She will also be the first U.S. athlete to compete in the Olympics while wearing a hijab.
Published: Thu 21 Apr 2016, 7:32 PM
Updated: Thu 21 Apr 2016, 11:19 PM
- By
- Curated by Sarakshi Rai
A Muslim woman and one of the best fencers in the world- Ibtihaj Muhammad has made it to the Time 100 most influential people list.
She will also be the first U.S. athlete to compete in the Olympics while wearing a hijab. Her upcoming appearance at the Rio Olympics, while wearing hijab, is being hailed as a moment of pride for American Muslims.
Muhammad is an African-American sabre fencer who has managed to clinch a coveted seat in August's Rio de Janeiro Olympics, after a third-place finish in Athens at a World Cup event.
Time Magazine in the edition says, "Most of the sports she tried required physically revealing gear, in sharp contrast to the modesty her Muslim faith required. Then she discovered fencing. The sport let her express her athletic talent, and the uniform allowed her to stay true to her faith. "
Recently she met US President Barack Obama during his first visit as president to a mosque in the U.S., where he met with a small group of Muslim community leaders in Maryland.
The president asked her to stand as the whole room applauded. "One of the Americans waving the red, white, and blue will be a fencing champion wearing her hijab in the next Olympics," Obama said.
Later, He added that he "told her to bring home the gold! Not to put any pressure on her."
"When most people picture an Olympic fencer, they probably do not imagine a person like me. Fortunately, I'm not most people," Muhammad said in an interview with AFP.
ON why she took to fencing she said, "As a Muslim female, the sport was uniquely accommodating. My religion requires that my body be fully covered and fencing did just that."
"After I graduated from college, I saw there was a lack of minorities in the sport. I recognized that I had a skill set, so I started to pursue fencing full time. I felt that it was something the squad needed. There were barriers that needed to be broken in women's saber."
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