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Simone Manuel reacts to historic gold medal win at Rio Olympics – Metro US

Simone Manuel reacts to historic gold medal win at Rio Olympics

In case you missed it, Simone Manuel made history Thursday night by becoming the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic swimming event.

Manuel, 20, and Canadian swimmer Penny Oleksiak tied for the fastest time in the women’s 100-meter freestyle competition at 52.70 seconds.
She becomes the first American to win a gold medal in this event sinceNancy Hogshead and Carrie Steinseifer tied for first place in 1984.
Other African-American swimmers have earned gold medals at the Olympics, but were a part of relay teams.
Maritza Correia became the first African-American woman to make it to a U.S. swim team during the 2004 Olympics in Athens. She went on to earn a silver medal during the 400-meter relay race.

In 2012, Brooklyn native Lia Neal won a bronze medal during the women’s 4×100 relay race at the London Olympics.

Fellow Olympic gold medal winner (and roommate in Rio) Katie Ledecky expressed how proud she was of her teammate for earning a gold medal.

In case you missed the race:

After the race, Manuel expressed her feelings and shared with everyone the significance of her Olympic victory.

Simone Manuel at the gold medal ceremony: