French Olympic medalist Leon Marchand trains in the United States He thrilled Paris with a gold medal in swimming

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NANTERRE, France — Moments after thousands of his countrymen deafeningly sang the French national anthem in the Salle de La Défense near Paris, Léon Marchand broke away from a group of elite swimmers in the men’s 400-meter individual medley final.

“It was an incredible time for me,” Marchand said after the race, in which the 22-year-old captured his first Olympic gold medal. “I was really living in the moment.”

Marchand, who competed for Arizona State University and now lives in Austin, Texas, dominated the event, which combines freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly.

At times during the race, Marchand was so far ahead that he seemed to be swimming in another pool.

In a sport where victories are often very slim, he hit the wall more than five seconds ahead of Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita, who won silver.

The time of 4:02:95 was enough to set a new Olympic record, breaking the mark set by Michael Phelps in 2008 at the Beijing Games.

“I had goosebumps on the podium,” Marchand said. “I was really proud to be myself and to be French.”

A symbol of Frenchness who competed for Arizona State University

Marchand, with his boyish physique, has become a national icon of these Paris Olympics. After his victory Sunday night, French President Emmanuel Macron called him to congratulate him.

Bob Bowman coached Marchand at ASU before he turned pro this spring and helped him prepare for these Olympics.

“It was a great swim,” he said, describing Marchand as the best swimmer in the history of the event. “He can swim faster than that. He’s got the speed, he’s got the endurance.”

American swimmer Carson Foster also had a strong performance in the medley final, winning a surprising bronze medal.

“I haven’t had any great races in big moments, so tonight was just good,” Foster said.

But he too seemed impressed by Marchand’s performance and the cheering French crowd.

“It was pretty crazy,” Foster said of the atmosphere in the packed arena. “It was special for Leon to be able to do that in his home country. I’ll be able to tell my kids about it someday.”

Another silver medal for American swimmers

In another surprise comeback for American swimmers, Nic Fink tied legendary British Olympian Adam Peaty for a silver medal in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke final.

Peaty was the clear favourite in the race.

“I didn’t have a lot of thoughts in my head,” Fink said of his surprise performance. “It was just kind of a crazy race. I knew it was going to be really close and everyone was within reach.”

Fink and Peaty finished a fraction of a second behind Italy’s Nicolo Martinenghi who won the gold medal, his country’s first at these Games.

Reporting by NPR’s Becky Sullivan in Nanterre, France.

Copyright 2024 NPR

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