Ibtihaj Muhammad - The Sage
FENCING - U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM - BRONZE MEDALIST
ARCHETYPE: THE SAGE
Day 25/135
Athletic Accomplishments
You may recognize Ibtihaj Muhammad from the 2016 Olympic Games, where she became the first athlete to compete in a hijab for Team USA, and the first Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal in the United States.
She is ranked No. 7 in the world in the sport of sabre fencing, and No. 2 on the U.S. team. But let’s just do a quick rundown of her accomplishments thus far:
3x NCAA All-American
2005 Junior Olympic Champion
5x World Medalist (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015)
19x World Cup Medalist
2x National Champion (2009, 2017)
2014 World Champion (Team Sabre)
2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist
Muhammad’s athletic accomplishments are undeniable, but they’re not even the reason she was named to TIME Magazine’s ‘100 Most Influential People in the World’ in 2016. You may recall a particularly contentious presidential campaign in the summer of 2016—where former President Donald Trump frequently used anti-Muslim messaging—at the same time that Muhammad came to our national attention. She used her position and platform to affect social change, talking openly about the challenges of being Muslim in America, while advocating for tolerance, kindness, and advocating for equality in sport and beyond.
Since then, Muhammad has remained a visible and outspoken leader on issues of inclusivity and tolerance. She wrote three books in 2018, started a modest fashion line called Louella, and served as a sports ambassador for the U.S. State Department’s Empowering Women and Girls Through Sport Initiative.
Character Archetype: The Sage
Ibtihaj Muhammad is more than just “the fencer who wears the hijab.” Her Muslim faith is not a gimmick, and her fencing career is not some publicity stunt. She’s an Olympic bronze medalist, the No. 7 ranked fencer in the world, a proud Muslim, and a super charismatic personality. Those things can all happen simultaneously.
But Muhammad IS more than an athlete. She is a self-proclaimed change agent, whose work and advocacy are helping to change the game and perceptions of what a fencer or an American athlete looks like.
As the first American Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal, and the first American Olympian to compete in a hijab, Muhammad has had to face a lot of misconceptions, confused looks, and discrimination. She continues to work toward changing those perceptions—as an ambassador with the State Department’s Empowering Women and Girls Through Sport Initiative, as the face of Nike’s PROHIJAB line, and with a Barbie made in her likeness.
As “the first” in many categories, Muhammad knows how if feels to look and feel different from other competitors. And she’s working hard to clear a path, to make it easier for the next generation of girls to find their power through sport, no matter what they wear, worship, or play.