The IOC announced it last year, puffing out its chest: the Paris Games in 2024 will be marked by parity between men and women in the number of events and medals. A first. But where is gender equality in the Olympic movement? Do female leaders weigh the same as their male counterparts?
The day after International Women's Sports Day, celebrated on Sunday January 24, FrancsJeux asked one of the most influential women in the Olympic world. Nawal El Moutawakel, 58, Olympic champion in the 400m hurdles at the Los Angeles Games in 1984, has been a member of the IOC since 1998. She was vice-president between 2012 and 2016. She now sits on the executive board.
The Moroccan takes an informed but uncompromising look at the place of women in the sporting movement and its institutions. She recognizes the progress made, but remains aware of the road still to be covered.
FrancsJeux : You are in 4th place in the ranking of the most influential French speakers in the Olympic movement in 2020, published last month by FrancsJeux. You are also the first woman. What does this position inspire you?
Nawal El Moutawakel : I am very honored. But I didn't expect it. I work with my head down, with passion and self-sacrifice, to serve the Olympic movement, its values and its development. I am fully invested in this mission. She has been guiding my steps for years.
In this same ranking, only five women appear among the top twenty. Does this result reflect the Olympic movement?
There are Nawal El Moutawakel all over the world. They are there, they work, sometimes in the shadows. The potential is real. I met female heads of state during my career at the IOC. Dilma Rousseff, in particular, before the Rio 2016 Games. Today, a third of the IOC members are women. In recent years, I have seen the arrival of a new generation, represented in particular by the Costa Rican Laura Chinchilla, or the former President of the Republic of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. The future of the Olympic movement will be feminine. Thomas Bach works tirelessly on it. The number of women has never been greater in IOC commissions.
There have never been so many women at the IOC, but are they listened to?
They must play their role, take their responsibilities to be more present, more decisive and more demanding. But I see that their voices are increasingly heard in international forums. We owe it to Juan Antonio Samaranch. He was the first, when he was president of the IOC, to create a women's commission in the 90s. He sounded the alarm to strengthen the place of women in our ecosystem. Then Jacques Rogge, and today Thomas Bach, continued on the same path. But everything must start from the clubs. They are the basis of everything. Women must be more present in clubs, to then win over national Olympic committees and international federations. But not all authorities move at the same speed. Some international federations have understood the message, others are progressing less quickly.
Only two international federations of a summer Olympic sport, triathlon and golf, are today chaired by a woman…
It’s true, that’s not much. We will have to move the lines. Women are there, but they must be pushed towards excellence, work and self-sacrifice. But I remain hopeful. When I see the progress made, on the field, in competitions, I tell myself that a lot of progress has been made in a short time. At the 1984 Los Angeles Games, where the 400m hurdles, my event, was included on the program for the first time, women represented only 23% of the competitors. Parity will be achieved at the Tokyo Games.
When will there be a woman candidate for the presidency of the IOC?
This has already happened. Anita DeFrantz was a candidate for president in 2001, after Juan Antonio Samaranch left office. I found her very courageous, fighting and competitive. But the minds of the time were not ready to vote for a woman. She is today the first vice-president of the IOC. I really admire his journey. She was mayor of the village at the Los Angeles Games when I was an athlete! But she is not the only one to influence the movement. Gunilla Lindberg has done a phenomenal job as Chair of the PyeongChang 2018 Games Coordination Commission. Nicole Hoevertsz sits with me on the Executive Board and leads the Los Angeles 2028 Games Coordination Commission. Lingwei Li, in addition to being an extraordinary champion, successfully led the Buenos Aires 2018 YOG Coordination Commission.
Today, would people be ready to vote for a woman?
Things change. Thomas Bach always made the feminine element one of his concerns. It pushes you to change your attitude. In Africa, where there is still a long way to go, it is women who lead Liberia, Ethiopia and Malawi. I continue to believe that anything is possible. At the Tokyo Games, all delegations will have at least one female representative.
Do you see today a new generation arriving at the IOC, a new wave of women likely to accelerate this evolution?
Yes. In the new generation, I of course see Kirsty Coventry. She is Zimbabwe's Minister of Sports and sits on the executive commission. She arrives at the top. But she is not the only one. We should also mention Danka Bartekova, Mikaela Cojuangco Jaworski and the Ethiopian Dagmavit Girmay Berhane. Other women have joined the ranks of the IOC recently and are making a huge contribution to the Olympic movement. I am thinking of the Finnish Sari Essayah, the Canadian Tricia Smith, the Thai Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, the Costa Rican Laura Chinchilla, the former President of the Republic of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, or the Princess of Saudi Arabia Reema Bandar Al- Saud, also her country's ambassador to Washington. They demonstrate day after day that women have their place in international sport. And that the Olympic movement and the IOC are right to entrust them with the responsibilities they deserve and to rely on their talent.
