Cullen Jones and the US Olympic Swim Team won the Gold yesterday in the 4×100 Freestyle relay:
Swimmer Cullen Jones is still reeling from winning Olympic gold in a relay that is already being called one of the most exciting races in sports history. And now he is just starting to digest the longer-reaching impact his victory could have on a sport that is lacking in diversity.
“I was told, ‘You could change the face of swimming by getting more African-Americans into swimming,’ ” Jones, 24, said. “At first I was like, ‘Really, me?’ I never got into it thinking I could do something like that, you never do. I just liked to swim.”
But years of training have led Jones to the top of the Olympic podium — and he is ready to use his new position in the public spotlight to spread his love for swimming to minority youths when he returns home to the States. Jones is just the third African-American swimmer to medal in an Olympic Games, and today, as the third leg of the relay that anchor Jason Lezak brought home in a dramatic finish, he became just the second to win gold.
Click here to watch a video of Cullen describe the win.
