Team USA triathlete Khadijah Diggs didn’t find her calling in triathlon until 2012 when she first dipped her toe into the sport as a novice at the age of 40 (on a fixed-gear bike she only bought the week before!). Since then, she’s made up for lost time and is a regular fixture on the USA long course Triathlon and aquathlon teams, after becoming the first African-American woman and Hijabi to represent the USA in both disciplines.

Despite her success, Khadijah has faced hurdles just to compete wearing her head-to-toe race kit and hijab – even when wearing her official and approved USA triathlon kit. Undeterred, she has made it her mission to change the landscape of triathlon and encourage more Muslim and African-American women to take up the sport – more recently through launching the Diversity Inclusion Syndicate by Khadijah (D. I. S. K.) which we cover in more detail in the Q&A below.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that this triathlon trailblazer is a mother of 10 who works fulltime and is homeschooling! Go, Khadijah!