Californian news site apologises for 'insensitive' headline about Simone Manuel

Simone Manuel has become the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in an individual Olympic swimming event.

SEE ALSO: Simone Manuel overcome with emotion after historic swim for America

But for a Californian paper that wasn't historic enough.

Mercury News, which brings the latest Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area news, caused a backlash for their headline "Michael Phelps shares historic night with African-American":

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The tweet was later deleted, but not before started comparing the blunder to a Donald Trump's boutade:

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Others attempted to explain it by blaming the recent wave of layoff in the paper's copy desk:

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Mercury News later apologised for the "insensitive headline" and changed the story:

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Manuel, 20, won the gold medal on Thursday night in the women's 100-meter freestyle in Rio, Brazil. She tied for first place with Canadian teenager Penny Oleksiak, with both setting an Olympic record of 52.70 seconds.