Hijab-wearing fencer wins bronze for US

RIO DE JANEIRO: Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad came to the Rio Games determined to show the world that Muslim-American women could compete in elite sports.

RIO DE JANEIRO: Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad came to the Rio Games determined to show the world that Muslim-American women could compete in elite sports.

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And the 30-year-old from New Jersey, the first US Olympian to wear a hijab — a headscarf worn by Muslim women — during competition, came away with a bronze medal on Saturday in the women’s team sabre event.

The four-woman US team — which also included double Olympic champion Dagmara Wozniak, Mariel Zagunis and Monica Aksamit — beat Italy 45-30 to seal third place and the first women’s medal in fencing for the Americans in Rio.

“This has been a long journey for us,” said Muhammad. “This is six years in the making. “I’ll never forget this moment. “We’ve worked so hard for this, and to be able to compete at the level that we’ve worked towards, on the world’s biggest stage at the Olympic Games, is truly a blessing for us.”