Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad shares her story at book signing in hometown of Maplewood

Joshua Jongsma | NorthJersey

Show Caption Hide Caption Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad book signing in Maplewood Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad came to her hometown of Maplewood July 25, 2018 to discuss her book, "Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream."

MAPLEWOOD — Ibtihaj Muhammad has traveled the world as an Olympic athlete, but returning home can still bring her excitement.

Maplewood helped make Muhammad, a renowned fencer, who she is as an athlete and a person. She's always felt welcome in her hometown — Maplewood declared a “Ibtihaj Muhammad Day” in 2016 — but not everyone has been so kind.

Muhammad's trials and tribulations as the first Muslim American to wear a hijab while competing for the United States in the Olympics helped inspire her new book, "Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream." A crowd of more than 100 people filled the basement of Words Bookstore Wednesday to learn more of Muhammad's story.

Seeing Muhammad's success can serve as an inspiration to other Muslims, said Sana Shahmehdi of Mendham.

"It’s nice to have a positive role model to be like, OK there is good in the world, and then they can see that within themselves," said Shahmehdi, who brought her young daughter to the book signing.

Muhammad, 32, read an excerpt from her book describing a teacher making her feel self-conscience about her name. She still considers Maplewood a place of inclusiveness and diversity, though.

"I feel like I learned that here first," she said.

Muhammad took up fencing at Columbia High School and then at Duke University. She competed in the 2016 Olympics for the United States in Rio de Janiero and won a bronze medal. On Wednesday, she recalled first learning about qualifying for the Olympics from a Google alert.

She also helped inspire the first Barbie wearing a hijab.

As a predominantly white sport, fencing was one of the first times Muhammad said she noticed how her religion and color of her skin changed the way people treated her. The culture at Columbia High School helped.

"It really created this family environment," she said. "It helped that we always won."

At college, she noticed a lack of diversity, and her background may have hurt her in the job market after graduation, she said. Muhammad said she's never been one to care what people think though.

Satya Narisety of Livingston brought her children to the event to show them someone who tried something different than what was expected of them, but stayed true to themselves.

"It’s important to know about people that overcame odds," Narisety said, "and did things that are outside the norm and defied what has been traditionally thought of as a sport just for one demographic."

Ibtihaj Muhammad: Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad returns home to fanfare in Maplewood

More: N.J. fencer, first U.S. Olympian to compete in hijab, gets her own Barbie doll

Email: jongsma@northjersey.com