.
Additionally, she became the first Muslim woman elected to the International Olympic Committee and received the Laureus Achievement Award in 2010.
Many had erroneously believed that Arab and Muslim women couldn't achieve the level of success Nawal attained.
Following her retirement from athletics, Moutawakel was appointed as the Minister of Youth and Sports by King Mohammed VI in her home country of Morocco. There, she consistently broadened opportunities for women through sports.
"Sport has given me so much that whatever I give back will never be enough," she stated.
One of El Moutawakel's significant interests is the Courir pour La Vie project, implemented as a pilot scheme at the Imam Mouslim Secondary School in Ben Abid, a dusty roadside village 20 miles outside Casablanca.
This innovative program promotes sports among adolescent girls living in rural areas. Its aim is to utilize sports as a means to empower self-confidence and independence among these girls, providing them with resources to continue their education rather than adhering to traditional patterns of leaving school as teenagers and entering arranged marriages.
