On a night when everyone started out talking about Michael Phelps, it was another young swimmer who made American history.

20-year-old Simone Manuel became the first black female swimmer to win an Olympic medal for America when she tied for first place in the 100m freestyle Thursday night.

In the last few meters, Manuel caught up to Australian favorite Cate Campbell and touched the wall at 52.70, dead even with 16-year-old Canadian Penny Oleksiak.

(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

An emotional Manuel was in tears in her post race interview as the historic nature of her win caught up to her.

“All I can say is all glory to God,” Manuel said. “It’s definitely been a long journey these past four years, and I’m just so blessed to have the gold medal.”

Wiping away tears, she said, “This medal is not just for me, it’s for a whole bunch of people who have came before me, and been an inspiration to me and it’s for all the people after me who believe they can’t do it. I want to be an inspiration to them that they can do it.”

(Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)