Ibtihaj Muhammad

BORN: DECEMBER 4, 1985, MAPLEWOOD, NJ

I want to be an example for minority and Muslim youth that anything is possible with perseverance.

Ibtihaj Muhammad, a champion Olympic fencer, is celebrated as the first American athlete to compete for the United States team while wearing the hijab, a traditional head covering. Growing up with four siblings in Maplewood, New Jersey, Ibtihaj was always active in sports, but her mother altered her uniforms so that Ibtihaj would be modestly dressed according to the tenets of her Muslim faith.

When she was thirteen, Ibtihaj discovered fencing, which allowed her to be fully covered while actively competing. It was a perfect fit. She became captain of her Columbia High School team for two years and led it to two state championships. Ibtihaj enrolled in classes at the Peter Westbrook Foundation, a nonprofit organization that teaches life skills and the sport of fencing to underprivileged youth in the New York metropolitan area. There, Ibtihaj received encouragement to pursue the sport through national and international competitions.

Despite her relatively late start, Ibtihaj’s competitive fencing career has been stellar. In 2004, she earned a scholarship to Duke University and competed for the school’s fencing team. After her graduation in 2007 and throughout her career, she has earned numerous medals for both team and individual events on the World Cup circuit.

Although an injury prevented her from competing in the 2012 Olympic Games, that same year she was named Muslim sportswoman of the year. In 2014, she launched a clothing line, Louella, to meet a need for comfortable, modest clothing for Muslim women. And as part of its Shero program that celebrates female achievers, Mattel Toys introduced a hijab-wearing Barbie doll in Ibtihaj’s likeness.

Ibtihaj made history when she took home the bronze medal in the team sabre fencing competition at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. As a sports ambassador for the State Department, she serves on the Empowering Women and Girls Through Sport Initiative. Her memoir, Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream, shares her story of triumph and her struggle with anxiety and how she copes with it.