United States’ Simone Biles waves on the podium after receiving her gold medal in the artistic gymnastics women’s individual all-around final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016. It’s for a bunch of people who have come before me and have been an inspiration to me. I’m super glad with the fact that I can be an inspiration to others and hopefully diversify the sport.
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Manuel and Oleksiak had qualified third and second-fastest behind Cate Campbell respectively, but the 24-year-old Australian looked to have left them behind after touching the wall 0.12 seconds under her own world-record time.
The top threats to the US will likely come from Great Britain, which posted the fastest time in qualifying heats – and is hungry for a medal after finishing fourth in this event at London’s 2012 Olympics.
Katie Ledecky was a full body length ahead of her nearest rival after only 100 meters of her 800-meter freestyle final at the Rio Olympics. “Having everybody swim fast makes me want to swim fast, so it’s really great to be on such an wonderful team”. I’m just so blessed to have a gold medal. “I never thought I’d win a gold”.
Maritza McClendon (nee Correia) was the first black American swimmer to set a world swimming record.
“This medal is not just for me”. She’s one of just a few African Americans who have progressed to the Olympic level – with none making it that far as recently as twenty years ago. And after prelims and semifinals and seeing where I was sitting, when I came in tonight I was like, ‘I want to get on that medal stand’.
Kennedy said the Olympics are always a prime time to showcase swimming, but Manuel’s emergence could also have a big impact on swim infrastructure in local communities.
“It is something I’ve definitely struggled with a lot”, she admitted. “There were nights where I would go to bed and think about this day and how much fun I’ve had these past four years and start crying”. The Sugar Land, Texas, native stopped the clock at 52.70 – simultaneously with Canada’s Penny Oleksiak.
Teammate Lia Neal alerted Manuel that LeBron James tweeted that she was “inspiring” and Serena Williams called her “so incredible”. “I want to win just like everybody else”.
In the end, they both stepped up around the same time.
Neal pumped Manuel up before the nighttime finals by singing and dancing together.
Manuel, who swims collegiately at Stanford, eventually took part in a historical NCAA championship race. She couldn’t. But the tears weren’t just for her pursuit.
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