Leon Marchand won his 4th Olympic swimming gold by throwing a party in Paris
NANTIER, France: The party for Leon Marchand spread beyond the pool, quickly engulfing all of Paris.
At the Stade de France, where the first evening of athletics was held, Marchand won his fourth gold medal at the Olympic Games. The roar was so loud that the first heat of the 400-meter decathlon was delayed.
Outside France's Olympic home, nearly 20,000 people gathered outside to watch Marchand dominate the pool, including 19-year-old Arthur Ursel.
“He's a hero,” Ursel said. “He's our hero.”
With French President Emmanuel Macron among more than 15,000 fans cheering him on in the rugby stadium-turned-natatorium, Marchand soared to another victory in the 200m individual medley on Friday night.
“I don't think anything went wrong this week,” Marchand said. “It was just perfect.”
The 22-year-old French phenom left no doubt that he will be remembered as one of the biggest stars of the Summer Games in his home country. He finished in an Olympic record time of 1 minute 54.06 seconds, just shy of 13-year-old Ryan Lochte's world mark.
That was about the only thing he failed to achieve in six magical days at La Defense Arena, having previously won the 400 IM, 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke – the latter two within two hours of each other in the same session.
Marchand became only the fourth swimmer in Olympic history to win four gold medals in individual games.
The rest? Michael Phelps, who did it in 2004 and 2008; Mark Spitz in 1972; and East German Christine Otto in 1988.
Heady company indeed.
“It's crazy. Those guys are legends,” Marchand said. “I don't think I've realized it yet. Maybe in a few days.”
Silver went to Britain's Duncan Scott with a body length gap of 1:55.31. China's Wang Shun won bronze with a time of 1:56.00, edging out American Carson Foster to take the podium.
What a night for France
Once again, a full hall at La Defense Arena came to cheer for their beloved son. They chanted, sang “Sweet Caroline,” waved the French tricolor flag, and opened a huge ruckus on the upper deck.
After Marchand touched the wall, he held up four fingers – one for each gold. He climbed out of the pool, pumped his fists, then held out his arms as if to say, “What more could you want?”
Nothing.
He did it all, more than living up to his nation's expectations and comparisons to Phelps, who was there to support Marchand. What could have been a burden for some athletes only seemed to push Marchand to even greater heights.
During Friday's celebration, Macron shook Marchand's hand and sent his congratulations on social media.
“Impossible is not French!” Macron wrote in French. “Four home gold medals and a new Olympic record is historic. This is Leon Marchand.'
Marchand was certainly enjoying his moment, encouraged by his American coach Bob Bowman — Phelps' coach, by the way.
He cheered the fans behind the stands before taking the top step once more. The crowd erupted into a most raucous rendition of the Marseillaise – although of course they had plenty of opportunity to work on the French national anthem this week.
Singing “Leon! Leon! Leon!” filled the arena as soon as the national anthem was played. Someone held up a sign that said “Merci Leon.”
“I am very proud to be French,” Marchand said.
Australian gold for McEvoy, McKeown
Before Marchand's triumph, Cameron McAvoy and Kaylee McKeown won more gold for Australia.
McAvoy touched first in the 50m freestyle, denying Caleb Dressel a repeat in swimming's wildest event. McKeown won the 200 backstroke to become the first swimmer to swim the backstroke at two consecutive Summer Games.
When asked if she could have imagined such an achievement, McKeown said, “Not in a million years.”
McEvoy became the first Australian to win gold at the Games, and McKeown quickly increased her country's total to seven Olympic gold medals — three more than the United States and Marchand, which is essentially a separate country.
McKeown noted what an amazing time it is for women's sports, following in the footsteps of athletes such as Simone Biles and Kaitlyn Clarke in raising the profile of female athletes.
“Not just the Australian girls, but the whole world and women's sport this year has been unreal,” McKeown said. “It's great to be a part of it.”
McEvoy made his way from one end of the pool to the other in 21.25, five hundredths of a second ahead of Britain's Benjamin Proud. Florent Manaud of France gave the home crowd another thrill by taking bronze in 21.56.
Dressel, who won five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, finished sixth in 21.61.
McKeown rallied again, as she had in the 100m backstroke, to chase down perennial American runner-up Regan Smith. The winning time was an Olympic record of 2:03.73, breaking the mark set by Missy Franklin at the 2012 London Games.
Another silver for Regan Smith
Smith touched for the fifth silver medal of her career in 2:04.26 and one bronze. She has yet to win gold.
Bronze went to Canadian Kylie Massa – 2:05.57.
Smith insisted she was happy with the result, although a gold medal remained out of reach.
“If I got the silver medal and was a second slower, I think I would have been very disappointed with myself because it wasn't my best result. It wasn't something I was capable of,” Smith said. “This is one of my fastest times. I think I really tried Kayleigh and made things very relatable and exciting. So I'm excited about that.”
There is not enough dress
The American star qualified in two individual events, and he won't medal in either.
Shortly after finishing sixth in the 50m freestyle, he returned to the pool for the semi-finals of the 100m butterfly, another event he won in Tokyo.
Dressel was unable to complete a grueling double, managing only the 13th fastest time to miss Saturday night's final.
He anchored the U.S. gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay for the eighth gold medal of his career.
It was disappointing for one of the biggest stars of the Tokyo Games, but not too unexpected given what he's been through.
A year after the 2021 Olympics were postponed due to the pandemic, Dressel retired from swimming in the middle of the world championships.
He desperately needed time off to rekindle his love of swimming, which still has some work to do. Dressel looks a lot happier now that he gave birth to his first child about five months ago, but he hasn't been able to regain the blazing speed he had three years ago.
“Obviously not my best work,” Dressel said. “I had a lot of fun, but this week was not the best. I don't think I need to shy away from it.”
He has one more relay in Paris, giving him another shot at the ninth gold of his career.
Dressel would like to end on a high note because the Games were “a little soulful, a little soulful for sure.”
After leaving the pool, he burst into tears.
