She knows she’ll be in the Olympic spotlight at a time when Muslim-Americans like her are also “under the microscope” during a presidential campaign. She’ll face France’s Cécilia Berder in the round of 16 later on Monday morning.
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“I’ve done it before meets, pretty much every meet I go to”, Phelps told The Times. Her brother, Qareed, who calls her “my hero”.
After driving past a local high school, her mother noticed the fencing team’s conservative dress, and suggested that as another option. And she may still get one, as the USA sabre team is ranked second in the world behind the Russians. Her loss would have been a small note on NBC.
“Anybody can do whatever they want, it does not matter whether you are Christian, Muslim or Jewish, you have to enjoy your life”, said Abdelfattah, who said the hijab is a personal expression that represents private feelings of faith.
She celebrated her early win by raising the sabre in a manner that would make David Warner or Steve Smith proud.
She told the NY Times: “My parents were on a mission to find a sport without adjustment”.
Of course, it was his daughter’s determination and willingness to ruffle feathers that allowed her to make it in a sport with so few African-American or Muslim-American competitors. So many Muslim countries have women as heads of state. “And it’s not just to challenge misconceptions outside the Muslim community but within the Muslim community. The Saudi Arabian team, the Kuwaiti team and now the American team”.
Fans back home will be cheering for Muhammad, as will her fellow teammates in Rio. The Olympics, she said, are bigger than her, bigger than any personal ambition or childhood dream. Muhammad still trailed 14-10 when she scored two points in a row, but Berder closed out the match.
“I tell her, I tell all my girls all the time, ‘Don’t argue with a man.’ And I think that’s good advice from any father to her daughter”, said Muhammad, 64.
She has enjoyed growing fame in the run-up to the Rio Games, and her corporate sponsors now include big names like Visa and United Airlines. In light of all the political fuss that we hear about, all these things I feel like kind of circle back to my presence on Team USA.
She added that she’s seeking to overturn the notion that all Muslim women are “docile, oppressed, that we’re all Arab”, instead wanting to showcase the potential that a Muslim woman has on as grand a stage as the Olympics.
“I got to chalk it up to a bad day”, said Zagunis, who placed fourth in London four years ago. She recently had a chance to voice her concerns to President Barack Obama during a roundtable he held at his first visit to a US mosque. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m very vocal, very verbal and very comfortable expressing myself. I’ve always ben like that.
“My experiences in this sport are for that 12-year-old kid being told they don’t belong because they are black or because they’re Muslim”, Muhammad said.
“I wanted a sport where I could be fully covered and I didn’t have to look different”. She never set limits. They waved their stars and stripes and chanted along with everyone else in the arena.
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Speaking at a press conference, the Duke University graduate insisted on fighting the stereotypes surrounding Islam and the Muslim community in the United States and overseas.
