North Carolina Swimmer Wins First Olympic Gold Medal

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North Carolina State swimmer Ryan Held just won his first gold medal along side Michael Phelps as part of the U.S. Men’s 4×100 freestyle relay.

Ryan swam the third 100 meter section of the race, holding the lead that Michael Phelps gave him. Nathan Adrian finished off the final 100 meters for the Americans to narrowly beat France (silver) and Australia (broze).

Here’s a clip of the final moments of the race:

and the four victors receiving their gold medals:

Standing between Adrian and Phelps, Held bent his head and brought his left hand to his face as the anthem blared. Phelps saw what was happening and offered a supportive hand around Held’s neck.

“I didn’t think I was going to cry. I was too tired to cry, I didn’t think I could cry. I’ve heard the national anthem hundreds of times, but as soon as that played it was just something different. The tears just started rolling down my face.” Ryan Held commented during his victory speech.

“It’s good to see the emotion of those young guys. It shows they really do care and they love what they’re doing,” commented Michael Phelps, who earned his record 19th Olympic gold medal.

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