Simone Manuel Becomes First African-American Female Olympic Swimmer to Win Individual Gold

Simone Manuel won a gold medal at the Rio Olympics on Thursday — and secured her spot in history.

The 20-year-old became the first African-American woman to win a gold in an individual swimming event when she tied with Canadian Penny Oleksiak in the 100 freestyle.

“I hope that I can be an inspiration to others, so this medal is for the people who come behind me and get into the sport and hopefully find love and drive to get to this point,” Manuel said afterward, according to NBC.

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The Stanford student went on touch on “some of the issues with police brutality.”

“I think that this win helps bring hope and change to some of the issues that are going on in the world, but I mean, I went out there and swam as fast as I could, and my color just comes with the territory,” she said.

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Manuel’s groundbreaking victory and Olympic-record time of 52.70 seconds won accolades from fellow athletes and entertainment stars alike in an outpouring of love on social media.

See some of the tweets below.

.@simone_manuel pushes the door wide open inspiring others. This is what the #Olympics are all about. #100mfreestyle pic.twitter.com/B9HIoXowmW

— Jennifer Beals (@jenniferbeals) August 12, 2016

.@simone_manuel​ is the 1st African American female swimmer to win an individual #Gold.https://t.co/BWGaUNiTHM https://t.co/ymvkixzMf0

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 12, 2016

Pure passion.

It's Olympic history for @simone_manuel on an incredible night in the pool.https://t.co/QWD4R21txF pic.twitter.com/TiviH2AM1p

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 12, 2016

Congrats @simone_manuel! 1st female African American swimmer to win gold!! And a @GoStanford Card. Of course.

— Julie Foudy (@JulieFoudy) August 12, 2016

Simone Manuel has me choked up…her emotion is so genuine and special to watch!!

— Erin Andrews (@ErinAndrews) August 12, 2016

So Inspiring 🇺🇸🇺🇸 @simone_manuel

— Lolo Jones (@lolojones) August 12, 2016

Simone Manuel & Simone Biles holding it down for Houston and America.
Incredible Performances. #USA

— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) August 12, 2016

On west coast..just watched @simone_manuel make history. Can't stop crying. THANK YOU for this video. #SimoneManuel https://t.co/25WDd2FriH

— Sage Steele (@sagesteele) August 12, 2016

Simone Manuel, Simone Biles, and Misty Copeland give me that "black girls rock" feeling in my heart. I just be cheesin when I watch them 😍

— TJ the Chicago Kid (@Slimtacular_) August 12, 2016

Simone Manuel. We did it. #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/zD7rHCXnSJ

— Reese Waters (@reesewaters) August 12, 2016

Simone Manuel just annihilated a field and a stereotype #Rio2016

— Reese Waters (@reesewaters) August 12, 2016