Simone says: Olympic champ pushes for change in, out of pool
Outside of it, the Olympic champion is pushing herself in a new endeavor to boost the profile of womenโs sports. AdSheโs aiming to defend her 100 free title at the Tokyo Olympics, delayed for a year by the coronavirus pandemic. When Stanford closed its facilities last March, Manuel and training partner Katie Ledecky found a backyard pool to work out in. He failed to make it out of the preliminaries, finishing 32nd in the 100 free and 25th in the 100 breaststroke. Blake Pieroni won the menโs 100 free in 49.19 seconds.
Ledecky wins easily in 1st major swim meet amid pandemic
(AP Photo/Michael Sohn)Like everyone else, Katie Ledecky was forced to shelve her plans when the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Ledecky is still working toward making a big splash at this summerโs delayed Tokyo Games. Ledecky is among several big names diving back in with three months to go until the U.S. Olympic trials. Caeleb Dressel, Simone Manuel, double backstroke world-record holder Regan Smith, and Ryan Lochte will swim over four days in the first single-site American meet since the pandemic began. In the early days of the pandemic, Ledecky scrambled to find a pool to train in after Stanford shut down its facilities.
P&G extends Olympic sponsorship, focusing on equality drive
FILE - In this March 30, 2020, file photo, a man jogs past the Olympic rings in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)LONDON Procter & Gamble will use its Olympic and Paralympic sponsorship to campaign for racial equality after extending its backing of the games through 2028. We want to now extend that to be both a force for growth and a force for good for the next eight years.The Tokyo Olympics are now a year away after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Gestures such as taking a knee or raising a fist on a medal podium remain prohibited by the International Olympic Committee. Thats a big discussion the IOC is now having with the athletes, which I think is quite appropriate, Pritchard said.