Who won the first Olympic women's 400-metre hurdles title at the 1984 Los Angeles Games?

Nawal El Moutawakel won the first Olympic women's 400-metre hurdles title at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Her victory was historic in two ways: she became the first Moroccan woman to win an Olympic gold medal and the first female athlete from an Islamic country to win Olympic gold. She represented Morocco in the final and finished in 54.61 seconds.

The women's 400-metre hurdles had been added to the Olympic programme at Los Angeles, making El Moutawakel its inaugural champion. The event requires athletes to complete one lap while clearing ten hurdles, combining sprint speed, endurance and precise stride patterns.

El Moutawakel later became a prominent sports administrator, including serving as an International Olympic Committee vice-president. She is sometimes confused with Edwin Moses, who won the men's 400-metre hurdles at the same Games, but Moses was not the women's champion.