Leon Marchand wins 4th Olympic swimming gold, celebrations kick off across Paris
NANTERRE, France: The party for Leon March spread beyond the pool, and quickly spread across Paris.
At the Stade de France, host to the first night of track and field, there were loud cheers as Marchand won his fourth Olympic gold medal. The first heat of the decathlon 400 meters race was postponed due to the storm.
At the French Olympic complex, nearly 20,000 gathered outside to watch March and block his run in the pool, including 19-year-old Arthur Oursel.
“He's a hero,” Oursel said. “He is our hero.”
With French President Emmanuel Macron among more than 15,000 fans cheering him on in the rugby stadium-turned-natatorium, Marchand cruised to another victory in the 200-meter individual medley on Friday night.
“I don't think anything went wrong this week,” Marchand said. “It was just perfect.”
The 22-year-old French phenomenon will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the biggest stars of the Summer Games in his homeland. He finished in an Olympic record time of 1 minute, 54.06 seconds, missing Ryan Lochte's 13-year-old world mark.
That was the only thing she missed in six amazing days at La Defense Arena, where she won the 400 IM, 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke — the latter two within two hours of each other in the same session.
Marchand became only the fourth swimmer in Olympic history to win four gold medals in a single event.
The others? Michael Phelps, who did it in 2004 and 2008; Mark Spitz in 1972; and Kristin Otto of East Germany in 1988.
Big business, really.
“That's crazy. Those guys are legends,” Marchand said. “I don't think I've ever felt it. Maybe I will come in a few days.”
The silver was won by Duncan Scott of Great Britain, the length of the body was 1:55.31. China's Wang Shun took bronze in 1:56.00, challenging American Carson Foster for the top spot.
What a night for France
A packed house at the La Defense Arena came to cheer on his beloved son once. They sang and sang “Sweet Caroline”, waved the French tricolor flag and let out a huge tifo on the upper deck.
After Marchand touched the wall, he held up four fingers—one for each gold. He rose from the pool, pumped his fist, and held out his hand as if to say, “What else do you want?”
Not something.
He did all of that, more than living up to his country's expectations and comparisons to Phelps, who was here to cheer Marchand on. What can be a burden for some athletes seems to push Marchand to greater heights.
Macron shook Marchand's hand during Friday's celebration and sent his congratulations on social media.
“Impossible is not French!” Macron wrote in French. “Four home gold medals and a new Olympic record — that's historic. It was Leon Marchand.”
Marchand certainly enjoyed his time, which American coach Bob Bowman — Phelps' coach — encouraged him to do with just the right touch.
He led the fans backstage to cheers before taking to the stage again. The crowd roared with a rousing rendition of “La Marseillaise” — though, of course, they had plenty of opportunity to work on the French national anthem this week.
Chant “Leon! Leon! Leon!” filled the stadium as soon as the national anthem was over, with people holding signs saying “Merci Leon.”
“I'm very proud,” said Marchand, “of the French.”
Australian gold for McEvoy, McKeown
Before Marchand's win, Cameron McEvoy and Kaylee McKeown won more gold for Australia.
McEvoy touched first in the 50 freestyle, denying Caeleb Dressel a comeback in swimming's most eventful event. McKeown followed that up with a victory in the 200 backstroke to become the first female swimmer to sweep the backstroke at two consecutive Summer Games.
When asked if he could imagine such a feat, McKeown said, “Not in a million years.”
McEvoy became the first Australian man to win gold at the Games, and McKeown quickly raised his country's total to an Olympic-leading seven gold medals overall — three more than the United States and Marchand, which is a country for him.
McKeown noted that this is an exciting time for women's sports, following in the footsteps of athletes like Simone Biles and Caitlin Clark in raising the profile of female athletes.
“Not just the Aussie girls, but the whole world and women's sport has been unreal this year,” McKeown said. “It's great to be a part of it.”
McEvoy made it from one end of the pool to the other in 21.25, edging out Great Britain's Benjamin Proud by five hundredths of a second. France's Florent Manaudou once again thrilled the hosts by winning the bronze with a time of 21.56.
Dressel, who won five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, was sixth in 21.61.
McKeown regrouped, as she did in the 100 backstroke, to chase American sprinter Regan Smith. The winning time was an Olympic record of 2:03.73, breaking the mark set by Missy Franklin at the 2012 London Games.
Another silver for Regan Smith
Smith clocked 2:04.26 for the fifth silver medal of her career, along with her only bronze. He has yet to win gold.
Bronze went to Kylie Masse of Canada in 2:05.57.
Smith insisted he was satisfied with the results, although a gold medal was still out of reach.
“If I had won a silver medal and dropped second, I think I would have been disappointed in myself because it didn't put my best foot forward. That's not what I'm capable of,” Smith said. “That's one of my fastest times. I think I really gave Kaylee a run and did something really intimate and exciting. I am very happy about that.”
Dressel came up short
The American star qualified in two special events, and will not win a medal in either of them.
Shortly after her sixth-place appearance in the 50 freestyle, she returned to the pool for the semifinals of the 100 butterfly – one of the events she won in Tokyo.
Dressel was unable to make it to the top of the two, finishing only the 13th fastest time in Saturday night's final.
He led the United States to gold in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay for the eighth gold medal of his career.
It was a disappointing performance for one of the biggest stars of the Tokyo Games, but not all that unexpected in his experience.
A year after the 2021 Olympics were postponed by the pandemic, Dressel quit swimming in the middle of the world championships.
She desperately needed a break to rekindle her love of swimming, which she is still working on. Dressel seems happier now, having welcomed her first child about five months ago, but she hasn't been able to recapture the blazing pace of three years ago.
“Obviously not my best work,” Dressel said. “I had a lot of fun but it wasn't my best week. I don't think I need to avoid it.”
He has one more share going into Paris, giving him another shot at a ninth career gold.
Dressel wants to go out on a high note, because these games are “kind of heartbreaking, definitely very sad.”
When he got out of the pool, he cried.
