Abstract

It is from the position of a dedicated and distinguished life as a Moroccan athlete, leader and advocate of women in sport that Fatima El Faquir offers this chapter on North-African women, with particular focus on Morocco and track-and-field athletics. From her background in the development of sport in North Africa, the focus shifts to Morocco, the setting for the ensuing life stories. Through her own biography and life-history interviews with two Moroccan athletic champions, the reader is given insights into the personal qualities of such women, factors important to their perception of a culture of acceptance, the management of complex identities as Arab, African, Muslim women athletes, and the ways in which devotion to sport and religion were not seen as compromising in any way. Einleitung