Talks at GS: Ibtihaj Muhammad on Making History in Hijab

Above (L to R): Katie Koch of Goldman Sachs and Olympian Ibtihaj Muhammad

August 21, 2018//-Growing up in a working-class, Muslim-American family in suburban New Jersey, professional fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad played several sports as a way to stay busy after school, but when she discovered fencing at age 12, something clicked.

 “It was this sport that uniquely accommodated my religious beliefs [with a full-coverage uniform],” she said during a recent episode of Talks at GS, “but it also allowed me to be active and be an athlete.”

Muhammad earned a spot on the varsity fencing team at Duke University and ultimately the US Olympic team, where she became the first US Olympian to compete in hijab and the first Muslim-American woman to medal at the Olympics.

“I saw very early on in my career as a US athlete that you have the power to change minds just in being present,” she said of her experience on the national team. “Just existing as myself — as an athlete who wears hijab — I’m changing the way people see my community.”

Goldman Sachs

 

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