Leon Marchand pulled off one of the most daring doubles in swimming history at the Paris Olympics
Nanterre, France: Turns out, those comparisons to Michael Phelps weren't far off when it came to Leon Marchand.
They certainly weren't a burden for the 22-year-old Frenchman.
Marchand completed one of the boldest doubles in swimming history on Wednesday night, sweeping the 200-meter butterfly and 200 breaststroke over two hours in front of a home crowd that cheered her every stroke.
Two terrible races. Two very different strokes. Two Olympic records. Two gold medals.
Take that, Phelps, who won a record eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, his own multiple doubles.
“I'm a really shy person,” Marchand said. “I was the center of attention in those two races. I was trying to get energy from the whole crowd. They've been amazing to me, pushing me in every final.
Thrilling French fans and claiming the spotlight on a night that also saw Katie Ledecky win another gold medal, Marchand won her second and third at La Defense Arena and stamped herself as a face — less than a week into the Olympics. of games.
After rallying to beat world record holder and defending Olympic champion Christophe Millack with a finishing kick in the 200 fly, Marchand made it easy in the 200 breast.
He led all the way, touching down in 2 minutes, 5.85 seconds as more than 15,000 fans — many of them holding cardboard cutouts of his smiling face — nearly blew the roof off La Defense Arena.
“Leon! Leon! Leon!” they shouted, a song that was sure to continue throughout the night in Paris.
Marchand keeps things rolling
Trailing most of the way in the 200 fly, Marchand overtook Hungarian Milak on the final lap to finish with an Olympic record time of 1:51.71, touching first by four hundredths of a second.
Marchand's final lap was nearly 0.66 faster than anyone else in the field — and 1.26 clear of Milak.
“I've been watching a lot of races from him,” Marchand said. “I know he has a lot of speed, much more than me, so I was trying to get as close as possible, and then just push it to the end.”
Canada's Ilya Kharun won the bronze.
After his dominant victory in the 400 individual medley on Sunday, Marchand waggled a finger and shook his head slightly, as if he couldn't believe what he had done.
Then, he left the deck to another rousing cheer to begin his warm down, though those preparations were interrupted by a mandatory return for the victory ceremony.
After a rousing rendition of “La Marseillaise,” the other two medalists walked slowly around the pool, posing for their photos.
Not Marchand. He returned to the practice pool. There was another race to go.
Ledecky's record gold
The American star made the most of her guest appearance on The Marchand Show by winning her seventh individual Olympic gold medal – she also has a relay gold – and 12th overall with a runaway victory in the 1,500 freestyle.
Ledecky, 27, tied fellow Americans Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Jenny Thompson for the most medals won by a female swimmer. Ledecky already held the mark for most individual gold medals by a woman coming into these Games.
“I try not to think too much about history,” Ledecky said. “But I know those names, the people that I'm in there with, they're swimmers that I looked up to when I first started swimming. So it's an honor to be named among them.”
Ledecky led from the start and steadily pulled away, hitting an Olympic-record 15:30.02 in an event that will join the women's program at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
It was like the race three years ago: Ledecky far ahead and everyone else racing for silver.
France's Anastasia Kirpichinnikova finished about half a lap back but thrilled the home fans by claiming second place on the podium in 15:40.35.
Isabel Goss of Germany won the bronze in 15 minutes 41.16.
After opening the Paris Games with a bronze in the 400 freestyle, this result seemed more familiar to Ledecky.
She was clearly thrilled to be back on top, splashing water and pounding her fists on the deck several times – a rare display of emotion for a stoic athlete who performs with machine-like efficiency.
“I know a lot of other people expected this from me,” Ledecky said. “It doesn't make it easy. I mean, it's not always easy to follow through and you get the job done.”
Marchand returns for more gold
As Ledecky walked off deck with his gold medal, it was time for Marchand to move on to his second match of the night.
no problem He blew away the field in the 200 breaststroke with an Olympic record of 2:05.85, beating another champion from Tokyo.
Australia's Zac Stubblety-Cook settled for silver, this time around a second later in 2:06.79. Casper Corbeau of the Netherlands won the bronze.
“That was the most exciting part of the whole race and watching him soak it all in and have his moment,” said Stubaletti-Cook. “I think it's wonderful. It's great for the sport of swimming and to see half of 15,000 people chanting a person's name and swimming live.”
Marchand got out of the pool and looked at the scoreboard. He ruffled his mop of curly hair a few times, then threw his hands in the air.
He was done for at least a few hours. Next is the 200 individual medley, which begins with heats Thursday morning.
“I'm very proud of him,” said his coach, American Bob Bowman, who also coached Phelps. “This is a huge, historic effort.”
China's Pan Zhan set the first world record of the Paris Games
China's Pan Zhan, who lost almost all hoopla, set the first world record of these Games, breaking his own mark in the 100 freestyle.
He won in 46.40, easily breaking the mark of 46.80 he set at the World Championships in Doha in February.
It was an impressive performance in the shallow pool at La Défense Arena, which is said to be a big reason why no world records were broken in the first four days of the meet.
Australia's Kyle Chalmers won silver and Romania's David Popovic won bronze.
Swedish gold for 5-time Olympian Jostrom
Sarah Sjostrom celebrates her fifth Olympic gold medal by winning the 100 freestyle.
Sjostrom has shortened her program at the last two world championships, swimming the 50 free. He decided to add 100 to the Paris Games, and boy did that decision pay off.
With her winning time of 52.16, the U.S. settled for another silver medal — its eighth of the swimming event — when Tori Huske finished in 52.29. Hong Kong's Siobhan Haughey won bronze.
