In the women’s sabre tournament, Ibtihaj Muhammad, sporting a hijab, was a victor in her opening bout before bowing out. “And that’s why I would be proud of you for giving up your position to Ibtihaj Muhammad”, Kamau explains.
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“I just kept making a lot of mistakes, so I was not sticking to my game plan”, she said. After months of dire predictions from overseas about the mosquito-borne Zika virus, some locals are doing some stinging of their own: They’re jeering US athletes and taunting them over the fears that kept some competitors away from South America’s first Olympics.
“You’re seen for your skill set and not for your outward appearance – not for your skin, not for your religion, not for your gender”, she told the Player’s Tribune, echoing how Muslim women have spoken of the hijab for centuries. Since arriving in Rio, Muhammad has carefully directed her comments at the positive impact she hopes to make around the world, not at the politicians who preach the opposite. Her dream of winning an individual medal at her first Olympics had just ended, but Muhammad was unwilling to cede her moment.
When she returned, she was composed, analytical and well spoken. “It’s ridiculous and we as a country have to change and I feel like this is our moment”.
“I wouldn’t say I felt down and out”, she said.
“It’s hard to even put it into words”.
Oh, and as for Muhammad, I’m sort of glad she wasn’t our flag-bearer. “I feel very thankful”. “For the first time in my life, at 13 years old, I really felt a part of the team”, she said.
The Olympics are in full swing right now, and history is getting made all over the place. “It is an unhealthy one”.
She described the prejudice that Muslim women face in the USA when wearing a hijab, and said that she hoped to “change the conservation” regarding American Muslims by complicating preconceived notions.
Still, her faith is never far away. They like it when I do insane stuff. “So to qualify for this team and just walk in at opening ceremonies, all these emotions, it’s nearly overwhelming”.
“We talk like that as a family”, he said. “It’s like, well, where do we go?”
She definitely spoke up in her match with Berder, arguing with the referee, throwing down her mask and receiving a yellow card.
Muhammad’s presence in Rio comes during a time when Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has declared his intention to ban Muslims from entering the USA, should he take over the White House. Muhammad, ranked number two in the USA, discussed the discrimination she has faced during her career, saying some expressed fear at seeing a black woman carrying a sword – even if it is in training. But she understands and embraces the power of a smart, successful Muslim woman competing at the highest level of athletic competition.
“It’s not just any team, it’s the United States”, she said.
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“It’s nearly like, how can you not see that Muslims are like any other group?” “We are conservative, we are liberal”. “There are women who cover (their hair) and women who don’t. There are African-American Muslims, white Muslims, Arab Muslims – there are so many different types”.
