Leon Marchand at the Olympic Games in Paris performed one of the most daring doubles in the history of swimming
NANTERRE, France: It turns out those comparisons to Michael Phelps weren't far-fetched when it comes to Leon Marchand.
For the 22-year-old Frenchman, they were certainly not a burden.
On Wednesday night, Marchand completed one of the most daring medleys in swimming history, winning the 200-meter butterfly and 200-meter breaststroke about two hours apart in front of a home crowd that cheered his every stroke.
Two grueling races. Two very different beats. Two Olympic records. Two gold medals.
Take that, Phelps, who did a few doubles of his own, winning a record eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“I'm a really shy person,” Marchand said. “I was in the spotlight during those two races. I tried to get energy from the whole crowd. They are amazing for me, pushing me in every final.”
Captivating the French fans and commanding attention even on a night when Cathy Ledecky won another gold medal, Marchand claimed a second and third victory at La Defense Arena and established himself – not even a week into the Olympics – as one of the faces of the Games.
After rallying to beat world record holder and reigning Olympic champion Christophe Millac in the 200m with a finish for the ages, Marchand made it easy in the 200m breaststroke.
He led all the way, touching 2min 5.85sec, as more than 15,000 fans — many holding cardboard cutouts of his smiling face — nearly blew the roof off La Defense Arena.
“Leon! Leon! Leon!” – they shouted, and this chant was sure to be heard throughout the night in Paris.
Marchand begins to conduct business
Trailing most of the way in the 200 meters, Marchand passed Hungary's Milak on the final lap to finish in an Olympic record 1:51.71, touching first by just four hundredths of a second.
On the final lap, Marchand was almost 0.66 faster than anyone else in the field — and 1.26 ahead of Milak.
“I watched so many races from him,” Marchand said. “I know he's got a lot of speed, a lot more speed than me, so I just tried to get as close as I could and then just push him to the end.”
Bronze went to Canadian Ilya Harun.
After his dominant victory in the 400km individual medley on Sunday, Marchand waved his finger and shook his head a bit as if he couldn't believe what he had done.
Then he hurried off the deck to another round of cheers to begin his warm-up, though those preparations were interrupted by the obligatory return to the victory ceremony.
After a stormy performance of “Marseillaise”, the other two medalists slowly walked around the pool, taking pictures.
Not Marchand. He hurried back to the training pool. There was another race ahead.
Ledecky's record gold
The American star made the most of her stint on the Marchand Show, winning her seventh individual Olympic gold medal – she also has relay gold – and 12th medal overall, winning the 1,500 freestyle.
Ledecky, 27, tied Americans Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Jenny Thompson for the most medals won by a swimmer. Ledecky already held the mark for most individual gold medals among women competing in those games.
“I try not to think too much about history,” Liadetsky said. “But I know those names, the people I'm there with, these are swimmers I looked up to when I first started swimming. So it's an honor just to be among them.”
Ledecky led from the start and steadily pulled away, clocking an Olympic record 15:30.02 in the event, which has joined the women's program at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
It was like the race from three years ago, with Lyadetsky far ahead and everyone else fighting for silver.
France's Anastasia Kirpichynikova was almost half a lap behind, but impressed the home fans by finishing second on the podium in 15:40.35.
Bronze went to the German Isabel Gose – 15:41.16.
After starting the Paris Games with bronze in the 400 m freestyle, this result seemed more familiar to Ledecky.
She was clearly delighted to be back on top, splashing water and pounding her fist repeatedly as she walked the deck – a rare display of emotion for the stoic athlete who performs with the efficiency of a machine.
“I know a lot of other people expected that from me,” Ledecky said. “That doesn't make it easy. I mean, it's not easy to always be on task and get the job done.''
Marchand returns for more gold
As Ledecky walked off the deck with her gold medal, it was time for Marchand to go after her second medal of the evening.
No problem. He blew away the field in the 200 breaststroke with an Olympic record 2:05.85, edging out another champion from Tokyo.
This time, Australian Zach Stablety-Cook settled for silver, almost a second behind – 2:06.79. Kasper Corbo from the Netherlands won the bronze.
“The most exciting part of this whole race is watching him soak it all in and get his moment,” Stablety-Cook said. “I think it's wonderful. It's great for the sport of swimming and it's great to see the better half of 15,000 people chanting one person's name and watching the swim live.”
Marchand got out of the pool and stared at the scoreboard. He twirled his curly hair a few times, then raised his hands.
His work was done, at least for a few hours. Next up is the 200km event, which starts on Thursday morning.
“I'm very proud of him,” said his coach, American Bob Bowman, who also coached Phelps. “This is a huge historic effort.”
China's Pan Zhanle set the first world record in swimming at the Paris Games
In all the hubbub, China's Pan Zhanle, who set the first world record of the Games by breaking his own mark in the 100m freestyle, almost lost.
He won in 46.40, easily eclipsing the 46.80 mark he set in February at the world championships in Doha.
It was an impressive performance considering the shallow pool at La Defense Arena, which was cited as the main reason no world records were set in the first four days of the meet.
Australian Kyle Chalmers won silver, David Popovici from Romania won bronze.
Swedish gold for 5-time Olympian Sjöstrom
Sarah Schostrom won her fifth Olympic gold medal by winning the 100 freestyle.
Schostrom has shortened her program at the last two world championships, swimming only 50 freestyles. She decided to add 100 at the Paris Games, and that decision paid off.
Her winning time was 52.16, and Team USA settled for another silver medal — its eighth in swimming events — when Tori Haske finished in 52.29. Bronze was won by Shivan Hagi from Hong Kong.
