California paper apologizes after referring to Michael Phelps by name but just calling Simone Manuel 'African-American'

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Mercury News of San Jose has apologized for an insensitive headline
It read: 'Olympics: Michael Phelps shares historic night with African-American'
Readers took to social media after the headline was posted to complain
Executive editor said no one will be fired but added: 'We made a mistake'

Published: 22:25 EST, 12 August 2016 | Updated: 16:07 EST, 13 August 2016

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A California newspaper has apologized for an insensitive headline referring to Michael Phelps by name and just calling Simone Manuel 'African-American'.

Mercury News of San Jose omitted Manuel's name in a headline reading: 'Olympics: Michael Phelps shares historic night with African-American.'

The 20-year-old Stanford University student became the first African-American woman to win a gold medal in an individual swimming event when she tied for first with Penny Oleksiak of Canada in the 100-meter freestyle Thursday night.

United States' Simone Manuel held up her finger for 'number one' after she won the gold medal in the women's 100-meter freestyle

Simone Manuel was catapulted into the limelight during her emotional victory in the women's 100m freestyle Thursday - an event the US has not won since 1984

Michael Phelps won gold in the 200m individual medley for his fourth straight Olympics Thursday

The Mercury News, which covered Manuel's collegiate career at nearby Stanford, tweeted an apology, saying the headline was insensitive.

The headline was posted on the newspaper's website, but quickly removed and replaced with one carrying Manuel's name with Phelps'. The headline was not printed in the newspaper.

Readers took to social media after the offensive headline was posted to complain about the gaffe.

'This is a terrible headline,' Mercury News sports columnist Tim Kawakami posted on Twitter while the headline was still live. 'It's my paper. I might get in trouble for saying it, but it's a terrible headline.'

Apology: The Mercury News tweeted an apology, saying the headline was insensitive

Executive editor Neil Chase said no one will be fired because it appears there were no bad intentions in writing the headline.

Instead, Chase said there will be a 'tough conversation' to determine exactly how the headline came to be written and published without any staffer raising concern.

He said a 'couple different people saw it' before it was posted. 'We made a mistake,' he said.