Okay, so Knox McKay wasn’t exactly in the pool in the 200 meter breaststroke. Rebecca Soni is the one who lowered her own world mark.
Still, the Staples rising junior starred in an AT&T commercial celebrating the feat.
According to Business Insider, much of the commercial had to be filmed after the race, such as Knox writing Soni’s world record time on a white board (as inspiration). With the tape-delayed broadcast, AT&T had just 9 hours to create the commercial and get it on the air.
Knox’s commercial is one of several in AT&T’s “The New Possible” campaign. The idea is for actual Olympians’ achievements to inspire younger athletes. The innovation — and challenge — is that actual award-winning performances are integrated into the ad. To read more about how the ads were created, click here.