Fatima El-Faquir (born 1954) is a Moroccan sprinter, coach, and sports professor. She was the first Moroccan to compete in the Olympics. She competed in the women's 100 metres at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

in Munich and was the first African Champion in 400m hurdles in Dakar in 1979. She was the first female athlete to give Morocco a title. She is the Professor of Higher Education at the Moroccan National Institute of Sport. El-Faquir studied Physical Exercise and Sport at the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

in Romania from 1973 to 1978 and then at

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

in Canada. She married and raised a family with her coach Aziz Daouda. She coached the Moroccan national athletics (track) team and coached

Nawal El Moutawakel Nawal El Moutawakel ( Amazigh: ⵏⴰⵡⴰⵍ ⵍⵎⵓⵜⴰⵡⴰⵇⵇⵍ ; ; born 15 April 1962) is a Moroccan former hurdler, who won the inaugural women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and is the first Moroccan, ...

in hurdles and relay events. She organized events like the

Pan Arab Games The Arab Games (), also known as the Pan-Arab Games, are a regional multi-sport event held between nations from the Arab world. They are organized by the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees. The first Games took place in 1953 in Alexandr ...

in Rabat, Morocco in 1985, the

Francophone Games The Jeux de la Francophonie (Canadian English: ''Francophonie Games''; British English: ''Francophone Games'') are a combination of artistic and sporting events for the Francophonie, mostly French-speaking nations and former colonies of France, ...

in 1989, the Cross Country World Championship in 1998, and the Youth World Championships in

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

in 2006. She holds Presidential positions on the

Confederation of African Athletics The Confederation of African Athletics (CAA; French: ''Confédération Africaine d'Athlétisme'') is the continental association for the sport of athletics in Africa. It is headquartered in Dakar, Senegal. It organises the African Championships ...

, North Africa, and the National Association of Women's Physical Activities and Sport. In 2017, she defended her dissertation in French entitled "Moroccan High Level Athletes: Emergence, Visibility, Erasure 1956-2016."

References

1954 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Moroccan female sprinters Olympic athletes for Morocco Place of birth missing (living people) Moroccan female hurdlers 20th-century Moroccan sportswomen {{Morocco-athletics-bio-stub