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In just two days, the eyes of the world will be on rio de janeiro for the 2016 summer olympics. but one american athlete is already making history. cnns special correspondent jamie gangel spoke with a muslim-american fencer about her olympic moment and so much more. >> reporter: under that star spangled mask lies a fierce competitor. whos lightning fast with a ferocious yell. >> i enjoy having to chase my opponent down the strip in order to score a point. >> reporter: but the 30-year-old is no o...

I was born here. weve, you know, ive grown up in jersey. all my familys from jersey. its, like, well, where do we go. im hopeful in my efforts, you know, to represent our country well as an athlete that they change the rhetoric around, you know, how people think and perceive the muslim community. >> reporter: thats one of the reasons she was invited to the islamic center of baltimore this year for president obamas visit. >> i told her to bring home the gold. >> reporter: and much to her surprise...

Frustrating. >> reporter: the correspondent political environment also frustrates muhammad, driving her to do something most olympic athletes usually avoid, talking politics. specifically shes taken on republican presidential nominee donald trump. >> donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states. >> reporter: starting with his call in december for a temporary ban on muslims entering the u.s. tweeting friends dont let friends like trump. i say ...

Life forever. >> they had on long pants, they had on long jackets, and they had these masks on, and i clearly remember my mom saying, you know, i have no idea what that is, but when you get to high school, i want you to try it out. >> she did, with huge success. >> there was the first time in my athletic career that i could remember, you know, being seen solely for my skill set. >> muhammad went on to compete at duke, a three-time all american. and win gold as part of team usa in the 2014 world ...

Shoots, and lucrative endorsements. im focused on preparation. train, train, train. yeah. and hopefully, gold. i always say that if im blessed to win a medal this summer, that it will be icing on the cake. good luck to her. jamie, to ibtihaj, we heard her concerns about donald trump, has she weighed in or kmenltcomment his feud with the kahn family. we reached out to her and she said she is training, wbr-id "wbr70470" didnt want to get involved. but she really is worried ...

Made, no wbr id "wbr69610" one things about how they really affect people. im african-american. i dont have another home to go to. my family was born here. i was born here. weve, you know, ive grown-up in jersey. where do we go. im hopeful that in my efforts, you know, to represent our country well as an athlete, that they change the rhetoric around, you know, how people think and perceive the muslim community. thats one of the reasons she was invited to the islamic center of baltimore thi...

Community. >> reporter: thats one of the reasons she was invited to the islamic center of baltimore this year for president obamas visit. >> i told her bring home the gold! >> reporter: and much to her surprise, being different has now made her one of the celebrities of the u.s. olympic team. with a stream of profiles, photo shoots, and lucrative endorsements. >> im soley focusing on just preparation. >> train, train, train. >> train, train, train. yeah. >> and hopefully, gold. >> i always say t...

Rio for the 2016 summer games. we have just learned that record breaking swimmer, michael phelps will be the flag bearer on friday, as if he needs more honors at this point. but before the competition begins, one u.s. athlete is already making history. cnn special correspondent, spoke with the fencer about to make history, jamie. >> you didnt say her name, did you? >> i left it for you. >> okay. so we spoke to ibtihaj muhammad and for any athlete, it is a long road to the olympics. for her, ther...

All-american. and win gold as part of team usa in the 2014 world. fencing championships. but she couldnt change how people looked at her off the fencing strip. >> when you walk down the street, when you travel, when you go through tsa, what is your reality? >> nightmare. i mean tsa is a nightmare. im sure it is a nightmare for everyone. almost randomly selected for a special search. always. >> always randomly. >> always randomly selected for like special screening. when you travel as much as i d...

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