They couldn’t have arrived at this spot without it. Her roommate in Rio, Katie Ledecky, is a fellow gold medal victor and an incoming freshman at Stanford.
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Manuel, who is a rising junior on The Farm, set an Olympic and American record to tie for the gold medal in the 100-meter freestyle at Rio Games. In 1955, Dandridge became the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award in the lead actress category.
The United States has always been one of the better nations in Olympic swimming competitions.
Manuel’s milestone will hopefully inspire a new generation to take those first few strokes in the pool, and kick start more swimming lessons and clubs across the country.
The first African-American to win a gold medal in an individual swimming event was Anthony Ervin, who won gold in the 50m freestyle at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. “I’m glad I could be an inspiration to others, but I haven’t thought about how my life changed yet”.
“We like to reward them for doing good skills with trampoline time”.
Manuel clocked in at a stunning 52.70 seconds.
On Thursday afternoon, 19-year-old gymnast Simone Biles won all-around gold, capping off her four-year run of dominance that included three straight world all-around titles, 14 total world championship medals and four national all-around golds.
It was another huge disappointment for sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell of Australia. Now at Stanford, she is majoring in science, technology and society.
“She didn’t have to say much after that”, Manuel said, “because her staying up said enough”. “But I do hope that it kind of goes away. And that’s not true”.
After winning the gold, Manuel and US gymnast Simone Biles – gold medalist and All-Around competition champion in Rio – celebrated their victories, as well as their mutual first name.
It is also Denmark’s first Olympic swimming medal in eight years, as they were shut out in 2012. She is a rising junior at Stanford University in California, where she’s part of the swimming team. Bronte trailed her by a quarter of a second. This is what seemed to particularly strike a chord with LeBron, wrote the caption – alongside photos of both Biles and Manuel biting their gold medals – “Simone + Simone = Gold!”
Britain’s Fran Halsall finished fourth in 24.13. And here came Manuel and Oleksiak.
Both Oleksiak and Manuel reached for the wall.
Manuel, in fact, had only hoped she’d medaled when she turned to look at the standings.
And for swimmers across the world to see an African American woman who has been consistently breaking the barrier is simply motivating.
The beauty of her expression, however, is that she’s correct in saying she deserved to get the win and her race should not be the first thing people notice but rather her formidable athletic ability.
“I think it means a lot, especially what’s going on in the world today with some of the issues with police brutality”.
Manual said, though, she does not want to just be known as the “black swimmer” and hopes more African-Americans will follow in her footsteps.
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Manuel, 20, already understands the significance of her accomplishment. She couldn’t. But the tears weren’t just for her pursuit.
