--- title: Rio Olympics 2016: Ibtihaj Muhammad Should Be US Flagbearer description: Ibtihaj Muhammad, a fencer, represents the best of America, and is a patriotic choice to be its Olympic flag bearer in Rio canonical: https://time.com/4433043/team-usa-should-pick-ibtihaj-muhammad-as-flagbearer-in-rio/ author: Sean Gregory article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-02T15:42:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:41:18.501Z article:section: Sports og:title: Rio Olympics 2016: Ibtihaj Muhammad Should Be US Flagbearer og:description: Muslim-American fencer will be the first US Olympian to compete in a hijab og:url: https://time.com/4433043/team-usa-should-pick-ibtihaj-muhammad-as-flagbearer-in-rio/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7a15c89d2bb7bf1/6988900bab6d77f5046a95c0/ibtihaj-muhammed.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Ibtihaj Muhammad photographed at the Fencer, New York, on feb 9, 2016. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rio Olympics 2016: Ibtihaj Muhammad Should Be US Flagbearer twitter:description: Muslim-American fencer will be the first US Olympian to compete in a hijab twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7a15c89d2bb7bf1/6988900bab6d77f5046a95c0/ibtihaj-muhammed.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Team USA Should Pick Ibtihaj Muhammad as Flagbearer in Rio ## Video: How They Train: Fencing with Sean Gregory [Watch (HLS stream): How They Train: Fencing with Sean Gregory](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TeZ5hoMc.m3u8) (4:45)  _Published 2012-06-28. TIME reporter Sean Gregory visits the Manhattan Fencing Center to get a lesson in what Olympic coach Yury Gelman calls "physical chess"_  by [Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro](/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro Senior Correspondent Aug 2, 2016 3:42 PM CUT  Ibtihaj Muhammad photographed at the Fencer, New York, on feb 9, 2016. Ibtihaj Muhammad photographed at the Fencer, New York, on feb 9, 2016.Daniel Shea for TIME  by [Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro](/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro Senior Correspondent Aug 2, 2016 3:42 PM CUT In theory, the [Olympics](http://time.com/topic/2016-rio-olympics/ "undefined") are a respite from the problems of the real world. More than 10,000 of the world’s greatest athletes gather peacefully in one place to compete, as the International Olympic Committee would have it, in the name of a greater human harmony. To preserve the supposed purity of this break from the messy conflicts beyond the Games, the [Olympic charter](https://www.olympic.org/olympic-studies-centre/collections/official-publications/olympic-charters "undefined") prohibits any “demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda” in Olympic “sites, venues, or areas.” You need not be a cynic to know that this goal is at best impossible, and at worst, a bunch of bunk. As transporting as the Games can be, the world’s broader problems are ever-present. That’s especially true at these [Rio Olympics](http://time.com/4424414/rio-athletes/ "undefined"), where the host nation is in the middle of an economic crisis and a political scandal that could lead to the impeachment of its president, environmental problems threaten a critical sailing venue and a [widespread doping problem](http://time.com/4421019/russia-olympic-doping-report/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") casts doubt on the validity of the results themselves. And then there is America’s presidential election, which took one of its nastiest turns yet when Donald Trump [criticized the parents](http://time.com/4432816/donald-trump-khizr-ghazala-khan/ "undefined") of a Muslin-American army captain killed in Iraq after they appeared at the Democratic National Convention. **(**[**Read More: 60 Athletes to Watch in Rio**](http://time.com/4424414/rio-athletes/ "undefined")**)** When the Rio Olympics kick off Aug. 5, Team USA should choose a flag bearer that offers a rebuttal to the storms brewing beyond the Olympic Village, not merely an escape. For that, the U.S. should pick [Ibtihaj Muhammad](http://time.com/fencer/ "undefined"), a Muslim-American fencer who will be the first American Olympian to compete in a hijab. [Muhammad](http://time.com/4301357/ibtihaj-muhammad-2016-time-100/ "undefined") represents the best of the nation. The daughter of a teacher and a police officer raised in Maplewood, N.J., she took up fencing in the eighth grade, in part because the body-length uniform accommodated her Muslim beliefs. She became an All-American in the sport at Duke, where she graduated with degrees in International Relations and African and African-American studies. And she’s an entrepreneur, founding the modest-fashion label Louella to broaden the offerings available to Muslim women. **(**[**Read more: A New Face For Team USA**](http://time.com/fencer/ "undefined")**)** Nor is Muhammad afraid to speak out in defense of her beliefs. After Trump called for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. late last year, Muhammad told TIME: “When you incite hateful speech and rhetoric like that, the people who say it never think about the repercussions and how that affects Muslims. Specifically Muslim women who wear their religion every single day. So then you start to think, Am I going to be safe?” Like many of her American teammates, Muhammad is an inspiration to countless people. But choosing her as a flag bearer is a chance to signal something even greater about what America stands for. It would be a win for all Americans––and Team USA’s first of the 2016 Olympic Games. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4433043/team-usa-should-pick-ibtihaj-muhammad-as-flagbearer-in-rio/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4433043/team-usa-should-pick-ibtihaj-muhammad-as-flagbearer-in-rio/"},"headline":"Team USA Should Pick Ibtihaj Muhammad as Flagbearer in Rio","datePublished":"2016-08-02T15:42:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:41:18.501Z","description":"The American fencer is an athlete for this moment","url":"https://time.com/4433043/team-usa-should-pick-ibtihaj-muhammad-as-flagbearer-in-rio/","keywords":["Team USA","Summer Olympics","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7a15c89d2bb7bf1/6988900bab6d77f5046a95c0/ibtihaj-muhammed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7a15c89d2bb7bf1/6988900bab6d77f5046a95c0/ibtihaj-muhammed.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ibtihaj Muhammad photographed at the Fencer, New York, on feb 9, 2016.","caption":"ibtihaj muhammed","creditText":"Daniel Shea for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4433043/team-usa-should-pick-ibtihaj-muhammad-as-flagbearer-in-rio/","name":"Team USA Should Pick Ibtihaj Muhammad as Flagbearer in Rio"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How They Train: Fencing with Sean Gregory","description":"TIME reporter Sean Gregory visits the Manhattan Fencing Center to get a lesson in what Olympic coach Yury Gelman calls \"physical chess\"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/TeZ5hoMc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2012-06-28T17:34:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TeZ5hoMc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4433043/team-usa-should-pick-ibtihaj-muhammad-as-flagbearer-in-rio/","duration":"PT4M45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4433043/team-usa-should-pick-ibtihaj-muhammad-as-flagbearer-in-rio/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```