These Badass Muslim Athletes Are Breaking Barriers and Stigmas All Over the World

We watched Shirin break records and change history as she became the first Iranian woman to finish the Kona Ironman Triathlon Championships. Though she doesn't typically wear a hijab, she did so during this grueling athletic event to meet Iran's national standards for women, all in hopes she could set a precedent for women coming after her.

Canada's Zehra is a certified trainer and fitness instructor and will stun you with her insane lifting, beautiful sport photos, and healthy recipes.

You likely remember Ibtihaj from this past Summer's Olympic games in Rio, as she became the first Muslim woman to represent team USA in a hijab and went on to become the first Muslim female medalist in Olympic history. She is currently on the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition.

Team USA's 2016 Olympic gold medalist Dalilah Muhammad had a surreal 2016. The track and field star took the gold for 400-meter hurdles and set a 2016 Olympic record with her sub 53-second finish. Her parents credit her faith and her discipline for her success.

The brains (and muscle) behind the blog Lifting Covered, Kulsoom is a Pakistani-American competitive Olympic weightlifter and is CrossFit Level I certified. She's also a computer engineer, because why not (she literally has a doctorate in it).

This two-time Olympic swimmer from Kuwait is known as "Faye Dolphin." Twenty-two-year-old Faye is the first female swimmer to represent Kuwait at the Olympics and is encouraging Kuwaiti girls to get involved in sports.

Talk about kicking ass — Majlinda is from Kosovo and a competitive judoka. This martial artist took home gold at the Rio Olympics last year, is a two-time world champion, and has multiple European championships under her belt.

Fatma is a professional tennis player from Oman and the third generation of tennis players in her family. She has won four singles and four doubles titles and loves sharing positive messages on her Instagram.

Zahra is the first international figure skater from the United Arab Emirates and a three-time national champion. Her new goal is to make it into the 2018 Winter Olympics, and if she does (which is likely), she will be the first athlete from the UAE to compete in the Winter Games . . . ever.

Egyptian weightlifter Sara Ahmed was the first Arab woman to win an Olympic medal in weightlifting this past year in Rio. She wore a sports hijab and said, "I hope it will encourage other girls to take up the sport. A new weightlifting generation can be born, a new beginning."

Pro Iranian snowboarder Mona is the first Iranian woman to compete in the Freeride World Qualifiers, in addition to being the first Middle Eastern snowboarder.

If you watched the Summer Olympics for gymnastics, you're already familiar with the Russian powerhouse Aliya Mustafina, who gave Team USA a real run for their money, taking home gold in the uneven bars. She's a 16-time gold medalist (two of those are from two different Olympics), with 11 silver and 11 bronze medals from Olympic Games, World Championships, European Games, and European Championships.

Raha Moharrak is the youngest Arab and the first Saudi woman to summit Mount Everest — which is impressive enough of a feat in itself, especially when you consider that she's also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Vinson, Mount Elbrus, Aconcagua, Kala Pattar, Pico de Orizaba, and Iztaccihuatl.

Saudi Arabia's first female Olympic runner lives in Mammoth Lakes, CA, here in the US and trains for marathons — she's done 10 so far! Her most recent Olympic experience was the 2016 Olympic marathon in Rio de Janeiro. If you love sports and beautiful travel photography, you're going to want to give Sarah a follow — her photos are stunning!