“She deserves it as much as me”, said Oleksiak. He finished fifth in his semifinal heat but a fast swim in the second semi bumped the Kenora, Ont., native to 12th.
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Looking to avenge their medal-less swims in the 100 freestyle, both Campbell sisters from Australia, Bronte and Cate, qualified for the final as well and will swim in Lanes 2 and 5, respectively. Manuel, 20, realized she was different than most swimmers when she was 11.
Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom took the bronze in 52.99.
After the medal ceremony – US anthem first followed by Canada’s – Oleksiak hugged her tearful sister Hayley, brother Jamie and her parents Alison and Richard.
Michael Phelps won his 22nd gold medal in the 200 individual medley with a time of (1:54.66).
Simone Manuel became the first African American woman to earn a medal in an individual event in swimming – and it’s gold.
“It comes with the territory, because there aren’t many of us in the sport of swimming, and we definitely talk a lot about that with Simone”, Sharron Manuel said.
Oleksiak is the first Canadian woman to win an Olympic medal of any colour in the 100-metre freestyle, which has been in the Summer Games since 1912. Manuel said she wanted her gold medal to serve as an impetus for “hope and change”, accepting she now has a role to play as an inspiration to other African-Americans.
Hilary Caldwell of White Rock, B.C., will swim Canada’s 14th final Friday. But Oleksiak was almost a half-second faster than Manuel on the final length, and TV replays showed that their fingers found the wall at the same time.
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“I was talking to Kylie the other night saying ‘all you guys on the podium, it makes it that much more attainable and it normalizes something that is such an incredible feat, such an fantastic accomplishment,”‘ Caldwell said.
