Team USA has seen many triumphant moments at the Rio Olympics, but two athletes’ Thursday victories were particularly powerful.
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Bronte faded to fourth, and Cate dropped all the way to sixth at the finish. The gold went to Denmark’s Pernille Blume, the 22-year-old who finished in 24.07.
In all, Stanford swimmers accumulated a program-record 14 medals at the Rio Olympic Games.
After her win, Manuel shared a sentiment that came unscripted, straight from the heart, yet could not have delivered a more ideal message.
“This medal is not just for me, it’s for the African-Americans who have come before me and been an inspiration”, Manuel said afterward. It also happened to be gold. “I knew this was the last time, the last race I’d ever have, the last Olympics I’d ever have”.
Elsewhere in the bay, American Gevvie Stone won the silver medal in women’s single sculls. Athletes in lower tax brackets would owe less – and keep in mind that some or all of their massive training expenses would likely be deductible, whether they treat their sport as a business or a hobby.
“It means a lot (to be the first black woman to earn gold in the pool)”, Manuel said after the race.
It was the same response she had given to making the U.S. Olympic swimming team in July, tweeting, “All glory to God!”
With victories in both medley relays Saturday night, the Americans completed the meet with 33 overall medals, including 16 golds, a dominating performance that exceeded the 2012 London total of 31 medals (also 16 golds).
“This medal is not just for me”, she said. For people who believe that they can’t do it, I hope I’m an inspiration to others to get out there and try swimming. “This medal is for the people who come behind me and get into the sport and hopefully find love and drive to get to this point”.
Neal pumped Manuel up before the nighttime finals by singing and dancing together. “I kind of said to the guys what an honor and a privilege it was to be in that relay. The racial comment was really out of line”, Biles’ father, Ron, told USA Today at the time, adding the irony of how “normally it’s not in her favor being black, at least not in the world that I live in”.
“When we are in the same room it is very hard to have a conversation because we don’t know who is talking to which Simone”, Manuel said.
Simone Manuel, a 20-year-old black female swimmer, and Simone Biles, a 19-year-old black female gymnast, dominated in two sports in which most United States competitors are white. “The other girls are saying, ‘Penny, you just won gold, turn around, ‘” she said.
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And Manuel hopes she can just be a swimmer and a champion without her race being a factor. “She gets a 10 from me on the floor”.
