The third day of the Rio Games featured a first: fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad made history Monday by becoming the first American to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab.
Muhammad, sporting a plain black Muslim head scarf under a red, white and blue mask, was a winner in her opening bout in the women’s sabre tournament, beating Olena Kravatska of Ukraine 15-13 before losing in the next round to Ceclia Berder of France.
Muhammad, a New Jersey native who started fencing in part because the uniform allowed her to adhere to the tenets of her faith, also competes in the team event later this week.
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro called for residents to carpool Monday, the first workday during the Olympics competition schedule that features medal action in gymnastics, swimming, fencing, women’s rugby, judo and more. In early action, the US women’s basketball team routed Spain 103-63, its 43rd consecutive victory in the Olympics.
A day after adding a record 19th gold medal to his collection, Michael Phelps swam in preliminaries of the men’s 200-meter butterfly, where he holds the Olympic record, and fellow American Katie Ledecky is focusing on the women’s 200 meter freestyle. She crushed her own world record in the 400 freestyle Sunday night, touching nearly 5 seconds ahead of her closest pursuer.
