Nawal El Moutawakel

“Biography of Nawal”

“This is the happiest moment for me”

“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.”

“I used this as a force, saying to myself in the mirror, you should win for your father because he let you leave, because he believed in you”

“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?”

“The 400-meter hurdles is a highly technical event which at the international level was only a men’s event. In Africa, there were few women competing in that event. I knew I had to go where there was more competition, better competition.”

“I started at 100 and 200 meters. My coach was thinking about moving me to 400 meters or switching totally to 400-meter hurdles. I’m 5-feet, 1-inch.”