Simone Biles, a Black gymnast, also won two gold medals on Thursday, and Lia Neal, Manuel’s Black teammate, won silver.
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Simone Manuel has become the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in swimming.
“It is something I’ve definitely struggled with a lot”, Manuel told USA TODAY Sports.
As we digest those results, the Olympic Aquatic Center resonates with the booming sound of the DJ Snake and Lil’ Jon opus, “Turn Down for What”.
The 20-year-old was considered a long-shot entering the event, but her inspiring performance and inspirational message has caught the attention of millions across the county.
“A medal, a medal, I’ll take it”, said Dion Willis, as he stood near the beach at the annual YWCA Picnic, which had an Olympic theme complete with balloons and suggested attire. Manuel picked Stanford because, she said, “You have to work hard and be pretty smart to get into a school like this – but honestly, that’s another reason why I picked it, because I wanted to be in this atmosphere and challenge myself”.
“Their parents or their grandparents are afraid of the water as well”, said Trey Adams. It also happened to be gold. He is on the team again in Rio.
United States’ Simone Manuel leaves the pool during a women’s 50-meter freestyle heat during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 12, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The story itself isn’t a bad piece, spotlighting how Biles became the first US gymnast since 1984 to win four golds in a single Olympics, and it uses the correct photo.
Before Manuel, there were only a handful of minorities on the USA national team. “I met her a year ago, and we became great friends”. Maritza Correia won silver on the same relay at the 2004 Athens Games. The glamour of the night’s victory was that she set a new record; by completing her swimming within just 52.70 seconds.
Manuel, a Stanford student, gets the significance.
No sooner had she made that statement, she was asked if she exhausted of the label of “black swimmer”, and here her personal struggle showed. I’m just super excited to represent my country.
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“It’s incredible and I’m so proud of her”, Jones said. “Coming into this race tonight I kind of tried to take the weight of the black community off my shoulders, which is something I carry with me just being in this position”.
