Ibtihaj Muhammad at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics became the first American athlete to ever wear a hijab while competing. Muhammad secured a bronze medal fencing with Team USA at the 2016 Games.
Now the first-class athlete can tick off another “first” on her bucket list, since she has become the inspiration for Barbie’s newest “Shero” doll, and a doll that is the first in the company’s almost-60-year history to wear a hijab.
According to BuzzFeed, the doll was unveiled at Glamour’s Woman of the Year Summit on Nov. 13 and is but the latest addition to the Shero line, which is inspired by and modeled after real-life women like queen and film director Ava DuVernay.
When Muhammad is not busy, you know, winning Olympic medals and modeling for her own Barbie doll, she is busy running her own fashion line, Louella, which “bring[s] modest, fashion-forward clothing to the world.”
“Barbie is celebrating Ibtihaj not only for her accolades as an Olympian, but for embracing what makes her stand out,” Sejal Shal Miller, Barbie’s vice president of Global Marketing, said in a press release. “Ibtihaj is an inspiration to countless girls who never saw themselves represented, and by honoring her story, we hope this doll reminds them that they can be and do anything.”
“Through playing with Barbie, I was able to imagine and dream about who I could become,” Muhammad said in the same release. “I love that my relationship with Barbie has come full circle, and now I have my own doll wearing a hijab that the next generation of girls can use to play out their own dreams.”
Read more at BuzzFeed.