VIDEO LEON MARCHAND JO. Léon Marchand wrote a page of French sport history by winning the 200m butterfly at the Paris Olympic Games after a thrilling battle, beating out Hungarian Kristof Milak in the final metres.
“Come in here, Léon Marchand!” The French swimmer entered the pantheon of French sport a little further on Wednesday, July 31, 2024 at the Paris Olympics. Among the historic races of French swimming, there was Laure Manaudou in the 400m freestyle in Athens in 2004, Alain Bernard’s 100m freestyle in Beijing in 2008 or the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay in London in 2012. Not to mention the victories of Yannick Agnel in the 200m and the late Camille Muffat in the 400m freestyle…
But, in terms of emotions, this 200m butterfly at the Paris Olympics is perhaps even higher. Is it the equal of Marie-José Pérec’s Homeric 200m in 1996 against Merlène Ottey in Atlanta in athletics? With the electric atmosphere of Paris in the Paris La Défense Arena as a bonus, no doubt. In the last 50m, the room exploded, raising the decibels to a level never reached in these Olympics…
The last 50 meters on Eurosport:
The end of the race commented by Laure Manaudou and Camille Lacourt on France 2:
Engaged in an incredible challenge to double the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke on the same evening, three days after his first Olympic title in the 400m medley, Léon Marchand knew the challenge was formidable, especially against the Hungarian Kristof Milak, reigning Olympic champion, world record holder and reigning Olympic record holder. Marchand’s last 50 meters is stratospheric, colossal, already historic.
After a major slide to start a titanic comeback, Marchand beat Milak, the reference, the one who had erased Michael Phelps from the records by dispossessing him of the world record in 2019, to the post. The Toulouse native literally made his rival sink in the last 50 meters, swallowing him meter by meter to steal the gold medal and the Olympic record from him in 1’51″21! The Hungarian only had to glance 25 meters from the goal to catch the tornado that was going to engulf him. Historic! And to think that Marchand still has the 200m breaststroke an hour later and the 200m medley on Friday evening…