Leon Marchand wins fourth Olympic swimming gold, starts party across Paris
NANTRENE, FRANCE: Leon Marchand's party quickly spread beyond the swimming pool and into Paris.
The Stade de France, which hosted the first day of track and field, erupted in applause as Marchand won his fourth Olympic gold medal. The cheering was so loud that the first heat of the 400m decathlon was delayed.
Nearly 20,000 people gathered at the Olympic House in France to watch Marchand dominate the pool, including 19-year-old Arthur Urschel.
“He’s a hero,” Oursell said. “He’s our hero.”
With more than 15,000 fans turning a rugby stadium into a swimming pool and cheering on Marchand, including French President Emmanuel Macron, he cruised to another dominant victory in the 200m individual medley on Friday night.
“I don’t think there was anything wrong with it this week,” Marchand said. “It was just perfect.”
The 22-year-old French rookie will no doubt be remembered as one of the biggest stars of the Summer Olympics held in his home country. He finished in an Olympic record of 1:54.06, falling just short of Ryan Lochte’s 13-year-old world record.
That was the only thing he didn't achieve during his six magical days at the La Defense Arena. He had previously won the 400m individual medley, 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke, the last two in the same session, about two hours apart.
Marchand became only the fourth swimmer in Olympic history to win four individual gold medals in a single event.
Who else? Michael Phelps in 2004 and 2008; Mark Spitz in 1972; Christine Otto of East Germany in 1988.
Truly, an ambitious company.
“It's crazy. Those guys are legends,” Marchand said. “I don't think they realize it yet. Maybe they will in a few days.”
Silver went to Britain's Duncan Scott, a length behind in 1:55.31. China's Wang Shun edged out American Carson Foster for bronze in 1:56.00.
What a night it was in France
The crowd at La Defense Arena came together once again to cheer on their beloved son. They chanted, sang “Sweet Caroline,” waved the French tricolor and unveiled a giant tifo on the upper deck.
After Marchand reached the wall, he raised four fingers, one for each gold coin. He climbed out of the pool, swung his fist, and then extended his arm as if to say, “What more could you want?”
it's nothing.
He did it all, more than living up to the expectations of the nation and the comparisons to Phelps who came to cheer Marchand on. What might have been a burden to some athletes seemed to push Marchand to greater heights.
President Macron shook Marchand's hand at a celebratory event on Friday and congratulated him on social media.
“The impossible is not France!” Macron wrote in French. “Four gold medals and a new Olympic record for the country are historic. Léon Marchand.”
Marchand clearly enjoyed the moment, and his American coach Bob Bowman (who also coaches Phelps) encouraged him to do the same.
He led the fans behind the podium, cheering them on, and then climbed up the top steps once more. The crowd sang “La Marseillaise” most enthusiastically, but there were plenty of opportunities to perform the French national anthem this week, of course.
As soon as the national anthem ended, the stadium was filled with chants of “Leon! Leon! Leon!” Someone was holding a placard that said “Mercy Leon.”
“I am very proud to be French,” said Marchand.
McEvoy, McKeown's Australian Gold Medal
Before Marchand's victory, Australia had two more gold medals, Cameron McEvoy and Kayleigh McKeon.
McEvoy won the 50m freestyle, preventing Caeleb Dressel from winning the most intense event in swimming twice. McKeown won the 200m backstroke, becoming the first female swimmer to sweep the backstroke in two consecutive summer Games.
Asked whether he could have imagined such an achievement, McKeon replied, “Never in a million years.”
McEvoy became the first Australian to win a gold medal in the Games, and McKeon quickly took Australia's total to seven Olympic gold medals, three more than the United States and Marchand, who is practically a nation in his own right.
McKeon noted what an incredible time it is for women's sports, with female athletes following in the footsteps of athletes like Simone Biles and Kaitlyn Clarke elevating their profiles.
“This year has been unreal, not just for Australian women but for women’s sport around the world,” McKeon said. “I’m really excited to be a part of it.”
McEvoy crossed the pool from one end to the other in 21.25 seconds, beating Britain's Benjamin Proud by half a second. France's Florent Manaudou provided another thrill for the home crowd by taking bronze in 21.56 seconds.
Dressel, who won five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, finished sixth with 21.61.
McKeown regrouped and chased American second-place Regan Smith in the 100m backstroke, finishing in an Olympic record of 2:03.73, breaking Missy Franklin's record set at the 2012 London Olympics.
Another silver medal for Regan Smith
Smith touched down in 2:04.26 to win the fifth silver of her career, along with a bronze. She has yet to win a gold.
The bronze medal went to Canada's Kylie Massey with a time of 2:05.57.
Smith insisted he was pleased with the result, despite the gold medal coming a long way.
“If I had gotten silver and been two seconds slower, I would have been really disappointed in myself because I didn't do my best. It wasn't something I could do,” Smith said. “That was one of the best times of my life. I gave Kayleigh a really big challenge and made it really exciting up close, so I'm really happy about that.”
Dressel is lacking
The American star qualified for two individual events, but failed to medal in either.
He returned to the pool for the semifinals of the 100m butterfly, one of the events he won in Tokyo, fresh from his sixth-place finish in the 50m freestyle.
Dressel failed to complete the tough double and finished 13th fastest in Saturday night's final.
He won gold for the United States in the 4x100m freestyle relay, his eighth career gold medal.
It was a disappointing performance for one of the biggest stars of the Tokyo Olympics, but not entirely unexpected given what he's been through so far.
A year after the 2021 Olympics were postponed due to the pandemic, Dressel quit swimming midway through the World Championships.
He desperately needed a break to reclaim his love of swimming, which is still a work in progress. Dressel seems much happier now, and welcomed his first child about five months ago, but he has not been able to regain the breakneck pace he had three years ago.
“It definitely wasn't my best work,” Dressel said. “I had a lot of fun, but this wasn't my best week. I don't think I should shy away from that.”
He needs to do one more relay in Paris to be able to challenge for a ninth gold medal.
Dressel wants to end the match on a positive note, saying it was “a little heartbreaking, definitely a little heartbreaking.”
He shed tears after leaving the pool.
