Michael Phelps receives a lot of attention at the Olympic Games, and rightly so.
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Luckily, that didn’t hinder the effect this achievement has had, with peeps quick to show how much Simone Manuel’s win really means.
Manuel also gave the U.S. its first gold medal in the women’s 100-meter freestyle in 36 years.
Despite the momentary shade thrown by NBC, Manuel herself remained incredibly positive and gave an incisive and genuine post-race interview where she brought up the current state of US politics and police brutality and voiced that she hopes her swimming success can shed a light in a tense time.
“I went out there and swam as fast as I could”, she said, “and my color just comes with the territory”.
Other contributors to the film include: Bruce Wigo, president of the Swimming Hall of Fame; Jeffrey Wiltse, author of Contested Waters; Alia Atkinson, the first black woman to win a swimming world title; and a variety of black Olympic swimmers from the United States and Caribbean. “It is for some of the African Americans who have come before me”, she concluded. “Just being a black woman myself and to see just someone like me, like the color, is just so awesome and for her to get an Olympic record is better still”. I never thought I’d win. Katie Ledecky has racked up three golds (and counting) to begin building her case as the greatest of all time on the women’s side.
When Manuel and teammate Lia Neal were both selected for Rio, it was the first time two black female athletes were chosen to be on the American swim team at the same time.
“I always encourage them to continue, even though they’re scared”, Miller said.
Hopefully, you get it now. “And it’s a tremendous feeling when you do that”.
Manuel, a Stanford student, gets the significance.
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Manuel considers herself a reluctant public figure and tried to shy away from the responsibility of being a Black swimmer in a sport dominated by whites and other races. “I think for her that was the moment that she realized she had a bigger role to play in what she was doing in the sport of swimming”. “But at the same time I would like there to be a day where there are more of us and it’s not Simone ‘the black swimmer, ‘” she told a news conference after her victory.
