Leon Marchand fulfilled what French fans may regard as destiny as he swept to a fourth gold medal at his home Paris games by winning the men’s 200-metre individual medley in an Olympic record time.
Roared on by a delirious crowd at La Defense Arena on Friday, Marchand took control from the second backstroke leg, stretched his lead through the breaststroke, then powered home with a time of 1 minute, 54.06 seconds, only 0.06 seconds short of Ryan Lochte’s 13-year record.
Britain’s Duncan Scott won the silver, more than a second behind Marchand, while China’s defending champion Wang Shun took the bronze.
The win made Marchand the first French athlete to take four individual golds, as opposed to team ones, at a single Summer Games and only the third male swimmer to do so after Americans Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz.
The 22-year-old won the 400-metre individual medley last Sunday and then both the 200-metre butterfly and 200-metre breaststroke within the space of two incredible hours on Wednesday.
The great expectations might have been too much for other swimmers at their home games, but Marchand only drew energy from them and lived up to his nickname, the French Michael Phelps.
‘He runs France now’
A delighted French President Emmanuel Macron punched his fist in the air in celebration from the terraces packed with the country’s flags.
“It was my last individual final so I said to myself, I really have to enjoy it,” Marchand told reporters.
“I had a lot more energy than yesterday so I felt better, more relaxed.
“And I really wanted to have fun in my last final and it happened, so it was huge.”
Just as he had done three times before, the 22-year-old from Toulouse mounted the podium and belted out the Marseillaise with the entire stadium accompanying him.
“Leon’s name’s now in the national anthem it seems, which is pretty cool,” said Scott, who extended his British record haul to eight Olympic medals.
“As much as what Phelps did was pretty sensational, he never did it in his home country and so he’s becoming a sort of global superstar now. He kind of runs France now.”
Marchand Mania! 🥇
Leon Marchand finishes just shy of the world record while winning #gold for France in the men’s 200m individual medley. 🇫🇷
The 22-year-old captured his 4th gold of #Paris2024.@FranceOlympique | @WorldAquatics | #Swimming #Samsung | #TogetherforTomorrow pic.twitter.com/I39kwQqL9l
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 2, 2024
Kaylee McKeown completes backstroke double – again
A few minutes before Marchand took to the pool, Australia’s Kaylee McKeown retained her 200-metre title in an Olympic record of 2 minutes 03.73 seconds ahead of American Regan Smith (2:04.26) and Canada’s Kylie Masse (2:05.57).
McKeown admitted that “not in a million years” could she have dreamed of completing the Olympic backstroke double – twice.
The 23-year-old achieved the rare feat after winning the 100-metre gold to match her exploits from Tokyo, with the unassuming swimmer flawless over two Olympics with four golds from four individual events.
No Australian swimmer, man or woman, had ever completed the 100-200-metre backstroke double at consecutive Olympics.
“Not in a million years,” she said in Paris after being asked if she had ever envisaged such an accomplishment.
“Growing up, I’ve always just idolised my sister [Taylor] and Emily Seebohm and seeing what they do in the sport,” she said.
McEvoy pips Proud to 50-metre freestyle gold
McKewon’s compatriot Cameron McEvoy pipped Britain’s Ben Proud to win gold in the men’s 50-metre freestyle.
McEvoy won with a time of 21.25 seconds, with Proud 0.05 seconds behind to take silver and France’s Florent Manaudou collecting bronze.
For Manaudou, it was the fourth straight games in which he has earned a medal in the shortest of the freestyle events.
The 30-year-old McEvoy won his first Olympic gold after picking up two bronze medals in relays in Rio and a third in Tokyo.
The Queenslander opted to switch his focus purely to the 50-metre freestyle after Tokyo, radically changing his training routine to best suit the explosive race.
