Millburn-Short Hills Magazine Spring 2018 | Page 29

Q & A
6 Things You Didn’t Know About
IBTIHAJ MUHAMMAD
The athlete, activist and role model has written the story of her life… so far
WRITTEN BY CINDY SCHWEICH HANDLER
LOCAL HEROINE Maplewood native Ibtihaj Muhammad waves after receiving the “Breaking Barriers Award” from the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, New Jersey chapter.
M
aplewood native Ibtihaj Muhammad, 32, has broken a lot of barriers since taking up fencing at
age 13. At the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, she became the first female Muslim-American athlete
to win an Olympic medal — a bronze, as part of the U.S. women’s team sabre competition. And she
did this as the first Muslim-American woman to compete in the Olympics while wearing a hijab. That
year, Time Magazine named her to its “100 Most Influential People” list. Now her memoir, Proud:
An American Story of Faith, Family and Olympic Glory, is scheduled for publication this summer.
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MILLBURN & SHORT HILLS MAGAZINE SPRING 2018
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