Ibtihaj Muhammad (born December 4, 1985) is an American sabre fencing, author, entrepreneur and Olympic medalist. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she became the first American woman to compete in the Olympics in hijab, the first American Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal,
Muhammad is a five-time World medalist (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015)
Muhammad was named one of Time 100's Most Influential People in the World (2016),
Early life
Muhammad was born on December 4, 1985, in
New Jersey and raised in Maplewood, New Jersey.
She has two older siblings, Brandilyn and Qareeb, and two younger siblings, Asiya and Faizah.
Her parents are of
African American descent. Muhammad began fencing at age 13 at Columbia High School (New Jersey).
Career
Fencing
In 2002, Muhammad joined the Peter Westbrook Foundation in New York City.
After graduating from Columbia High School in 2003, Muhammad attended
Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, where she was a three-time All-American.
She graduated in 2007 with an International Relations and African & African-American Studies double major.
Muhammad qualified for her first United States National Fencing Team in 2010, becoming the first woman of color on the women's sabre team.[Matthew Hall (July 27, 2018). "Ibtihaj Muhammad: 'Being made to feel different is what makes it all the more difficult'," The Guardian.] She was a member of the United States National Team from 2010-2017. As of 2017, she is a two-time National Champion (2009, 2017), a 19-time World Cup medalist, and has ranked as high as No. 7 in the World. She is a five-time Senior World medalist (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015)
2016 Summer Olympics
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she became the first American woman to compete in the Olympics in hijab, the first Muslim-American woman to win an Olympic medal,
and the first Black woman to win an Olympic medal in the sabre event, when she won bronze in the women’s saber team event.
The team defeated Italy 45–30 in the bronze medal match.
Visibly Muslim (due to her hijab), Muhammad became "one of the best symbols against intolerance America can ever have", according to The Guardian in 2016.
Other activities
In 2014, Muhammad and her siblings launched a clothing company, Louella by Ibtihaj, which aims to bring modest fashionable clothing to the United States market.
Muhammad is also a sports ambassador, serving on the U.S. Department of State’s Empowering Women and Girls Through Sport Initiative.
She has traveled to various countries to engage in dialogue on the importance of sports and education.
In 2017, Mattel honored Muhammad as a Barbie “Shero,” a woman who has broken boundaries to inspire the next generation of girls, modeling the first hijabi and fencer Barbie in her likeness.
In 2019, Muhammad was recognized as a Global Ambassador for Special Olympics.
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Books
Muhammad released her debut memoir in 2018 titled
Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream.
She is also the author of a series of children’s books— instant New York Times’ Best-seller The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab & Family (originally published in 2019), The Kindest Red: A Story of Hijab and Friendship (2023), and The Boldest White: A Story of Hijab & Community (2024). Her children's books have been finalists for the Forest of Reading's Blue Spruce Award twice, for
The Proudest Blue in 2021 and
The Kindest Red in 2024.
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Muhammad, Ibtihaj. (2018) Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream.
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Muhammad, Ibtihaj. (2018) (Young Readers Edition) Proud: Living My American Dream.
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Muhammad, Ibtihaj. (2018) The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family.
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Muhammad, Ibtihaj. (2023) The Kindest Red: A Story of Hijab and Friendship. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
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Muhammad, Ibtihaj. (2024) The Boldest White: A Story of Hijab and Community. New York: Little, Brown and Company.
See also
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Muslim women in sport
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List of USFA Division I National Champions
External links
