This is about a Muslim. Named Muhammad. In a head covering. Armed with a long scary blade. It’s all good.

When she was a kid in New Jersey, this girl was quite unlike the other suburban children. For one thing, her first name is Ibtihaj. Her family didn’t attend a church or a synagogue; they attended a mosque. And every day, she went to school dressed in a traditional head scarf, called a hijab, which could be a bit of a limitation when playing sports. At the very least, it certainly marked her as unique.

When she was 13, Ibtihaj was shocked when she came across a bunch of kids, dressed head-to-toe in canvas suits and wearing full helmets, attacking each other with swords. It was the school fencing team, and Ibtihaj immediately realized that by participating, she would be able to completely blend in and be judged by nothing other than her skills and her dedication. When she told her family about it, her mother was completely supportive.

Ibtihaj proved to be a good fencer. A really good fencer. She started out in the Epee competition but quickly switched over to Sabre. In high school she was twice team captain and twice led them to the state championship. At Duke University, she was a three-time All-American and the 2005 Junior Olympic Champion. She was also a cabinet member of the Muslim Student Association and a mentor in the African American Student Association. After college, she continued her rise through the sport. She has been US national champion in Sabre three times, a member of the bronze-winning US team at the 2011 and 2012 World Championships, and a member of the gold-medal US team in 2014.

On Saturday, January 31, 2016, Ibtihaj captured Bronze at the Women’s Sabre World Cup. Which, in turn, gained her a spot on the 2016 US Olympic Team. Her reaction: “I want to compete in the Olympics for the United States to prove that nothing should hinder anyone from reaching their goals — not race, religion or gender. I want to set an example that anything is possible with perseverance.”

Indeed. This summer, when the American team walks into the stadium in Rio, she we will be among them.  And, with her Sabre helmet off, she will be very hard to miss.

Ibtihaj Muhammad will be the first US Olympian to compete dressed in a hijab.