And it’s a double! On Wednesday, July 31, Léon Marchand won two Olympic finals in the same evening, in the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke. A first in the history of swimming. “What joy! It was my Christmas present today. I work every day for this, get up early in the morning, there is a lot of suffering all year round, so I make the most of these kinds of things,” enthused the new darling of French sport. If the viewers are won over by the young Toulousain, the foreign press is raving about him.
The Spanish sports daily, Brand, sees him as the “hero of one of the most memorable nights in swimming and the Olympics” and titles it: “The apotheosis of Léon Marchand”. In Australia, The Herald Sun nicknamed him “The French Phelps!” when the Iberian newspaper The World compares him to “a butterfly that triggered the tidal wave in Paris”. Note that Léon Marchand is coached by the American Bob Bowman – the man who trained Michael Phelps for many years. While the 22-year-old athlete had already won gold in the 400m medley, on Sunday July 28, the American daily newspaper New York Times wrote: “Already a big star in France, he has the potential to become a real rock star by the end of the competition.” Léon Marchand is now a triple gold medalist in Paris.
THE New York Times, also had fun creating an infographic, widely shared on social networks, highlighting Léon Marchand’s performance. And that’s not all, since in a column signed by Brendan Quinn, we can read: “Léon Marchand is the superstar and the French sports hero that these Olympic Games needed”. While the American journalist is full of praise for the swimmer, he states: “Paris is in love. The kind of love they sing about in songs. Idealistic. Frantic. Most importantly, rewarded. He is theirs.” The Brazilian media The Globespeaks of “total domination”.
For its part, the American television channel NBC assures, this Wednesday, July 31, that Léon Marchand “enters history”, while listing his list of achievements. The journalist rewinds: “Marchand is the fourth swimmer to win two individual gold medals in the same day. The feat was last accomplished in 1976 by Kornelia Ender, from East Germany.”
“King Leon”
In Belgium, The evening uses a metaphor to describe the athlete’s performance: “Léon Marchand flies underwater.” In the United Kingdom, The Guardian highlights the unexpected nature of these two victories: “The races were supposed to be back-to-back because it simply did not occur to them that anyone would attempt to win both events, least of all Marchand, who had never competed in the breaststroke at an international championship.” Journalist Andy Bull continues: “Leon Marchand made the race a sort of coronation. He was already known as King Leon, and his long, bouncy breaststroke was an elegant way of approaching the throne.”
Furthermore, the NYT noted the atmosphere created by the supporters who carried him throughout his performances: “The Paris La Défense Arena embraced him with both arms, the crowd noisy and enthusiastic every time he approached the starting block.” And finally, the Irish tabloid, Irish Mirrormentions the swimmer’s popularity in France: “He’s everywhere you look. On every front page. On every screen.” A love story that is not about to end.