When Ibtihaj Muhammad graduated from Duke as a three-time all-American in fencing, she was unsure if she saw a future for herself in the sport.
No one wore a hijab while competing and she figured no one else had essentially been told that they couldn't be successful in the tactical sport because they were Black, she said.
Motivated by the idea that people did not believe in her, she took a leap of faith at a career in fencing.
"Even though I had no world ranking and had never been to a senior competition, and the people around me were telling me that it wasn't possible, I decided that it was," Muhammad told USA TODAY Sports.