First US athlete to compete at olympics wearing a hijab wins bronze in fencing

Rasa - Ibtihaj Muhammad won her first Olympic medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday, August 13 — but that wasn’t her only first!

News ID: 422701

Date: 14 August 2016 - 18:23

RNA‌ - A moment she’ll never forget. Ibtihaj Muhammad won her first Olympic medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Saturday, August 13 — but that wasn’t her only first!

The 30-year-old athlete became the first U.S. athlete to compete at the Olympic Games wearing a hijab.

Muhammad took home the bronze medal with Team USA during the women’s team saber fencing event on Saturday. She competed with fellow fencers Dagmara Wozniak, Mariel Zagunis and Monica Aksamit to defeat the Italian team 45-30. (The last time the U.S. women’s fencing team won a medal was at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.)

Prior to joining the national fencing team in 2010, Muhammad was a three-time All-American and 2005 Junior Olympic Champion at Duke University. She graduated from the school in 2007 with a double major in international relations and African American studies.

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