Nike Shows Off New Performance 'Pro Hijab' For Muslim Women Athletes

Only on an even playing field can the best ever fully prove themselves. When the turf is tilted in your favor, you'll never know for sure if you could have overcome your competition when they were at their best, or if you got some help you didn't deserve and possibly didn't need. So seeing Muslim women athletes finally get a hijab they can reliably compete in is a good thing for everybody. And it's about time.

Muslim women who want to compete at a high level in sports have a new ally on their side as Nike announced a new performance garment just for them: the Nike Pro Hijab.

After listening to the complaints of Muslim women about competing in a traditional head scarf, Nike spent 13 months developing the Pro Hijab. Although it won't be on sale until Spring 2018, it's definitely turning heads.

Zahra Lari, a figure skater from the United Arab Emirates training for the next Winter Olympics, already gets to wear one and was part of the big reveal.

"I was thrilled and a bit emotional to see Nike prototyping a Hijab," Zahra said in a statement. "I've tried so many different hijabs for performance, and... so few of them actually work for me. But once I put it on and took it for a spin on the ice, I was blown away by the fit and the light weight."

Zahra was one of many Muslim women athletes who Nike consulted during the Pro Hijab's development.

It's a light, stretchy fabric with tiny holes for breathability, and a long back that will prevent it from getting untucked. Nike will offer it in three colors: black, vast gray, and obsidian.

Muslim women have broken through many barriers in recent years, so the time is right for a proper performance hijab.

In 2014, FIFA started allowing Muslim and Sikh women to wear head covering during competition, and at the Rio Olympics in 2016, fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad became the first Muslim American woman to compete for Team USA in the Olympics – and she brought home a bronze medal. 

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