Simone Manuel ties Canada’s Penny Oleksiak for gold in 100M freestyle

American Simone Manuel tied Canada’s Penny Oleksiak for gold in the women’s 100 meter individual freestyle.

American Simone Manuel tied Canada’s Penny Oleksiak for gold in the women’s 100 meter individual freestyle final on Thursday.

Manuel and Oleksiak tied with a time of 52.70 seconds, pulling through to win. Australian sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell were favored and did not place. Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom finished third for bronze.

With the win, Manuel became the first black American woman ever to medal in an individual Olympic swimming event.

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Manuel is a native of Sugar Land, Texas, who attends Stanford. At the 2015 NCAA Division I championships, she posted the American record time in the 100 free, completing her heat in 46.09 seconds.

As a joint champ, Oleksiak became the youngest Canadian gold medalist in Olympic history, winter or summer, at 16 years and 59 days old and is the first Canadian to win four medals in a single Olympics, one shy of the country’s record.