Simone Manuel Makes History at Rio Olympics

Another “Simone” has made a name for herself at the Olympics.

Simone Manuel became the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic medal in swimming. On Thursday night (August 11), Manuel tied for gold in the 100-meter freestyle alongside Penny Oleksiak of Canada. Both women landed their palms on the wall in 52.70 seconds. This action defeated the Olympic record by one-hundredth of a second.

Sarah Sjostrom, of Sweden, collected the bronze medal.

Manuel shared tears of joy while being interviewed after the historic moment.

“I’m just so blessed to have a gold medal. This medal is not just for me. It’s for a whole bunch of people who came before me and have been an inspiration to me. … It’s for all the people after me who believe they can’t do it, and I just want to be an inspiration to others that you can do it.”

Manuel also became the first American to win gold in the women’s 100 freestyle since 1984.

In the midst of social issues being placed in the forefront of the minds of African-Americans, Manuel took time out to recognize the significance of this win.

“some of the issues with police brutality. I think that this win helps bring hope and change to some of the issues that are going on in the world, but I mean, I went out there and swam as fast as I could, and my color just comes with the territory,” Manuel said.

Source: NBC

Congrats to Simone!