HER FAMILY’ S FAITH INFORMED HER CHOICE OF SPORT Muhammad’ s mother and father were born in the United States, and converted to Islam. As a child, she competed in softball, tennis, volleyball and track, but fencing appealed to her parents because participants wear full-body suits and helmets that cover their hair, in keeping with the practice of some Muslim women.

SHE SHOWED GREAT PROMISE AS A TEEN FENCER While still in high school, Muhammad became involved in the Peter Westbrook Foundation, a program that teaches young people in underserved communities how to develop life skills through fencing. She trained in their Elite Athletic Program in New York City.

SHE ISN’ T THE ONLY FENCER IN HER FAMILY Her sister Faizah, who is six years younger, finished 15th in the USA National Fencing Division 1 championships in women’ s sabre; she won the individual New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association sabre championship in 2009 and 2010, when she also took second place in the Junior Olympics.

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NOT ONLY DOES SHE WEAR MODEST CLOTHING, SHE DESIGNS IT In 2014, Muhammad launched the clothing line Louella with her siblings. She designs the line of flowing, brightly-colored dresses, tops, jumpsuits and pants, including the“ Modesty” sweatshirt that bears the expression“ Everything is Better in Hijab.”

WHILE SHE NEVER HAD TO DEFEND HER RIGHT TO WEAR A HIJAB DURING THE OLYMPICS, SHE HAD A HARD TIME AT SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST. Before the 2016 Olympics, Muhammad was scheduled to speak on a panel at SXSW in Austin, but a volunteer insisted that she had to remove her hijab for her photo ID. Eventually she was given a badge, though with a different Muhammad’ s name on it.

MATTEL CREATED A HIJAB-WEARING BARBIE IN HER IMAGE The new addition to the Barbie“ Shero” line was created last winter.“ I’ m proud to know that little girls everywhere can now play with a Barbie who chooses to wear a hijab!” Muhammad wrote on Instagram.“ This is a childhood dream come true.” The Barbie should be available to the public some time this year. ■

TOUCHÉ( From top) Muhammad( on the right) competed against Ukraine’ s Olena Kravaska in aqualifying bout at the Rio Games; on the podium with the U. S. women’ s sabre team at the 2014 World Fencing Championships; at Glamour’ s 2017 Women of the Year Awards.

TOP TO BOTTOM: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP / GETTY IMAGES; VASILY MAXIMOV / AFP / GETTY IMAGES; ANGELA WEISS / AFP / GETTY IMAGES