Not just a gifted athlete, Muhammad holds two bachelor’s degrees from Duke University in International Relations and African and African-American studies. The next month, Muhammad told BBC, a man on the street asked her if she was going to blow something up. Her brother, Qareed, who calls her “my hero”.
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However, her Olympics run is not over. She said, “When I heard that there had never been a Muslim woman on the usa team to wear the hijab, that is when I made this conscious decision to go for 2016”.
Muhammad had strong support from her family, which was looking for a sport that would allow her to compete without compromising her religious principles.
With that small gesture, Muhammad made history.
When that happens, she’ll become just another driven athlete again, one determined not to leave here without some hardware. She had enough on her plate without having to negotiate the one-woman Trump buster construct that we, the media has decided she must be. “There are women who cover (their hair) and women who don’t. I had someone follow me home from practice and try to report me to police”, she said. There are so many different types of Muslims. That devout Muslim country discriminates against its own female population, all under the banner of Islam’s sharia law. “The Saudi Arabian team, the Kuwaiti team and now the American team”.
“I wouldn’t say I felt down and out”, she said.
In her midday match against Berder, Muhammad built a 6-2 lead but gradually succumbed to nerves and a noisy crowd.
“I am excited to challenge the stereotypes and misconceptions people have about Muslim women”.
She appeared on Ellen, fenced with the First Lady in Times Square (foam swords) and reportedly was runner-up to Michael Phelps to carry the flag into the Opening Ceremony.
Like all other Team USA fencers, Ibtihaj Muhammad has the Stars and Stripes superimposed over the face of her mask.
Of wearing a hijab to compete, Muhammed said: “How can you not see that Muslims are like any other group?” “That I’m oppressed. That I don’t have a voice”. I remember being told that I shouldn’t fence as a kid because I was black. “I want to fence, and this is what I want to do”.
“I suppose because it is the first for her country”, said the medical doctor, who wore a black-and-white veil which bore the famous pattern of the pavestones of Copacabana beach.
Of course, that’s not what the hijab represents for those who choose to wear it. Therefore she switched to fencing at age 13 when her mother witnessed the sport while driving by a local high school and realized it required full-body uniforms. But the saying I really like is -‘champions are not the ones who never fail, it is somebody who never quits.’ I don’t consider myself a quitter.
“Or this many press”, she added.
Muhammad subsequently became one of the biggest faces of the U.S. team, appearing on talk shows all over the country while garnering attention not often showered on fencers. Finally, I did it.
Washington shook her head. She is not a Muslim and in many ways she is still curious about her friend and her faith. “She has a sense of pride”, Washington said. She just cares more than most people.
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As far as the piste goes, Muhammad might just be peaking at the right time. And although she lost well before the medal round, Muhammad did her country proud.
