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          Michael Phelps' and Simone Manuel's gold medal wins lauded on social media

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          Manuel's love of swimming kept her in the sport (2:15)

          Simone Manuel wanted to quit swimming because she "didn't have anyone that looked like' her in the sport but encouragement from her parents and coaches as well as her love of the swimming kept her going. (2:15)

          • ESPN.com
          Aug 11, 2016, 11:11 PM ET

          Michael Phelps won his fourth gold medal of the Rio Olympics and 22nd of his career with a win in the highly anticipated 200-meter individual medley Thursday.

          The race was billed as possibly the last time Phelps and United States teammate Ryan Lochte will square off in an individual final. Phelps pulled away from the field in the final 50 meters to win in 1:54.66, 1.95 seconds ahead of second-place finisher, Japan's Kosuke Hagino.

          Many prominent figures from across the sports and entertainment world congratulated Phelps on Twitter:

          In the race immediately following, Simone Manuel tied Canada's Penny Oleksiak for gold in the women's 100-meter freestyle in an Olympic-record time of 52.70 seconds. Manuel became the first African-American woman to win an Olympic medal in an individual swimming event.

          Her win also generated an emphatic response on social media: