Ibtihaj Muhammad
Chose fencing because its uniform let her compete in hijab, then became an Olympic medallist
Ibtihaj Muhammad grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey, one of six children in a devout Muslim family. As a girl she tried swimming, volleyball, tennis and softball, but the standard uniforms for each sport exposed her arms and legs in ways that did not fit her family's religious observance, which called for her to keep them covered. Her mother, driving past a local high school one day, noticed a fencing team practising in uniforms that already covered the body from head to foot and suggested she try it.
She began fencing at 13 through the Peter Westbrook Foundation, a programme set up specifically to bring the sport to young people, often from minority and low-income backgrounds, who would otherwise never encounter it. She excelled at sabre, reaching the US national team and eventually the world's top ranking in her weapon.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics she became the first American athlete to compete at the Games wearing a hijab, and won bronze as part of the women's sabre team event, making her the first American Muslim woman to win an Olympic medal in any sport. The achievement made her a prominent public figure at a moment when Muslim Americans faced intense political scrutiny, and she used the platform to speak about representation and discrimination she had faced growing up.
She later wrote a memoir about her path to the Olympics and started a modest fashion business, remaining an outspoken advocate for inclusion in sport after retiring from competition.