Maplewood, NJ - Ibtihaj Muhammad not only competes for a spot on the U.S. Women’s Olympic team as a sabre fencer, she is also vying to make history, as most likely the first U.S. representative wearing a headscarf in the games. It’s not a role she set out to play, but after struggling with the attention that her hijab has brought her over the years, she’s game.

“I think my motto in this whole experience is that sports is something you can do in hijab, and you shouldn’t let your faith compromise how athletically gifted you become. Just like race or gender, religion should not hinder you from achieving your goals,” said Ibtihaj, 25.

It’s a powerful message and one she is being asked to deliver with increasing frequency these days. Since the press caught wind of her potential history-making appearance at the Olympics, she’s been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, Essence magazine, ESPN.com, and even invited to the join Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a Ramadan celebration.  Though the Olympic Committee does not collect demographic data, it is widely believed that she would be the first Muslim woman in hijab to represent the United States at the games in any sport, a statement that has not been disputed according to USA Fencing Communications Manager Nicole Jomantas.

Ibtihaj and I were classmates together at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. We had one of the largest fencing programs in the nation, and I also tried it,  but moved on to the literary magazine and drama club after my freshman year. Ibtihaj stuck with athletics. When I read about her Olympic aspiration I was intrigued, but not surprised: Ibtihaj has always been determined and confident, in the classroom or on the fencing strip.

Ibtihaj also hoped fencing would help her get her into a good college, and she was right. She studied African American studies, international relations and Arabic at Duke University, and fenced her first three years. But going from a diverse high school where she was one of a handful of African American fencers to a college where she was the only one was difficult. In high school she sometimes felt discriminated against by the odd referee and occasionally received unwanted attention for her scarf, but she always had plenty of African American and Muslim friends by her side. Now she was on her own in many situations.