Ibtihaj Muhammad, an internationally-ranked saber fencer from New Jersey, qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio last weekend, which will make her the first U.S. athlete to compete in the games in hijab.

The points she earned after winning a bronze medal at the Women’s Saber World Cup in Athens, Greece on Saturday have made it mathematically impossible for any other American competitors to surpass her in the rankings ahead of the Olympics.

Muhammad, 30, told BuzzFeed News she started fencing at age 13 in high school and was initially introduced to the sport by her family.

“My parents were looking for a sport for me to play where I wouldn’t have to alter the uniform as a Muslim woman,” she said, referring to the fact that a fencer's uniform requires the body to be completely covered.

Muhammad credits her mother for supporting her, financially and emotionally, throughout her teens. She played more than one sport in high school and said that her mother often drove her from volleyball practice in Maplewood, New Jersey, to fencing training in New York City while she ate dinner in the car.