OlympicTalk · Jun 24, 2016
Ibtihaj Muhammad’s unique path to Olympic history (video)
Behind an American flag-themed mask, Ibtihaj Muhammad is changing the face of U.S. fencing. And of Team USA as a whole.
Muhammad, a 30-year-old sabre fencer, will compete in her first Olympics in Rio. And she will do so wearing a hijab, which no American has donned in Olympic competition.
Still, Muhammad says she receives backlash.
“Just last week, I was walking with my teammate, and a man told me that I look suspicious,” Muhammad said in a TODAY interview published Friday. “He started asking me if I was going to blow something up.”
Muhammad has received plenty of press since qualifying for the Games in February, but the focus must be squarely on the Games.