‘Face of Games’ Leon Marchand gets Paris jumping by storming to medley gold

"Go!" they shouted every time Léon Marchand's head surfaced from the water. "Go!" they cheered, as the man who would become France's shining star at this Olympics swam towards winning the 400m individual medley. And each "Go!" was filled with such intense energy and power that it felt like the entire pool area was vibrating with excitement.

It was not a competition, but a domination. The 22-year-old Marchand is coached by Bob Bowman, who used to coach Michael Phelps. There were similarities to the American legend as Marchand won by an impressive 5.67 seconds. Additionally, his time of 4 minutes 2.95 seconds broke the oldest Olympic swimming record, previously set by Phelps in 2008.

Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita came in second place, while Carson Foster from the United States won the bronze medal.

On the other hand, Max Litchfield felt incredibly disappointed after finishing in fourth place for the third time in a row at the Olympics. He was close to tears, even though he had broken his own British record. Litchfield expressed his emotions saying, "I put my heart, mind, and body into this race. I swam my fastest time, but it's still tough. I just missed the mark once again."

During the noisy home crowd, Sunday evening was dedicated to Marchand. The French swimmer was far ahead of his competitors by the halfway point, excelling in both the butterfly and backstroke. The only uncertainty was how fast he would reach the end. Ultimately, he came close to beating his own world record, surpassing Phelps's previous Olympic best time.

Later, he was greeted with loud cheers of "Léon! Léon!" and a performance of the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, that was very moving.

Marchand comes from a family with a strong background in swimming, which is why his impressive performance was not unexpected. His mother, Celine, competed in the Barcelona Olympics for France, while his father, Xavier, swam in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and Sydney in 2000. However, the turning point in Marchand's career came when he decided to reach out to Bowman via email in May 2020. This decision ultimately defined his future in the sport.

"Hello," the email started. "I am a swimmer from France, my name is Léon Marchand and I am 18 years old. I am interested in joining Arizona State University in the summer of 2021 to swim and compete in NCAA with your team. Could I possibly receive a scholarship?" Bowman responded, expressing his love for the 400 IM event, and the rest is now part of the past.

The main question now is how many medals Marchand could possibly win at this event. Many believe that he is almost guaranteed to win gold in the 200m individual medley and 200m butterfly events. It wouldn't be surprising if he also won the 200m breaststroke, even though Qin ­Haiyang from China is considered the frontrunner.

Litchfield is definitely a supporter. He believes that the person mentioned is going to have an outstanding week. Based on what he has seen, it would be unreasonable to disagree.