Leon Marchand captures his 4th Olympic swimming gold, setting off a party in Paris
NANTERRE, France: The party for Leon Marchand spread beyond the pool, quickly sweeping across Paris.
At the Stade de France, hosting the first night of athletics, a huge ovation erupted as Marchand won his fourth Olympic gold medal. The wind was so strong that the first heat of the 400m decathlon was postponed.
At the French Olympic home, nearly 20,000 people gathered outside to watch Marchand end his dominant run in the pool, including 19-year-old Arthur Oursel.
“He's a hero,” Oursel said. “He is our hero.”
With French President Emmanuel Macron among more than 15,000 fans cheering him on in a rugby stadium-turned-natorium, Marchand recorded another runaway 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 native country. He finished with an Olympic record of 1 minute, 54.06 seconds, just missing Ryan Lochte's 13-year-old world mark.
That was about the only thing she didn't accomplish in six magical days at La Defense Arena, having previously won the 400 IM, 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke — the latter two about two hours apart in the same session.
Marchand became only the fourth swimmer in Olympia history to win four individual golds at a single Games.
The others? Michael Phelps, who did it in both 2004 and 2008; Mark Spitz in 1972; and East German Kristin Otto in 1988.
Heady company indeed.
“That's crazy. Those guys are legends,” Marchand said. “I don't think I've figured it out yet. Maybe I will in a few days.”
The silver went to the British Duncan Scott, with a length of 1:55.31. China's Wang Shun took bronze in 1:56.00, edging out American Carson Foster for a spot on the podium.
What a night for France
A packed house at La Defense Arena came out to cheer on their favorite son once again. They chanted, sang “Sweet Caroline,” waved the French tricolor flag, and unveiled a huge cheerleader 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?”
Not a single thing.
He had done it all, more than living up to his nation's expectations and comparisons to Phelps, who was here to cheer Marchand on. What might have been a burden for some athletes only seemed to push Marchand to even greater heights.
Macron shook Marchand's hand during the celebration on Friday and sent him congratulations via social media.
“Impossible is not French!” Macron wrote in French. “Four gold medals at home and a new Olympic record – it's historic. I'm Leon Marchand.”
Marchand certainly enjoyed his moment, which was encouraged by his American coach Bob Bowman – Phelps' coach, on a fitting note.
He led the fans behind the podium in cheers before taking the top step once more. The crowd erupted into their most emotional rendition of 'La Marseillaise' yet – although of course they've had plenty of chances to work on the French national anthem this week.
Chants of “Leon! Leo! Leon!” filled the arena as soon as the anthem was finished. Someone held up a sign that simply said “Thank you Leon”.
“I am extremely proud,” said Marchand, “to be French.”
Australian gold for McEvoy, McKeown
Before Marchand's triumph, Cameron McEvoy and Kaylee McKeown won more gold for Australia.
McEvoy touched first in the 50 free, denying Caeleb Dressel a repeat in swimming's most frenetic event. McKeown followed with a win in the 200 backstroke to become the first swimmer to sweep the backstroke at two consecutive Summer Games.
Asked if she could have imagined such an achievement, McKeown said, “Not in a million years.”
McEvoy became the first Australian man to win gold at these games and McKeown quickly increased his country's total to an Olympic-leading seven golds – three more than the US and Marchand, who is essentially a country in self.
McKeown noted what an amazing time this is for women's sports, following in the footsteps of athletes like Simone Biles and Caitlin Clark in raising the profile of female athletes.
“Not just the Aussie girls but the whole world and women's sport has been unreal this year,” McKeown said. “It's great to be a part of it.”
McEvoy crossed the pool in 21.25, beating Great Britain's Benjamin Proud by five hundredths of a second. France's Florent Manaudou provided another thrill for the hosts 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 he did in the 100 backstroke, to chase down perennial American runner-up Regan Smith. The winning time was an Olympic record of 2:03.73, surpassing the mark set by Missy Franklin at the 2012 London Games.
Another silver for Regan Smith
Smith clocked her fifth career silver in 2:04.26 to go along with one bronze. She has yet to win the gold.
Bronze went to Canada's Kylie Masse in 2:05.57.
Smith insisted she was happy with the result, even if a gold medal remained within reach.
“If I had got a silver medal and been a second slower I think I would have been really disappointed with myself because that wasn't my best leg. That wasn't what I was capable of doing,” Smith said. “It's one of my fastest times. I think we gave Kaylee a run and made things really close and interesting. So I'm excited about that.”
Dressel is short
The American star has qualified in two individual events and will not win a medal in either of them.
Shortly after placing sixth in the 50 free, she returned to the pool for the 100 butterfly semifinals—another event she won in Tokyo.
Dressel failed to complete the grueling double, managing only the 13th fastest time to miss the final on Saturday night.
He anchored the USA to gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay for his eighth career gold medal.
It was a disappointing performance for one of the biggest stars of the Tokyo Games, but not so unexpected given what he has been through.
A year after the 2021 Olympics, postponed by the pandemic, Dressel quit swimming in the middle of the world championships.
She desperately needed a break to rekindle her love of swimming, which is still a bit of a work in progress. Dressel seems much happier now, having welcomed his first child about five months ago, but he hasn't been able to regain his lightning speed of three years ago.
“Obviously not my best work,” Dressel said. “I had a lot of fun, but this was not my best week. I don't think I have to shy away from it.”
He has one more relay to go in Paris, giving him another shot at a ninth career gold.
Dressel would like to go out on a high note because these Games were “a little bit heartbreaking, a little bit heartbreaking for sure.”
After leaving the pool deck, she burst into tears.
