KRISTOF MILAK. He is the logical favorite and Léon Marchand’s number 1 rival in his quest for a second Olympic title this Wednesday in the 200m butterfly final at the Paris Olympics. Kristof Milak is coming in strong with a prodigious world record and a nice comeback in Paris.
It was one of the unknowns of the formidable challenge that Léon Marchand set himself at the Paris Olympics by deciding to double the finals of the 200m butterfly and the 200m breaststroke on the same day. If the Frenchman optimized everything with his team to recover as best as possible between the two races at the Paris La Défense Arena, he must also obviously deal with adversity this Wednesday, July 31. One name resurfaced throughout the heats and semi-finals of the 200m butterfly: Kristof Milak.
Swimming fans have obviously known the Hungarian for several years, but his absence from the World Championships in 2023 (which had “benefited” Léon Marchand to pocket the world title over the distance) and the performances of recent months had raised many doubts about his fitness for the Olympics. The 24-year-old swimmer responded to this in Paris by achieving the best time in the semi-finals in 1’52″72, faster than Léon Marchand, winner of his own semi-final in 1’53″50.
Has the situation changed? If the 200m butterfly had been presented as more accessible at the start of the Olympic fortnight, the 200m breaststroke contested two hours later this Wednesday suddenly became “easier” on paper for Marchand as he aimed for Olympic gold again. Blame it on Milak…
Marchand – Milak: their records in the 200m butterfly face to face
How good are the two men in a head-to-head duel? Advantage to Milak over this distance. If we take the two best times achieved by the Frenchman and the Hungarian over this distance, the match looks unbalanced. Kristof Milak is quite simply the world record holder in the 200m butterfly. He broke Michael Phelps’ iconic record in 2019 and improved it again in 2022 in 1’50″34, a performance achieved at home in Budapest during the world championships… where he won gold ahead of Léon Marchand in 2nd.
He also holds the Olympic record in 1’51″25 since the last Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Milak had then won gold in the 200 meters but also silver in the 100 meters butterfly. For his first Olympic Games, at the age of 19, Léon Marchand was eliminated in the semi-final of the 200m butterfly. For comparison, Léon Marchand’s personal record in the 200m butterfly is 1’52″43 achieved last year in the final of the World Championships. That is still more than a second more than Kristof Milak’s Olympic record and two seconds more than the world record…
Is the challenge too tough? Perhaps, but Léon Marchand can also rely on his training with Bob Bowman in the United States, the mentor of Michael Phelps, a great butterfly specialist, on his momentum born from his Olympic title in the 400m medley on Sunday, on his capital flow, on the madness of the Parisian public to push him and of course on the persistent questions surrounding his Hungarian rival.
Will Kristof Milak be able to rise to the height of his records again or is he already at his maximum? How will the Hungarian react if he sees the Frenchman hanging on as the race progresses or even overtaking him at the start, he who was more used to crushing his races? So many key questions around a race that is already shaping up to be one of the major events of the Olympic Games. Join us at 8:30 p.m. on Linternaute to follow it live via our dedicated live feed, which can be found in one click on the photo above.