Simone Manuel backs up historic Olympic win with world championship

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Simone Manuel backed up her historic victory at the Olympics with a world championship in the 100-meter freestyle on Friday.

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom jumped out to a quick lead and was under her own world-record pace when she made the flip, with Manuel in third.

But the 20-year-old Texan stormed from behind on the return lap, steadily closing the gap until she caught the leader on the very last stroke.

Manuel touched first with a time of 52.27 seconds — edging Sjostrom by just four-hundredths of a second.

Pernille Blume of Denmark grabbed the bronze.

Last summer, Manuel became the first African-American woman to win an individual swimming gold at the Olympics when she tied Canada’s Penny Oleksiak for the gold in Rio de Janeiro.

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