History was made last night in the 2016 Rio Olympics. United States swimmer Simone Manuel became the first African-American women to win a gold medal in Swimming after she win the 100m freestyle in Rio.
.@simone_manuel made history last night in the 100m freestyle. #GOLD #Rio2016 https://t.co/YgierfAQ0J
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 12, 2016
“This medal is not just for me.” – @simone_manuelhttps://t.co/BWGaUNiTHM https://t.co/T5QRJ2ahmu
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 12, 2016
According to TeamUSA.org,
The 20-year-old swimmer from Sugar Land, Texas, tied for first with 16-year-old Canadian sensation Penny Oleksiak in the 100-meter freestyle. Both women set a new Olympic record of 52.70 in the 100 free. Sarah Sjostrom from Sweden finished third in 52.99.
Manuel is the first African American female swimmer to win an Olympic medal in an individual event.
In the wake of police brutality that has strained race relations in the U.S. recently, Manuel hopes that her gold medal will bring some “hope and change” to the issues back home.
But she would prefer that people focus on the gold medal rather than her race.
“Coming into this race tonight, I tried to take the weight of the black community off my shoulders, which is something I carry with me, just being in this position,” she said.
Congratulations to Simone Manuel on making history last night in the Rio Olympics. She is a true hero and champion in my eyes. Stay tuned to HHS1987. Follow @eldorado2452 on Twitter and Instagram for all your 2016 Olympic and sports news.
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