American Simone Manuel shared the Olympic gold medal in the women's 100m freestyle with Canada's Penny Oleksiak on Thursday night in Rio, upsetting world record-holder Cate Campbell of Australia. With a time of 52.70 seconds, Manuel not only set a new Olympic record, she also became the first African-American to ever win an Olympic medal in swimming, and the first American to win gold in the event since 1984, another tie finish between Nancy Hogshead and Carrie Steinseifer. Manuel was in third place at the halfway point, and she appeared shocked when she found out she'd won.
Campbell had been in the lead at the turn, but faded to sixth. Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom took the bronze. "This medal is not just for me," Manuel told NBC after the win. "It's for a whole bunch of people who came before me and have been an inspiration to me... It's for all the people after me who believe they can't do it, and I just want to be an inspiration to others that you can do it."
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