Day 6 in the Olympics was one filled with moments that will live on in legend — Simone Biles dominated for all-around gold and cemented her place as the best gymnast of all time, and Michael Phelps won his fourth 200-meter individual medley gold in a row, a first in any swimming event and the capper on his amazing revival story. But after all that, the show was completely stolen by Simone Manuel, whose surprise run to the 100-meter freestyle gold was the first ever medal for an African-American woman.
Manuel wasn’t expected to medal, as she was sharing a pool with Australian sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell, the reigning world record holder and world champion, respectively. Also in the field was Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden, who had already set a world record at these Olympics. All that contributed to Manuel’s shock when she turned up to see her result:
It was the first of many times Manuel would be overcome with emotion, as the significance of her accomplishment — both on pure athletic terms and under the weight of history — was not lost on her. The tears flowed when she congratulated her co-gold medalist, 16-year-old Canadian Penny Oleksiak:
They kept flowing when Simone’s teammate Abbey Weitzeil, who had finished seventh, came to congratulate her:
They flowed again when Simone ran into her coach:
And during her post-race interview, Manuel fought through the tears to say exactly what everyone looking up to her wanted to hear. If you weren’t tearing up for this, you need to check for a pulse.
"This medal is not just for me…its for all the people who believe they can't do it." Simone Manuel makes history. pic.twitter.com/A9Poc7RnYR
— Trymaine Lee (@trymainelee) August 12, 2016
And finally, when she took the podium to receive her gold medal, she had composed herself and was standing proudly. But when the national anthem started, as we’re sure you can understand, she just couldn’t stop those tears from falling (video courtesy Deadspin):
What a night.
