Simone Manuel, 24, won her 50-meter freestyle race on the last day of this year’s Olympic trials, NBC Sports reported, securing her qualification for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Five years after she became the first Black woman to earn an individual gold medal in the Olympic swimming category, Manuel now has the opportunity to show out in front of the world once again.
“When I touched the wall, I was literally like, ‘Please, God, please!'” the young swim star told ESPN about the victory. Expressing her gratitude and acknowledging the hard work that led to the win, Manuel continued, “More than anything, I’m relieved. Today may have been the longest day of my life and the longest 50 of my life.”
SIMONE MANUEL EVERYBODY.@USASwimming | #SwimTrials21 x #TokyoOlympics
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? https://t.co/3ALK1g9Nqi pic.twitter.com/wFrwIFSplq— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) June 21, 2021
Manuel took the 50-meter race by 0.01 of a second, narrowly winning over Abbey Weitzel, NBC Sports reported. But her path to the Tokyo Olympics hasn’t been without its drawbacks.
Several months ago, the 24-year-old said she felt like her body had “completely crashed” and later reported feeling an elevated heart rate, sore muscles, insomnia and other symptoms.
Manuel was then diagnosed with overtraining syndrome, a real condition that can affect those who train their body on an intense level, with athletes and highly active individuals being the most likely to experience it, Shape Magazine reported.
Speaking about the scary ordeal, Manuel told NBC, “I had moments where I didn’t even want to go to the pool because I knew it was going to be bad. It was an uphill climb once I got back into the water. That was hard because I love this sport.”
She also revealed that overtraining syndrome caused her to miss key training for the Olympic swimming trials.
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In 2016, Manuel competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics, earning a gold medal for the U.S. during the 100-meter freestyle race.
On becoming the first Black woman to do so at the young age of 19, she said at the time, “This medal is not just for me but for the African-Americans who came before me…and for the people who come behind me. I would like one day for there to be more of us so that it’s not Simone, the black swimmer, because the title of black swimmer makes it seem like I’m not supposed to be able to win a gold medal or not supposed to break records.”
The Tokyo Olympics will start this month and run until early August. Following the onset of last year’s COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing requirements, the summer event was postponed until 2021.
