U.S. Athlete to Compete in Hijab at Olympics.
CURNOW: Welcome back. A U.S. fencer heading for the Olympics is already making history. Ibtihaj Muhammad will be the first American athlete to compete in the games wearing a hijab. U.S. President Barack Obama gave the New Jersey native a shoutout this week when he spoke at a U.S. mosque.</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Team USA marches into the next Olympics, one of the Americans waving the red, white and blue will be a fencing champion wearing her hijab, Ibtihaj Muhammad, who is here today. Stand up. Come on.</s>OBAMA: There we go. I told her to bring home the gold.</s>CURNOW: Well, Ibtihaj joins me now from New York. Talk about pressure. He told you to bring home the gold. I know you had a conversation with him afterwards. What did you say to him?</s>IBTIHAJ MUHAMMAD, U.S. OLYMPICS ATHLETE: I mean, obviously, just in awe that the president is so supportive of me as an athlete. So I told him that's the plan. Hopefully gold in Rio this summer.</s>CURNOW: You're the first U.S. Olympic athlete to wear a hijab. How does all this attention sit with you? You're not just competing. You're also being called on to be a leader on an issue at a sensitive time.</s>MUHAMMAD: I mean, it means a lot to me to be able to represent the United States and be an ambassador, not just to the sport but also to our country and show the diversity. And one of the special things that I hold near and dear to my heart, being an American, is how diverse our community and our society is.</s>CURNOW: You say that but of course all of us, no one can ignore the rhetoric coming out of the Republican presidential race particularly.</s>CURNOW: What did you think when you heard Donald Trump saying that the U.S. should ban all Muslims from coming into the country?</s>MUHAMMAD: When I first heard Donald Trump's statement, my first concern was, am I going to be able to get to my next Olympic qualifier? And honestly, that was my major concern. Traveling and representing the United States as an athlete is something that is not something you do or I have been doing for a few months; I've been doing it for years. And it's such a large part of my life. And competing at the Olympic Games is like the pinnacle of elite athletes' careers. So it was really important to me to be able to not just get to my competition and compete but also be able to get there without the fear of hatemongering or the fear of bigots or anyone feeling that they wanted to take out their anger on me in any physical way.</s>CURNOW: There's that concern. I mean, you have said that you are fearful that there could be more hate crimes in the U.S., particularly because of the very poisonous nature of this conversation.</s>MUHAMMAD: That's a major concern and not just with me as an athlete but I know that it's a trending theme amongst American Muslims all over the country. People are afraid to be who they are and are afraid to live their lives, which, in most cases, are very ordinary lives. And I think that that was addressed by the president in his speech that he made a few days ago. And as a concerned American citizen, I appreciate that.</s>CURNOW: I've read that you were inspired by the Williams sisters. You're now an inspiration to many young American Muslim children. What would you say to them?</s>MUHAMMAD: To really believe in themselves and believe that they can do anything with perseverance and hard work. I remember as a kid people telling me that black people didn't fence. I remember people telling me that Muslims didn't fence. And without that belief and that drive in having strong athletes like Muhammad Ali or like Serena and Venus, without having strong people to look up to when I was a kid and to really face diversity head on, I wouldn't be where I am today. So I'm really appreciative of that.</s>CURNOW: Beyond the U.S., the ban on wearing a hijab while playing sport has been lifted across many, many sports. I know FIFA lifted the ban, I think, in 2007. How much of a difference has that made? Obviously, huge. But also I understand from literally a garment wearing perspective, there's a sports hijab and that's also made it easier.</s>MUHAMMAD: Yes, so I know FIFA lifted their ban. FIBA as well lifted their ban on the hijab. I know for myself I kind of sought out -- my parents sought out fencing for me because the hijab didn't hinder me from participating in the sport in any way and also I could be fully covered without having to alter the uniform. I think it's definitely a step in the right direction to have large organizations like FIFA and FIBA lift their bans on hijab.</s>CURNOW: OK. Ibtihaj Muhammad, thanks so much for ginning us. Good luck.</s>MUHAMMAD: Thank you. Thank you so much.</s>CURNOW: Well, that's all for me, Robyn Curnow, here at the CNN Center. There'll be much more sport coming up with Christina Macfarlane after the break. END