

WASHINGTON: The heat of controversial travel ban announced by President Donald Trump is being felt even by Muslim citizens of the United States, as the first female Muslim American to medal for the country in the Olympics, claimed she was detained at U.S. Customs for two hours without explanation.

Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, who is a native of Maplewood, New Jersey, said she didn’t know as to why she was held back, adding she is sure the move was a result of her ethnicity.

“I don’t know why,” she told the web site Popsugar during a speaking engagement at the MAKERS Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.

“I can’t tell you why it happened to me, but I know that I’m Muslim. I have an Arabic name. And even though I represent Team USA and I have that Olympic hardware, it doesn’t change how you look and how people perceive you.”

It should be mentioned here that Ibtihaj Muhammad won bronze in team sabre at the Rio Olympics last year.

Having been graduated from Duke, the Olympian was also the first American to compete in an Olympics wearing a hijab.