Mom didn’t have an answer.
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Manuel had to rally to get there. “At that moment she really realized she was OK with who she was”. Oleksiak made Canada proud and thrilled her mom and dad, who were in the stands, as she turned on her overdrive finish to win in 52.70 seconds. When it was over, Marc and Sharron Manuel couldn’t immediately see the videoboard with the results.
After becoming the first African-American woman to claim an individual Olympic medal in swimming, Simone Manuel said her victory in the 100-meter freestyle had even more meaning.
The pair of swimmers also set an Olympic record with their tying time. And she knew it.
When she hit the water, there was no time to think about her chances.
Oleksiak has already won silver in the 100-metre butterfly, and has bronze medals in the 4×100-metre and 4×200-metre freestyle relays. She was staying off her phone that froze up because of an overload of text messages and calls.
“After the race, I gave her a big hug and I cried and I told her, ‘Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, ‘” Manuel said. “All I want now is to cheer the rest of my team-mates”. The historical significance of her win was not lost on Manuel.
Simone said her win hopefully brings hope and change to some of the current political climate and issues that are going on in U.S like police brutality on black people. “She would like to be recognized for her merits and dedication. My color just comes with the territory”. “She understands that it’s a part of it”.
That was the first double gold in Olympic swimming and it came after the timing was reduced from a thousandth of a second to a hundredth following a controversial dead-heat in the 1972 men’s 400 individual medley.
Manuel spoke, following her victory, about the meaning of her accomplishment as an African- American athlete.
And while Manuel is the first African-American female swimmer to win an individual medal – as well as a gold – for the U.S., she credits Mr. Jones, Ms. Correia, and Ms. Neal for paving the way.
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Manuel’s parents put her in swimming lessons at age 4 so she’d learn how to be safe in water, she said this year. Manuel learned Mandarin as a result.
