Leon Marchand completes one of the most daring doubles in swimming history at the Paris Olympics
NANTERRE, France: It turns out those comparisons to Michael Phelps weren't far-fetched at all when it comes to Leon Marchand.
They certainly weren't a burden for the 22-year-old Frenchman.
Marchand completed one of the boldest doubles in swimming history on Wednesday night, winning the 200-meter butterfly and 200 breaststroke about two hours apart in front of a home crowd that cheered every stroke.
Two tough races. Two very different kinds. Two Olympic records. Two gold medals.
Take that, Phelps, who pulled off multiple doubles of his own while capturing a record eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“I'm a very shy person,” Marchand said. “I was kind of the center of attention during the two races. I tried to get energy from the whole crowd. They are great for me and push me in every final.”
Enthralling the French fans and claiming the spotlight even on a night when Katie Ledecky stomped her way to another gold medal, Marchand recorded her second and third victories at La Defense Arena and branded herself – with the Olympics not even a week old – as one of the faces of the games.
After rallying to beat world record holder and defending Olympic champion Kristof Milák in the 200 fly with a finishing kick for the ages, Marchand made it look easy in the 200 breast.
He led all the way, touching in 2 minutes, 5.85 seconds as more than 15,000 fans – many of them holding up cardboard cutouts of his smiling face – nearly blew the roof off La Defense Arena.
“Léon! Léon! Léon!” they shouted, a chant that would surely go on all night in Paris.
Marchand gets things rolling
Trailing most of the way in the 200 fly, Marchand edged past Hungary's Milak on the final lap to finish in an Olympic record 1:51.71, finishing first by just four-hundredths of a second.
Marchand's final lap was almost 0.66 faster than anyone else in the field — and 1.26 ahead of Milák.
“I've seen so many races from him,” Marchand said. “I know he has a lot of speed, a lot more than me, so I just tried to get as close as possible and then just push it to the end.”
The bronze went to Canada's Ilya Kharun.
After his dominant victory in the 400 individual medley on Sunday, Marchand wagged a finger and shook his head just a little, as if he couldn't quite believe what he had done.
He then hurried off the deck to another rousing cheer to begin his warm-up, although those preparations were interrupted by a mandatory return for the victory ceremony.
After a loud rendition of “La Marseillaise,” the other two medalists walked slowly around the pool and got their pictures.
Not Marchand. He rushed back to the training pool. There was one more race left.
Ledecky's record gold
The American star made the most of her guest appearance on The Marchand Show by claiming her seventh individual Olympic gold medal — she also has a relay gold — and 12th medal overall with a runaway victory in the 1,500 freestyle.
The 27-year-old Ledecky tied fellow Americans Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Jenny Thompson for the most medals ever by a female swimmer. Ledecky already held the mark for most individual gold medals by a woman entering these games.
“I try not to think too much about the story,” Ledecky said. “But I know those names, those people that I'm up there with, they're swimmers that I looked up to when I started swimming. So it's an honor just to be named among them.”
Ledecky led right from the start and pulled away steadily to set an Olympic record 15:30.02 in an event joining the women's program at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
This was similar to the race three years ago: Ledecky far ahead and everyone else competing for a silver.
France's Anastasiia Kirpichinikova finished nearly half a lap behind but impressed the home fans by claiming second place on the podium in 15:40.35.
The bronze went to German Isabel Gose in 15:41.16.
After starting the Paris Games with a bronze in the 400 freestyle, this result looked more familiar to Ledecky.
Clearly delighted to be back on top, she splashed the water and pumped her fist several times as she walked across the deck – a rare display of emotion for a stoic athlete who performs with machine-like efficiency.
“I know a lot of other people expected that from me,” Ledecky said. “It doesn't make it easy. I mean, it's not easy to always follow through and get the job done.”
Marchand returns for more gold
As Ledecky walked off deck with his gold medal, it was time for Marchand to go for his second night,
No problem. He blew away the field in the 200 breaststroke with an Olympic record of 2:05.85, knocking off another champion from Tokyo.
Australia's Zac Stubblety-Cook settled for silver this time, almost a second behind in 2:06.79. Casper Corbeau of the Netherlands claimed the bronze.
“The most exciting part of the whole race and seeing him soak it all up and get his moment,” Stubblety-Cook said. “I think it's great. It's great for the sport of swimming and it's great to see the better half of 15,000 people chanting a person's name and watching swimming live.”
Marchand climbed out of the pool and stared at the scoreboard. He tugged at his mop of curly hair a few times and then threw his arms in the air.
His work was done, at least for a few hours. Next up is the 200 individual medley, which begins with heats Thursday morning.
“I'm so very proud of him,” said his coach, American Bob Bowman, who was also Phelps' coach. “It's a huge, historic effort.”
China's Pan Zhanle sets the first swimming world record at the Paris Games
Almost lost in all the fuss was China's Pan Zhanle, who set the first world record at these Games, breaking her own mark in the 100 freestyle.
He won in 46.40, easily beating the mark of 46.80 he set in February at the World Championships in Doha.
It was an impressive performance considering the shallow pool at La Defense Arena, which has been cited as the major reason why no world records fell in the first four days of the meet.
Australia's Kyle Chalmers took silver and David Popovici from Romania took the bronze.
Swedish gold for 5-time Olympian Sjöström
Sarah Sjöström made her fifth Olympics a gold medal celebration with a victory in the 100 freestyle.
Sjöström had reduced her program at the last two world championships and swam only the 50 free. She decided to add 100 at the Paris Games, and boy did that decision pay off.
Her winning time was 52.16, with the U.S. settling for another silver medal — its eighth in the swimming event — when Torri Huske finished in 52.29. Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong took the bronze.
