Manuel’s gold came on the same day that another Simone – Biles – won gold for the U.S. in the women’s all-around gymnastics.
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The US swimmer matched Canadian Penny Oleksiak stroke for stroke, earning the pair a tie and the gold in the women’s 100-meter freestyle Thursday night.
With her victory in the 100-meter freestyle, she became the first African-American woman to capture an Olympic gold medal in swimming. “It’s for some of the African-Americans who have been before me and been inspirations”.
Mom didn’t have an answer. In a Houston Chronicle profile from a few weeks ago, she spoke eloquently of “the impact that [African-American swimmers] can have on the sport by helping to diversify it and getting people to believe that if we can do it, they can, too”. “At that moment she really realized she was OK with who she was”. When it was over, Marc and Sharron Manuel couldn’t immediately see the videoboard with the results.
Joint winners United States’ Simone Manuel, left, and Canada’s Penny Oleksiak celebrate with their gold medals after the women’s 100-meter freestyle during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Swimming is not compulsory in US schools, all obstacles that Manuel has had to overcome on her journey to gold.
“Simone Biles and me are practically the same person”, Manuel said. “I was like, ‘I’ll take it!'”
Fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad, the first American to compete in the Olympics with a hijab, is also African American, and Ashleigh Johnson is the first black woman to compete on the U.S. Olympic water polo team.
“I work just as hard as anyone else and I love this sport and I want to win just like everyone else”. “She would like to be recognized for her merits and dedication”. My colour just comes with the territory. “She understands that it’s a part of it”.
And while she was toppling Olympic records, the 20-year-old set yet another mark. A gold-silver finish not just for Australia, but for the Campbell family of Brisbane, seemed plausible. When she was 18 months old and her mother’s back was briefly turned, she scurried into the bathtub fully clothed to play with her brother. In one of her interviews about balancing her studies as well as her swimming practice, she said, “As far as classes, I communicate with my teachers early, and I study the syllabus”. “We didn’t know then that this is what we were in for”.
It was surprising, then, that when this kind of history was being made, there were some United States news outlets that weren’t giving it the attention it deserved.
Jones is one of her inspirations, and a friend on the swimming circuit. That inspired and motivated her to keep going.
Simone is attending Stanford University and she will be a sophomore this fall. It’s insane to think Ryan and I have been on Olympic and national teams since 2004.
In gymnastics, Gabby Douglas became the first African-American to win the Olympic all-around in 2012. Jones has been heavily involved with USA Swimming’s Make a Splash program, an initiative to teach children to swim. The report found that 69 percent of black children and 58 percent of Latino children can not swim, compared with 42 percent of white children. In 2008, Jeff Wilste, the author of Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America, talked to NPR’s Rachel Martin about how “black Americans were typically relegated, if a pool was provided at all, to a small indoor pool that wasn’t almost as appealing as the large, outdoor resort pools that were provided for whites”.
Jeff Wiltse, in his book Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America, argues that white anxieties over contact with black people fuelled this historic lack of integration at USA swimming pools. In the 1960s, many whites left cities for private pools and clubs in the suburbs, where segregation continued to exist.
Manuel’s performance was not only significant, it was stunning.
Still, she later discussed how she hopes her win can shed light on some of the issues that plague the black community-like police brutality. She finished fourth at this year’s US trials to qualify for the relay team in Rio.
Michael Phelps receives a lot of attention at the Olympic Games, and rightly so.
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Manuel’s roommate in the Athletes’ Village, swimmer Katie Ledecky, stayed awake until Manuel arrived at 2:30 a.m. “This medal is for the people who come behind me and get into the sport”. Despite being proud of her accomplishment, Manuel hopes her win won’t pigeonhole her in the minds of others.
