Ibtihaj Muhammad was drawn to fencing because of the uniform. As a Muslim woman, she can compete while covering her head, arms and legs.
Despite being involved in a niche sport and defeated in the round of 16 in the women’s sabre fencing event on Monday, Muhammad is one of the most discussed athletes at the games in Rio – all because she is the first woman to compete for the US wearing a hijab.
The fencer has used her status as an Olympian to take on issues beyond her sport – warning about the rising bigotry faced by Muslim Americans.
In particular, Muhammad has become a vocal opponent of Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for president who has called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the US in response to Islamist terror attacks in the country and abroad.
“It’s a very slippery slope when you use hateful rhetoric, when you openly use bigoted comments towards a group of people and you encourage violence, so I’m hoping that the rhetoric changes and changes fast,” she told reporters in Rio.
The US Olympic Committee had considered the 30-year-old to carry its flag at the opening ceremony. That might have been considered a political act: an African-American woman in a headscarf leading the US team out at the Brazil games, while back home a divisive election splits voters over racial and religious matters
Eventually the USOC chose a safer – if popular – option: swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time.
In Rio, Muhammad has continued to be as much an activist as an athlete.
“I’m hoping that just my presence on Team USA changes the misconceptions that people may have about the Muslim community,” she said. “I feel that our conversation about the Muslim community has to change.” Muhammad, ranked number two in the US, 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.
“I had somebody follow me home from practice and try to report me to the police, and this is right on 20th (Street) and Seventh (Avenue) in New York City,” she said.
Female athletes competing in a hijab are still rare at the games. Only two years ago, international football and basketball authorities lifted bans on players wearing headscarves.
Some scholars in Islamic countries believe it is immodest for women to participate in sport at all. At the London Olympics in 2012, only a handful of athletes competed wearing a hijab. They included judo player Wojdan Shaherkani, the first woman to compete in the games for Saudi Arabia. Reports at the time suggested she received a mix of praise and criticism back home.
Muhammad’s hope for a podium finish now lies in the team sabre competition on Saturday, where the US is led by Mariel Zagunis, a gold medallist in two previous Olympics.
However, it will be off the piste that Muhammad will have the biggest impact. “This is who I am – being American, being African-American, and being a Muslim, being a woman. These are all things that I can’t change, and I wouldn’t change for anything.”
– The Financial Times Service