This is also the first time a Canadian has won four medals at a summer Games.
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Swimmer Simone Manuel just won the women’s 100 meter freestyle, making her the first black woman to win an individual gold medal for Team USA in a swimming event.
Tonight’s win eclipses the five other Canadians who’ve medaled three times in a single summer games.
Rio de Janeiro, Aug. Aug 12 (IANS) US swimmer Simone Manuel on Friday said she hopes her Olympic gold medal will inspire African-American children to take up the sport.
The last Canadian to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming was Mark Tewksbury, who took out the men’s 100m at Barcelona in 1992.
McKeown posted the fasted time of the eight qualifiers in the semifinal heats, which gives her lane four as a result.
Canada’s Penny Oleksiak, right, and United States’ Simone Manuel celebrate their tie for gold in the women’s 100-metre freestyle.
“It is something I’ve definitely struggled with a lot”, Manuel said. First Michael Phelps dominated the 200-meter individual medley, and then Simone Manuel tied for gold to win the women’s 100-meter freestyle. China placed fourth behind bronze medallist Canada with 14-year-old Ai Yanhan swimming the second leg.
Manuel is a native of Sugar Land, Texas, who attends Stanford. “I want to win just like everybody else”. Manuel, 20, realized she was different than most swimmers when she was 11.
JaVe Bonner, a pre-med student at George Mason University, said Manuel’s win is significant to her because she was told when she was younger that she couldn’t go into a neighborhood pool since her skin was “dirty”. “And it’s for all the people after me who believe they can do it”.
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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 fantastic feat, such an incredible accomplishment,”‘ Caldwell said.
