Oleksiak now stands alone in Canadian Olympic history.
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After hitting the wall at the exact same second, Manuel tied for the gold with Penny Oleksiak of Canada. “Just surpassing that goal and getting an American record on top of a gold medal is super exciting for me”.
“Even though I get the question a lot and I’m getting exhausted of it, other people who haven’t gotten the chance to speak to Simone or me, they’re all the more excited, so it’s fine”. “And for people who believe that they can’t do it. I hope that I can be an inspiration for others”.
Manuel said that her victory was extra special in the context of ongoing race issues in the U.S.
Speaking after the race, Manuel was overwhelmed by emotion and broke down in tears during her post-race interview. She credits them for making her fearless.
“My first gold medal, at my first Olympics, is kind of a surprise to me”, Manuel said. “So I’m kind of struggling with it a little bit, but I’m happy to be an inspiration”.
Manuel’s gold came on the same day that another Simone – Biles – won gold for the United States in the women’s all-around gymnastics. “And that’s not true”. In 2012, Jones won silver in the 50-meter freestyle; silver in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay; and gold in the 4×100-meter medley relay. “She deserves it as much as me”, said Oleksiak, still only 16, who was only seventh at the turn but powered back on the final 50 metres. Berkeley teammate Jacob Pebley finished in fifth place. It’s insane! Nobody ends tied to the Olympics, really, but it’s great to have done with it, “said Toronto athlete”.
Meanwhile, Michael Phelps remained atop Mt. Olympus, where he continues to swim like the gods. Manuel is also the first American woman to win the event since Nancy Hogshead and Carrie Steinseifer shared the gold at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
At 16, Penny Oleksiak added a gold medal and an Olympic record to his tally on Thursday night in the 100 freestyle.
The doting father might need more fingers. Phelps returned to the blocks shortly after the playing of the national anthem to advance in the 100 butterfly Friday along with Cal’s Tom Shields.
“As a kid, I wanted to do something that no one had ever done before and I’m enjoying it”, he told reporters. However, once the internet began shaming NBC for not deeming Manuel’s historic win important enough o show on TV, they aired it – nearly an hour later. Phelps winning time was almost two, seconds faster than silver medalist Kosuke Hagino of Japan. She swam like she owned the pool and touched the wall first, winning her second Olympic medal at the Rio Games. A photo circulated of Phelps with a bong, followed by a string of broken relationships. Swimming analyst Byron MacDonald, who didn’t seem to realize his microphone was still live, made the comment following Wednesday’s 4×200-metre women’s relay.
A lot of people go through a lot more than I did to lead the way, and I got a lot of support from parents and coaches during those hard times.
A few months later it all unraveled with the DUI. Manuel and Neal fielded so many “black swimmer” questions leading up to their races, it threatened to slow them down in the pool.
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“I was joking with Ryan, ‘Man, how did we do all these events in 2008?'” he said.
