Leon Marchand establishes himself as the face of Paris 2024 with incredible feat
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The well-known melody of ‘La Marseillaise’ echoed through Paris La Défense Arena as Léon Marchand lifted his arm and pumped his fist enthusiastically.
'Let's walk, let's walk...', fifteen minutes before, it was 'Merchant, Merchant'.
The 22-year-old has solidified his position as the leading figure for Paris 2024 with an incredible performance in swimming that will go down in history.
In just two hours, he created a record by being the first man in over a century to win two individual swimming championships in one session. The only other person to accomplish this was Australian Phil Lane in 1900, with one of the events being a 200m obstacle course race in the Seine River.
Even Michael Phelps, a legendary swimmer coached by Bob Bowman, who currently coaches the Frenchman, has not achieved what Marchand did.
Additionally, he achieved this feat in the face of extremely tough competition.
In his debut race, he faced off against Hungary's Kristof Milak, who currently holds the world record and is the reigning Olympic champion in the 200m butterfly event.
For a distance of 150 meters, it seemed like things were getting back to normal. Milak had a personal best that was one second faster than anyone ever before and two seconds better than Marchand's time.
However, as the obstacle seemed insurmountable, Marchand began his offensive. He excels underwater in a way that surpasses everyone else, and he was able to cover almost 15 meters after the last turn. Despite feeling the burn of lactic acid in his arms, Marchand successfully closed the gap by cutting it in half.
Out of nowhere, Marchand turned on his competitive mode and didn't let up, just like a skilled predator. Milak had been completely in control of the event, but he couldn't keep up with the French athlete. The spectators were thrilled and the atmosphere was buzzing with excitement. This arena usually hosts rugby games and rock concerts when it's not being used for the Olympics. But it's safe to say that it has never witnessed such an intense moment like this before.
He finished the race with a time of 1 minute and 51.21 seconds, setting a new Olympic record and surpassing Milak's previous time. This achievement now puts him ahead of Phelps as the second fastest swimmer in the event.
After completing the impossible task, Marchand needed to take a break and recuperate. Spending two hours swimming is no easy feat, especially when you have a victory celebration and the French national anthem to sing for the first time.
After finishing the first challenge, he came back for the second one of the night - the 200m breaststroke.
This time, his primary competitor was Zac Stubblety-Cook, an Olympic champion and former world record holder.
The Australian athlete is well-known for his ability to rapidly increase his speed towards the end of races, often coming from behind to win. When Marchand started off the race faster than the world record pace, there was concern that he might become too tired to keep up.
When he started to feel exhausted, Stubblety-Cook was able to succeed.
Marchand is far from being just an ordinary person. Even when he is at a significant disadvantage in the water, he still manages to outperform everyone else.
He didn't quite surpass Qin Haiyang's world record, but his time of 2:05.85 was still the fastest time ever at the Olympics.
Marchand will return on Thursday to begin his quest for a fourth individual championship. This accomplishment has only been achieved by Phelps, Mark Spitz, and Kristin Otto.
Once Marchand accomplished the unthinkable, there are no limits to what he can achieve.
