A crowd of nearly 3,000 people gathered at the Sugar Land Town Square Thursday to welcome home Olympic athletes and city natives Steven López and Simone Manuel. The taekwondo athlete and swimmer, respectively, competed at the 2016 Rio Games. The 2016 Games were López’ fifth Olympics and Manuel’s first. Manuel, 20, made history in Brazil as the first African-American woman to win gold in an individual swimming event. Residents, including members of her own First Colony Swim Team in Sugar Land, cheered her on at the steps of Sugar Land City Hall. Manuel graduated from Austin High School in 2014 and now swims for Stanford University. “Just the fact that people are telling me that I am an inspiration to them is so humbling, and I can’t even explain how I’m feeling right now,” she said. López, 37, whose two brothers and sister have also competed in taekwondo at the Olympic Games, said he is thankful to have his family’s support. López graduated from Kempner High School in 1997. “If you can imagine walking into the opening ceremonies, I see my two brothers to my left, I see my sister to my right, I just know my parents were there watching us,” he said. Local officials including Mayor Joe Zimmerman, Fort Bend ISD Superintendent Charles Dupre, Fort Bend County Precinct 4 Commissioner James Patterson and State Rep. Ron Reynolds, D-Missouri City, spoke during the event. “Simone and Steven, you’re very special to us,” Zimmerman said. “You’re very special to the Sugar Land community [and] to Fort Bend ISD.” Reynolds spoke about the athlete’s winning records. “Ladies and gentlemen, do you realize that you are looking at two of the most premier athletes not in the state of Texas, but the entire world?” he said. In Rio, Manuel won gold in the women’s 100m freestyle and the 4x100m medley relay. She also won silver in the 50m freestyle and the 4x100m freestyle relay. “I love what I’m doing and I’m improving, so there’s no reason to quit,” she said. López did not medal this year but took gold in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games, as well as bronze during the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Nevertheless, López said he would not change anything about his performance in Rio and did not rule out competing in his sixth Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020. “I was very happy that I was able to go out there healthy, no injuries and got to perform,” he said. “I did everything I could.” [g-slider gid="173097" width="100%" height="55%"]