France’s Leon Marchand thrilled a home crowd by setting a new Olympic record in the 400m individual medley to win gold at the Paris Olympic Games. This victory is the first of what he hopes will be four individual golds. Marchand secured his win by 5.67 seconds over Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita, with the USA’s Carson Foster finishing third at the La Defense Arena.
Great Britain’s Max Litchfield finished fourth for the third consecutive Olympics, setting a new British swimming record of four minutes 8.85 seconds. Marchand, 22, became a key figure leading up to these Games and received loud cheers from the enthusiastic crowd. Though he finished just outside his own world record time, he broke the Olympic record previously set by American legend Michael Phelps at the Beijing Games in 2008.
Marchand reached out to Phelps’ former mentor, Bob Bowman, for help before the last Olympics. Bowman now coaches him. Phelps was present in the arena to witness Marchand’s victory. In addition to the 400m medley, Marchand will also compete in the 200m medley, 200m butterfly, and 200m breaststroke.
Tickets to see Marchand have been highly sought after in Paris. The French tricolores waved as he entered the arena, with the national anthem already sung in anticipation. The crowd’s cheers of “Allez” during the breaststroke leg created an electrifying atmosphere. The noise reached a fever pitch as Marchand finished, securing his first of many expected Olympic golds. Meanwhile, Litchfield lingered in the pool, devastated by another close finish.
