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Ibtihaj Muhammad and Jen Welter on breaking barriers: ‘Don’t let society confine you to a box’

The athletes discuss keeping the ‘door open’ for others

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May 15, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. EDT

At the United State of Women summit in Los Angeles, we asked Ibtihaj Muhammad and Jen Welter to sit down for a conversation about breaking barriers in sports.

Ibtihaj Muhammad is an American fencer who rose to fame during the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she became the first U.S. Olympian to compete, and win a medal, while wearing hijab. Jen Welter is a football player and coach who made history when she became the first female coach in the NFL in 2015.

In the video below, they talk role models, setting precedents, approaches to failure and breaking the mold of societal pressures.

The Olympic fencer and football coach sat down with The Lily at the United State of Women summit to talk about the barriers they broke in athletics. (Video: Maya Sugarman/The Washington Post)