Stories on athletes and lifechanging Olympic finishes that altered the course of their careers

(Editor’s note: Fractions of a second or a slight misstep during the Olympics can alter the career, the legacy or the earning potential of athletes. Several athletes, including Michael Phelps, Edwin Moses and Simone Manuel talked with media about some of those lifechanging finishes.)

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Jonathan Horton didn’t expect to make the Olympic high bar final in 2008.

Sure, the 45-second thrill ride that’s comprised of a series of intricate hand movements and daring releases is fun. It just wasn’t his best event, and he knew it.

That knowledge gave Horton a sense of freedom. He spent the days leading up to the finals coming up with a routine packed with difficulty on the fly, a routine he didn’t hit even once during practice. A routine his coach, longtime Oklahoma coach Mark Williams, begged him not to try.

“Before it was my turn, Mark was like, ‘Don’t do it, dude,’” Horton said.

Horton ignored that advice.

Everything that could have gone right, went right. Then came the dismount, when he unwrapped out of his triple twisting double backflip dismount a fraction early, leading to one small step and a tiny deduction that had him finish second, .025 points behind gold medalist Zou Kai of China.

“I’ll never forget the fact that everybody booed when I didn’t win, that was a win to me,” said Horton, who helped the U.S. win bronze in the team competition. “That was just awesome. I shouldn’t have been in that final first of all and then I shouldn’t have nailed this crazy routine.”

While the 38-year-old, married father of two admits he heard that small stop cost him seven figures in endorsement opportunities, he’s not bitter. He lives in Texas, where he sells insurance and makes the occasional motivational speaking appearance.

“I did everything there is to do, the only thing I didn’t do is win an Olympic gold medal,” Horton said. “I have no reason to complain. I’m very thankful and humbled by what God has done for me.”

— By Will Graves

Growing up, Simone Manuel wondered why more people didn’t look like her at the pool.

That’s why it was so important to get her hand on the wall first at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Manuel became the first Black female swimmer to claim an individual gold medal when she tied Canada’s Penny Oleksiak for the top spot in the 100-meter freestyle.

It was a performance that undoubtedly inspired countless swimmers of color to pursue their own dreams.

If Manuel had been a split-second slower, her impact on diversifying the sport would not have been nearly as profound.

“Honestly, it’s just mentality,” Manuel said when asked what takes to pull out a close race. “I think it’s really just the willingness to win. On top of that, it’s just your training. Every little millisecond or second comes down to how hard you’ve been training all year. It’s not like it just shows up at that moment in time.”

It’s a fine line, of course.

Manuel worked too hard leading up to the Tokyo Olympics, leading to a diagnosis of overtraining syndrome. After a lengthy break, she returned to the pool and qualified for her third Olympics in Paris.