Nike : Pro Hijab Goes Global

New Jersey-native Ibtihaj Muhammad, a Nike athlete and champion fencer, has been carded for false starting many times. 'First, I'd get a warning and then a point against me…I can't tell you how many times that happened,' she says. 'And I'd tell the referee, 'Oh, I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you.''

That's because Muhammad, who earned a bronze medal in Rio in 2016 for Team USA, typically competed in a children's hijab that was made of a doubled georgette material. 'When the material is wet, it gets really heavy and stiff,' she says, describing what it felt like to sweat with her hijab on. 'It would completely obstruct my hearing.'

Beyond that, the garment didn't interact well with her uniform. Her hijab tied in the back, she pinned the front portion under her chin, then she'd tuck the extra fabric under her sports bra straps so it would stay in place under her mask. 'I know that's hard to envision, but that's what I wore for literally my entire athletic career,' she says.

Needless to say, wearing a traditional hijab for competition was less than ideal. But Muhammad and other athletes haven't had much of a choice. Finding a hijab that worked well for a particular sport was a major challenge. 'I remember I only had a few that I used for training and hadn't been able to find that particular style anymore,' says Muhammad. On top of that, hijabs weren't fully understood. 'When I was in school, I always had to have a letter from a local imam that said that it was safe for me to wear my religious covering during sport,' she says. 'My coaches had to have that with them at all times.'