RIO DE JANEIRO — There are athletes who don’t want to use their platform as a bullhorn. They don’t want to be regarded as emissaries for equal rights or social tolerance. They recoil from acting as representatives for their race, religion, or gender. Ibtihaj Muhammad is not one of those athletes.

The American fencer will make history at the 2016 Summer Games as the first US Olympic athlete to compete wearing a hijab, the traditional covering for the head and neck worn by Muslim women.

The 30-year-old fencer is as adept at making points about the cultural and historical significance of this milestone as she is striking with the blunt point of her saber. She is the eighth-ranked saber fencer in the world.

Muhammad’s eloquent and frank discussion about the challenges of being a Muslim woman in America is a reminder that the Olympics aspire to a greater ideal than medals and records and nationalistic, sis-boom-bah narcissism. The Games don’t just challenge the athletes. They challenge beliefs and prejudices.

Before the torch has been lit, Muhammad has become one of the faces of the Rio Games. (She has fenced with First Lady Michelle Obama in Times Square and appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.’’) That’s remarkable considering she competes in a sport where the athletes’ faces are obscured by a wire-mesh mask.

You have to use your moment to help the people around you,’’ said Muhammad. “I feel like there are so many people whose voices aren’t heard. I tell my stories and people are surprised.

“I’m one of many who have these experiences. I want to use my platform to the best of my ability to tell the story of the Muslim community.’’

That’s why she talked about being followed home from practice in New York by a man who tried to report her to the police.

That’s why she took to social media to express her indignation at being asked to remove her hijab at the South by Southwest cultural festival in Austin, Texas.

That’s why Muhammad, whose name means “joy’’ or “delight’’ in Arabic, didn’t dodge questions about the current inflammatory political climate in the country she will represent regarding Islam and those who practice it.

“I’m very vocal about those things, especially on social media, because I want people to know that I’m not an anomaly,’’ she said. “I’m not special in any way. I’m a woman who wears hijab.

“These are my experiences, and I want people to know that as hard as they’ve been on me, I don’t think they come even close to some of the things we’ve seen like the shooting in North Carolina or the rhetoric around the Khan family.

“We as a country have to change, and I feel like this is our moment.’’

A native of Maplewood, N.J., Muhammad is an unlikely Olympic fencer. It has nothing to do with her religious beliefs.

She picked up the sport at the age of 13. Her first three years were spent as an epee fencer. She switched to the saber discipline at 17.

While most of her teammates spent time on cadet and junior national teams for USA Fencing, Muhammad didn’t make a national team appearance until age 23. By comparison, men’s Olympic saber fencer Eli Dershwitz of Sherborn is 20.

“I started way behind the curve,’’ said Muhammad. “People told me there was no way I was going to make a national team even, so to totally defy the odds and qualify for an Olympic team . . .

“Never allow someone to tell you can’t do something because of your age or because of how you started your journey.’’

Or because you’re an African-American woman who practices Islam.

In a way, it was Muhammad’s faith that pushed her to the fencing strip. She was looking for a sport in which she could honor her religion and remain covered. She persisted with fencing even though some of her friends told her that only “dorky kids’’ fenced.

“I wanted to participate in a sport where I could adhere to the tenets of my faith,’’ she said. “But also people didn’t look at me for being a minority or being a woman. It was simply my skill set, because once we have on our uniform, you can’t see who is behind the mask.’’

In that regard, Muhammad is no different from the other 211 fencers at the Olympics.

What could separate her in Rio is not what she wears to cover her head, but what she wears around her neck.

The best trailblazers are the ones who can send their message not only with eloquent words, but with triumphant actions.

Muhammad will have her first individual bout in the 36-competitor tournament Monday against Olena Kravatska of Ukraine. But her best chance to medal comes in the team saber competition.

Muhammad is joined on the saber team by doyenne Mariel Zagunis, who won individual gold in 2004 and 2008 and finished fourth in London in 2012, and Dagmara Wozniak.

The trio won team gold at the 2014 World Championships and took the bronze in 2015.

“We want gold, and that’s all we want,’’ said Muhammad. “We’ve worked hard for it. I can’t think of a better group of women to rally with.’’

One shiny Olympic medal isn’t going to eradicate all of the rash and vitriolic rhetoric aimed at the Muslim-American community, just as Jackie Robinson playing in the major leagues didn’t eradicate racism.

But it could be a catalyst for discourse.

“I’m hoping that just my presence on Team USA changes the misconceptions that people have about the Muslim community,’’ said Muhammad. “A lot of people have this one idea of who Muslims are and what a Muslim woman even looks like.

“I think that who I am just challenges and breaks all those stereotypes and misconceptions just by simply being a member of Team USA.’’

Whether Muhammad leaves Rio with a medal or not, she already has proven to be a champion.

Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @cgasper.