International Olympic Committee member and Laureus World Sports Academy Member Nawal El Moutawakel has been appointed Chair of the IOC Co-ordination Commission for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016.

The announcement which was made by International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge also named Nawal’s fellow Laureus Academy Member Sergey Bubka as one of the 17-strong group that will be assisting Rio de Janeiro and monitoring their preparations in the lead up to the Games.

Nawal, 47, was the first Moroccan, African and Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold medal, in the 400 metres hurdles in Los Angeles in 1984. She is a former Vice-Chair of Laureus and Minister of Sport and Youth in Morocco. She has already overseen the Evaluation Commission for the 2016 Olympics, a role she also fulfilled for the 2012 Olympics that were ultimately awarded to London, and this new appointment makes her the first ever woman to lead a Co-ordination Commission.

Her Olympic gold medal proved a major breakthrough for sporting women in Morocco and other Muslim countries and she has made the cause of health and fitness and participation of women in sport the centre piece of her philosophy. As organiser of the Courir pour le Plaisir, an annual 10 km fun run which attracts up to 30,000 women in Casablanca, she has put her beliefs into practice. She has also been instrumental in supporting two Laureus Sport for Good Foundation projects in Morocco aimed at encouraging women – first the Women in Sport project in Aït Iktel, one of the most isolated and disadvantaged areas of the country, and more recently the Courir pour La Vie project near Casablanca.

The announcement of her appointment was warmly welcomed by Edwin Moses, the Chairman of the Laureus World Sports Academy. He said: “Nawal has been breaking down barriers throughout her career. She has been an agent for change in her own country and has had a dramatic affect on the role of women in Moroccan society. She is one of those rare people who have made a difference in whatever they do. And now she is doing an immensely important and valuable job for the Olympic Movement. I congratulate her and wish her well in this new role.”

Nawal El Moutawakel said: "I am delighted to have been named as Chair of the Commission and am confident our team will help Rio deliver a memorable Summer Games in 2016. Having chaired the Evaluation Committee for the 2016 Games, I have first-hand knowledge of the many strengths that Rio and Brazil have to offer, and together we will strive to showcase that to the world in six years' time."