Sports Envoy
Sports Envoy Program

Sport: Fencing

Nzingha Prescod

Fencing

Served as envoy

  • 2018  –  Algeria

A two-time Olympian and Brooklyn native, Prescod became the first African-American woman to win an individual medal at the Senior World Championships when she took bronze in 2015.

Prescod hails from the well-regarded Peter Westbrook Foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing the art of fencing to the inner-city youth of New York, where she has been fencing since she was nine years old. Prescod displayed an extraordinary talent for the sport at a very young age, winning her first Youth 10 national competition in 2003. By the age of 15, Prescod was ranked in the top five of the Senior division, among the nation’s elite and Olympic women’s foilists. In the same year, 2008, Prescod won her first Cadet (under-17) World Championship and followed up the next year with her second World Championship title. In 2011, she continued her dominance on the world stage with another World Championship win in the Junior (under-20) category. That same year, Prescod was also featured in Essence magazine as part of the Work & Wealth Power List, with First Lady Michelle Obama gracing the cover. Prescod has since been featured in national and international media, most recently being included in the 2016 ESPN Body Issue.

Prescod qualified for the London Olympic Games at just 19 and returned to the pinnacle of fencing competition in Rio at 23 where she finished 11th.

Ibtihaj Muhammad

Fencing

Served as envoy

  • 2013  –  United Kingdom
  • 2013  –  Russia
  • 2021  –  Global
  • 2022  –  Morocco

Ibtihaj Muhammad is an entrepreneur, activist, speaker and Olympic medalist in fencing. A 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, 5-time Senior World medalist and World Champion, in 2016, Ibtihaj became the first American woman to compete in the Olympics in hijab. Ibtihaj was a 3-time All American at Duke University where she graduated with a dual major in International Relations and African Studies. In 2014, Ibtihaj launched her own clothing company, Louella, which aims to bring modest, fashionable and affordable clothing to the United States market. In 2017, Mattel announced their first hijabi Barbie, modeled in Ibtihaj’s likeness, as part of Barbie’s “Shero” line of dolls. The Barbie became available for purchase in July 2018. Ibtihaj released her debut memoir in July 2018, PROUD: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream. Ibtihaj released her third book, children’s picture book, The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab & Family, that became a New York Times’ Best-Seller.

Ibtihaj is a sports ambassador with the U.S. Department of State’s Empowering Women and Girls through Sport Initiative, and works closely with organizations like Athletes for Impact and the Special Olympics. Named to Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential list, Ibtihaj is an important figure in a larger global discussion on equality and the importance of sport. Her voice continues to unite both the sports and non-sports world.