First American Olympian to wear hijab loses competition, but has already made history

Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American athlete to compete in the Olympics while wearing a hijab, won her first two bouts before being eliminated from individual competition on Monday afternoon.

Muhammad won her first two matches in women's individual saber before being knocked out by France's Cecilia Berder, 15-12, in the Round of 16.

But her medal hopes remain alive thanks to the team competition, which will kick off on Saturday, Aug. 13, when the United States takes on Poland in the quarterfinals of the women's team saber competition. Muhammad is part of the U.S. team alongside Mariel Zagunis and Dagmara Wozniak.

Besides being part of the State Department's initiative to empower women and girls through athletics, Muhammad has utilized her increased profile to rebut the words of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump and his proposed ban of Muslim immigration.

Speaking to CNN last week, she called his rhetoric "dangerous," and added, "When these types of comments are made, no one thinks about how they really affect people. I'm African American. I don’t have another home to go to. My family was born here. I was born here. I’ve grown up in Jersey. All my family’s from Jersey. It’s like, well, where do we go?"

Despite her loss Monday, Muhammad's victories remain a historic milestone for the U.S. Olympic Team.

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Editor's Note: A previous headline on this story stated that Ibtihaj Muhammad was the first athlete to compete in the Olympics while wearing a hijab. That is incorrect. She is the first American Olympian to do so.