Simone Manuel swims in the women’s 100-meter freestyle finals for the United States Thursday night.
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Manuel and Oleksiak both touched the wall in 52.70 seconds, breaking the Olympic record by one-hundredth of a second.
And if all that wasn’t enough, the women’s time broke the Olympic record. Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden captured bronze in 52.99 seconds.
This is the first tie for a gold medal since Anthony Ervin and Gary Hall Jr. did it in the 50 free in Sydney in 2000.
But now with four medals – including a full gold, silver, bronze set and the possibility of an incredible fifth in a relay on Saturday – she is officially the breakout star of these Games, regardless of sport, regardless of sex.
On Wednesday, Oleksiak anchored the women’s 4×200-metre freestyle relay team, where the 16-year-old and teammates Katerine Savard, Taylor Ruck and Brittany MacLean won the bronze medal. Really, I think Penny could be the next superstar.
“[This gold] is not just for me it’s for a whole bunch of people who have come before me and have been inspiration to me”.
Reigning world champion Bronte Campbell, 22, finished fourth in 53.04sec.
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Manuel’s first gold also comes at her first Olympics where she too, as an African-American swimmer, also carried a particular resonance.
