She was also seeded behind Australian siblings Cate and Bronte Campbell and Canadian 16-year-old Penny Oleksiak. But it carried a special resonance as she became the first African-American woman to win gold in an individual Olympic swimming event.
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Simone Manuel burst into tears, and so did many Americans when the Stanford swimmer made Olympic history on Thursday night as the first African-American woman to win an individual medal in swimming.
The pair finished in an Olympic record of 52.70 seconds.
In an interview with Swim Swam after the race, Manuel said that she’s “not an emotional person”.
There should be an embedded item here. “I mean, the gold medal wasn’t just for me; it was for people that came before me and inspired me to stay in the sport”.
While acknowledging the importance of her medal, she said that she hoped enough people would follow in her footsteps that it won’t be such a talking point in years to come.
Manuel swam first in that relay event but did something even more impressive on August 11th by being the first African-American women to win Olympic gold in a swimming event. “And they can be pretty big”.
Manuel will go for another medal Saturday in Rio.
After winning the gold, Manuel and USA gymnast Simone Biles – gold medalist and All-Around competition champion in Rio – celebrated their victories, as well as their mutual first name.
As she treaded water after her final, Manuel pointed up at the screen above the pool and seemed to be trying to take in what had happened – an understandable response, given the frenzied race she’d just swum. “I’m glad I could be an inspiration to others, but I haven’t thought about how my life changed yet”.
“It means a lot (to be the first black woman to earn gold in the pool)”, Manuel said after the race.
The gold medal placed around her neck on Thursday could help to lift it.
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Until now, Cullen Jones had been the face of swimming for minorities in America, having won two golds and two silvers at the last two Olympics. The 19-year-old athlete joined an elite group of American all-around winners comprised of Mary Lou Retton, Carly Patterson, Nastia Liukin and Gabby Douglas. According to the New York Times, the move – “a double layout with a twist and a blind landing” – is known as “the Biles”. She cruised to first in her 200-metre backstroke final and posted the second-fastest qualifying time behind Hungary’s Katinka Hosszu. Russia’s Aliya Mustafina took bronze.
