Muhammad Debuts to Make U.S. Olympics History Monday

DURHAM, N.C.—Former Duke All-American fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad will make her 2016 Olympic Fencing debut Monday in the Women's Individual Sabre competition. The preliminary rounds get underway at 8 a.m. (ET), and are scheduled to be aired by NBC Sports Network. The quarterfinals will follow with early round coverage concluding at 12:05 p.m.

The individual sabre semifinals and finals will run from 3-5:35 p.m. (ET). Muhammad also will compete in the team sabre competition Aug. 13. All fencing coverage is scheduled to be aired in some fashion on NBC Sports Network.

A native of New Jersey and 2007 graduate of Duke, Muhammad is Muslim and will be the first U.S. athlete in any sport to compete in hijab at the Olympics. She made history when she earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic fencing roster last winter.

At Duke, Muhammad competed for coach Alex Beguinet's top-notch program her first three years and posted superb results. Her dual match records were 49-8, 38-4 and 40-3. She capped each season by earning All-America honors at the NCAA Championships, with finishes of ninth, 11th and sixth nationally. She also picked up dual degrees in International Relations and African and African American Studies.

Muhammad is currently ranked as the No. 2 sabre fencer in the United States and is No. 8 in the world. She will vie for medals both individually and when she teams up with top U.S. sabre fencer Mariel Zagunis and the rest of the U.S. squad in the team competition.

There will be green and yellow pistes in the individual competition starting Aug. 8 at 8 a.m. Fans also can watch on their mobile device with the NBC Sports app. Stay tuned to find out which piste Muhammad will compete on Monday.

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Muhammad Debuts to Make U.S. Olympics History Monday

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