OLYMPIC BARRIERS: ‘FIRST-EVER’ Woman I.O.C. Chief ?

WILL THIS BE THE FIRST-EVER WOMAN (AND MUSLIM) IOC CHIEF?

Nawal El Moutawakel was ignored by Morocco when competing in the 1984 Olympics — until gold made her a national hero. Now she’s looking to clear another hurdle or two.

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.

She was also the first Moroccan and the first woman from a Muslim majority country to win an Olympic gold medal.

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. King Hassan II 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. Her medal also meant the breakthrough for sporting women in Morocco and other mostly Muslim countries.

King Hassan II telephoned after she won:
“To celebrate you, all girls born today will be named after you!”

She was a pioneer for Muslim and Arabic athletes in that she confounded long-held beliefs that women of such backgrounds could not succeed in athletics.

• In 1993 she started Courir pour le plaisir, a 5km run for women in Casablanca that has since become the biggest women’s race held in a Muslim country, with up to 30,000 entrants.
• In 1995, El Moutawakel became a council member of the International Association of Athletics Federations (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 evaluation commissions for the selection of the host city for the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
• In 2006, El Moutawakel was one of the eight bearers of the Olympic flag at the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Turin, Italy. On the 26th July, 2012, she carried the Olympic torch through Westminster, London, for the London Olympics.

Even a woman used to revolutions like Nawal El Moutawakel considers the idea of a Female President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) a bit far-fetched. And there, in that traditional world, one so masculine and decidedly conservative that the times move at different rhythms.

The IOC has had eight Presidents in its more than 100-year history, and all have been male and almost all European. The only exception is American, Avery Brundage, who has hardly gone down in history for his democratic vision: He was head of the U.S. Olympic Committee when the States decided to substitute some Jewish athletes for the Games of Berlin in 1936, and was in charge of the IOC when Tommie Smith and John Carlos were stripped of their medals in 1968 for the Black Power salute.

After him, and after the terrible events of the Munich Massacre in 1972, the Committee returned to absolute rigor and the top position has always been occupied by a man from the “Old Continent”; an Irish Baron, a Spanish Francoist and a Belgian orthopaedic surgeon. Current President Jacques Rogge, the inscrutable Belgian, already represents the most progressive leader yet.

And if Rogge, an ex-athlete (he represented Belgium in the Olympics for yachting and played rugby for the national team) as well as a skilled mediator, might consider a break with the past, perhaps he could figure out how to encourage the nomination, which is still unofficial, of an African, a Muslim, a woman — all in one name.

“From a ‘bad example’ to a ‘national icon’ whose fame has never wavered. But now she may come up against the most daring challenge yet: “Head of the IOC? Why not,” she told La Stampa.

“And now that women are equal, the future of sport is feminine. Look at London, equality in every discipline, including boxing, teams with a feminine majority and I’m talking about the U.S. and Germany.”

The contenders have not been announced yet, another IOC rule, with candidates only made public in June, and the vote at the beginning of September. But it’s clear that some support has begun to coalesce around El Moutawakel, a member of the committee since 1998 and Vice President since 2012.

Speaking from Brazil, where she’s co-odinating the committee that is monitoring Rio 2016 (she had a similar role for London 2012) she said: “I know that there are many candidates and that there is still a lot of time to decide, but I feel like the spokesperson of a movement.” And it’s not just of women, the circle that supports El Moutawakel is growing and even Rogge might line up behind her, as he has always praised her work.

The other top contenders include Rogge’s right-hand man, Thomas Bach, a German who won gold in Montreal 1976 for fencing; Richard Carrion, 60, an economist and head of the Banco Popular of Puerto Rico, who has managed IOC funds and negotiated all the contracts; and Ng Ser Miang, 63, an IOC vice-president from China.

For El Moutawakel, it has been a steady climb to the cusp of potential worldwide sporting influence. She moved into politics after retiring from competition, and became Morocco’s Sports Minister. In 1993, she organized a 10km pink “fun run,” and now every year in Casablanca, 30,000 girls run in front of their husbands, fathers and brothers. She believes in diplomacy, the IOC school taught her to move with slyness and a refined calmness.

Still, she knows that even just admitting she wants the presidency will make noise. The odds are stacked against her, but she clearly thinks it’s worth the effort.

The original holder atop the modern Olympic hierarchy was Baron Pierre de Coubertin, a staunch supporter of a mens-only games: “To see a woman here would be inappropriate,” he stated. 🙂

While he was referring to the athletes, others today still think the same thing about the leadership of the Olympic Committee.

“But we should not forget that El Moutawakel, the former hurdler, has been clearing obstacles all her life.”

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