Swimmer Simone Manuel heading to Olympics in 50m freestyle: ‘I proceed to belief in God’
By Kevin Mercer Jun 25, 2024
Simone Manuel after profitable the ladies’s 50-meter freestyle finals, June 23, 2024. (AP Photograph/Darron Cummings)
Swimmer Simone Manuel will signify Workforce USA within the 50-meter freestyle competitors on the 2024 Paris Olympics, following her win within the occasion on the U.S. swimming trials on Sunday.
Manuel, who had already secured her spot in Paris as a part of the 4×100 freestyle relay staff, needed to compete in an individual event. She was all the way down to her final shot. But due to her winning time of 24.13 seconds, she’ll have an opportunity so as to add one other particular person Olympic medal to her rising resume.
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Manuel gave the impression to be in fourth place with 10 meters left on Sunday, however an unimaginable closing kick gave her the slender victory.
SIMONE. MANUEL. 😤@swimone wins the 50m free within the ultimate girls’s occasion of #SwimTrials24 and Gretchen Walsh will be a part of her on this occasion in Paris. pic.twitter.com/kD9E0zuXvU
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 24, 2024
Manuel spent Saturday night time watching highlights of herself in preparation for the race, as a result of her confidence had been shaken.
She managed solely a fourth-place exhibiting on the trials within the 100-meter freestyle particular person occasion, and her qualifying time within the 50-meter freestyle was solely the fourth quickest (almost a half-second behind Gretchen Walsh, who additionally certified after ending second to Manuel on Sunday).
The 27-year-old Manuel got here by when it mattered most.
“I wasn’t feeling too assured after final night time,” she told NBC after the race. “I spent a whole lot of time watching races the place I gained. I actually needed to channel that Simone, as a result of I do know I’m a winner, and that’s what I did tonight. It’s loopy. It’s actually particular how issues flip round in 24 hours and the way I proceed to belief in God. So I’m actually grateful.”
Manuel took to X — the place in her bio she cites the Bible verse Philippians 4:13 — after first incomes her approach again to the Olympics final week. She took the time to develop on her ideas about heading to Paris.
“Wow!!! To God be the glory,” she began, earlier than detailing her difficulties surrounding the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. “… It began with a name to be obedient and devoted to God’s calling and goal for my life. Believing in the truth that He’s in management, and that He all the time has a lot greater plans for our lives than than we are able to think about.”
Manuel described it as a therapeutic technique of constructing her physique again to championship kind and restoring her soul as she fell in love with the game another time. She stays steadfast in her gratitude to God, and to all who helped her get again to her third Olympics.
“I used to be strolling an unpredictable path, however I noticed a chance,” she wrote. “A possibility to as soon as once more, by no means surrender on myself, to by no means surrender on God.”
— Simone Manuel (@swimone) June 20, 2024
On the Rio Olympics in 2016, Manuel burst into the worldwide sports activities consciousness at 20 years outdated. She gained two golds and two silvers on the Video games, together with a gold within the 100-meter freestyle particular person occasion. In doing so, she grew to become the primary Black feminine swimmer ever to win a person Olympic gold medal.
Within the leadup to the Tokyo Olympics 5 years later, nevertheless, she was diagnosed with Overtraining Syndrome and needed to take a three-week break from coaching. This in fact set her delayed. She still made it to Tokyo within the 50-meter freestyle and on the 4×100 freestyle relay staff, however she didn’t medal within the first occasion and solely earned a bronze within the second.
Following these Olympics, Manuel’s physician ordered her to close down all bodily exercise till her physique — and maybe her thoughts — fully healed. As she revealed in her X publish final week, that season of mattress relaxation lasted 5 months.
Now again within the pool and again to being the most effective swimmers on the earth, Manuel can swim freely. She is aware of it was God who liked her and cared for her when nobody was watching, and He’ll proceed to like her and take care of her in Paris. It doesn’t matter what occurs, it’s all a present from Him.
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