The seven-time All-American at Stanford is competing in her first Olympics, and also earned silver as a member of the USA’s 400-meter freestyle relay team.
Advertisement
Manuel’s win could help kids get over that fear.
Simone Manuel (USA) of USA and Penelope Oleksiak (CAN) of Canada celebrate winning joint gold medals and also jointy breaking an Olympic record in the Women’s 100m Freestyle Final.
Mercury News referred to Simone Manuel as the “African-American” because she won the same night as decorated Olympian swimmer Michael Phelps. “It was definitely something I found inspiring, and I hope I inspire other young women back home to get into swimming”. She practices 6 days a week with the Winnipeg Wave swim club and has pulled in 2 gold and 1 bronze medals at the Manitoba Summer Games. 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.
“She’s just like any regular student, she has a lot of friends, she likes her social time, goes to school events, like semi-formal”.
Nevertheless, she was all smiles as she walked out of the Olympic Aquatics Stadium pool.
“It makes me realize more that even if you are behind 10 or 15 metres into the race that anything can happen”, said Mclean.
Simone Manuel swam into the history books Thursday night, becoming the first female African-American Olympic champion in an individual swimming event. “We are doing it in UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and hopefully Saudi Arabia will try to get there”.
“My main goal is to break down these gender barriers and pave the way for other female swimmers, because especially in our country, people are reluctant to start something new. 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”. But she aims to change that. Not the same technical team. But I want to be the best and if I have to work with what I have, I will work with it and maybe I will get better.
She stuck with swimming while her brother played basketball. But she would have been proud.
“As a dad of two girls – 14 and 12 – I love to see the potential that they could potential have on this”, says Willis, who says he watched Manuel with his family. It’s something I carry with me. I want to be an inspiration, but I would like there to be a day when it is not ‘Simone the black swimmer’.
“She would train with her national coach in the morning and in session – sometimes, two hours – and come to our fitness class, where it’s expected people put in their most”.
Advertisement
The clinic’s organizer, Jeffield Jefferson of the city of Houston, now hopes her win will inspire other African-American athletes.
