He is indeed the greatest swimmer of these 2024 Olympic Games. Already the holder of three gold medals, Léon Marchand won his fourth Olympic title in Paris on Friday, August 2, by winning the 200m medley. An exceptional harvest for the Frenchman, an ogre of the pools who lets nothing pass him by individually and will try to increase his total even more with two relays.
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From our special correspondent at La Défense Arena,
Four out of four! Léon Marchand is the phenomenon that the world of swimming has been waiting for and that France has been adoring for a few days. The swimmer completed his individual course in these JO 2024 in apotheosis. Or rather, à la Marchand. For the fourth time in these Games, there was Léon Marchand and there were the others. In this final, the Frenchman once again demonstrated how dominant he is.
The big favourite for victory, the Toulouse native entered an Arena that had eyes only for him, and was already well heated by Florent Manaudou’s bronze medal a few minutes earlier in the 50m. The ” Merchant Mania ” that is raging in the country is not a myth. France has its hero in these Games on home soil.
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Finalists destroyed by its devastating flow
Starting from lane 4, Léon Marchand tied with his opponents… for 50 meters. And then, as usual, the Frenchman stunned the competition with his exceptional cast. On the first, he opened up a first gap with the Chinese Shun Wang. A lead that widened on the second cast. And so on…
There was really nothing to be done, this Friday evening again, to contest Marchand’s supremacy. Halfway through, everyone seemed to have understood that no one would be able to catch him. And from then on, there was only one opponent left for the French swimmer: the stopwatch. The latter trembled before the demonstration delivered in the Nanterre pool. Finally, Léon Marchand failed 6 hundredths of a second behind the world record of the American Ryan Lochte: 1’54”06 against 1’54”00. That’s a new Olympic record set by the Frenchman.
The individual phase of these 2024 Olympics ends in euphoria for Léon Marchand. And now, it’s time for the relay mission. Starting Saturday, August 3, he will participate in the men’s 4x100m medley relay. And it’s also possible that he will join the mixed 4x100m medley relay. The French public may not have finished screaming for their darling… and the competition may not have finished worrying about finding him in the water again.
Florent Manaudou wins bronze in the 50m, his fourth Olympic medal in the distance
A few minutes before Léon Marchand’s exceptional final in the 200m medley, the French public applauded wildly for the other star of French swimming, Florent Manaudou. The 33-year-old swimmer was back in the final of the 50m freestyle, 12 years after his victory in London. With silver in 2016 in Rio and then in 2021 in Tokyo, the colossus was there to climb onto the podium for a fourth time.
Starting from lane 1 after a mixed semi-final (8th time of the qualifiers), Florent Manaudou set off and took part in the fight for the medals. A commitment that paid off: the Australian Cameron McEvoy (21”25) and the British Benjamin Proud (21”30) were too far behind, but the Frenchman snatched the bronze in 21”56, a hair ahead of the Canadian Josh Liendo (21”58). A medal that brings joy, which now has five in total: the four in the 50m freestyle, and a silver in the 4x100m freestyle in 2016.