The two will share the gold medal.
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“With Simone Manuel winning, she’s going to inspire a generation, not only of black children and African-Americans, but young girls as well”, he said. Simone Manuel, a 20-year-old from Sugar Land, Texas, tied for the gold medal in the women’s 100-meter freestyle with an Olympic record time of 52.70 seconds. Instead, Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom won a bronze medal after finishing 0.29 behind the winners. The win gave Canada a ideal 3-0 record heading into the round of 16. In the 200 relay, her goggles filled with water nearly immediately.
But all was soon made clear: Not only had these two swimmers hit the wall together; they had also set a new Olympic record of 57.20 seconds, writing their names in the record book.
It has been a long time coming, and a short time coming, and incredible. Nolden said. “She will be phenomenal”. Whether it’s a gift of youth or something else, it’s a gift.
This year, the Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio noted that Biles, Olympic medalist Gabby Douglas and Olympic first-timer Laurie Hernandez make up the most diverse gymnastics team in United States history. “She’s naive, too, but in a good way. She’s there to win”. “But it wasn’t something I was trying to think about before my race, I was just trying to think about swimming as fast as I could and to be happy with whatever outcome”. And that’s still, to a certain extent, what she’s doing here. They shook hands. Her hand was as big as his. Her reason? She was tall.
She stuck with swimming while her brother played basketball.
Titley had never seen a hockey game, but he was on board. Simone says she and Lia Neal have a very special relationship and that she “wouldn’t be where I am right now without her”. “But the first physical viewing – there was actually one other glaring physical specimen (in my career), in the U.K. She was six”.
Now, Oleksiak has a chance to be the best swimmer in Canadian history. There are no guarantees, of course – American Missy Franklin was the 17-year-old queen of the 2012 Games, and here in Rio she has been grasping for answers, and lessons. I want to be an inspiration, but I would like there to be a day when it is not ‘Simone the black swimmer’.
Earlier this week, Oleksiak discovered that Olympic medals can’t get you everything you want in life.
“She handles things for a 16-year-old with unbelievable maturity”. But in this case, two swimmers who had matched each other stroke for stroke – Simone Manuel of the US and Penny Oleksiak of Canada – came into the wall at the same instant. None had ever before won an individual Olympic medal in swimming. We are the same, in the same Olympics.
That’s why, when Manuel won gold Thursday night, she wasn’t just an athlete excelling at her sport.
Maybe even then, give her the flag.
Penny Oleksiak continues to solidify herself as a teenage swimming sensation.
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The Canadian record for most hardware won in a single Olympics is held by speed skater Cindy Klassen, who ascended the podium five times at the 2006 Turin Winter Games. “We didn’t know then that this is what we were in for”.
