In her Olympic debut at the Rio 2016 games, Ibtihaj Muhammad made history. Not only did she become the first U.S. athlete to compete at the Olympics in a hijab, but also, the first American woman to win a medal at the Olympics while wearing the religious head scarf. The 30-year-old resident of Mapletown, New Jersey apparently owes a lot of her success to her community. Days before competing, she thanked her hometown and her family for its support and encouragement. Members from Muhammad’s community took various initiatives to see to it that their girl will have nothing stopping her on her road to success. Notably, campaigns like the GoFundMe campaign were started to raise money to get her and her family to Rio. Muhammed has been using the Olympic platform to confront negative stereotypes and misconceptions about Muslims in America. She is also a sports ambassador serving with the U.S. State Department’s Empowering Women and Girls Through Sport Initiative. She hopes to keep breaking race, gender and religious barriers with her success.
We’ve had some stellar Jersey athletes representing the Garden State in Rio. So how have they done?
Eight medals will be coming home to Jersey: three golds, three silvers, and two bronze!
But when a men's sport gets to own a day of the week, while the only channels playing women's basketball were up in the children-shouldn't-wander-alone upper territory of TV listings, the message was pretty clear: Women's sports are, at best, marginal. Male athletes were the only ones worth watching, worth talking about, worth buying jerseys for. The women who I could look up to and aspire to emulate, well, those ladies couldn't hang with the big guys. And by extension, neither could I.
But on August 5, Team USA marched into Maracanã Stadium, with 292 female athletes, outnumbering their 262 male counterparts. They make up the largest group of female Olympians (at an Olympic Games that has more female athletes than any previous one) and are a force to be reckoned with. We've come along way from staying up late to catch highlights of the WNBA games.
We’ve had some stellar Jersey athletes representing the Garden State in Rio. So how have they done?
Eight medals will be coming home to Jersey: three golds, three silvers, and two bronze!
But when a men's sport gets to own a day of the week, while the only channels playing women's basketball were up in the children-shouldn't-wander-alone upper territory of TV listings, the message was pretty clear: Women's sports are, at best, marginal. Male athletes were the only ones worth watching, worth talking about, worth buying jerseys for. The women who I could look up to and aspire to emulate, well, those ladies couldn't hang with the big guys. And by extension, neither could I.
But on August 5, Team USA marched into Maracanã Stadium, with 292 female athletes, outnumbering their 262 male counterparts. They make up the largest group of female Olympians (at an Olympic Games that has more female athletes than any previous one) and are a force to be reckoned with. We've come along way from staying up late to catch highlights of the WNBA games.
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