Leon Marchand He holds the world record for the men’s 400m individual medley and won the World Championships in that event in 2022 and 2023. But he was missing one thing: the Olympic gold medal. And now he has it, thanks to the triumph, with an Olympic record included in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Marchand led throughout the race and broke the Olympic record that was held by Michael Phelps with a time of 4:02.95.
Even before Marchand was announced, the audience at the La Defense Arena chanted his name and sang “The Marseilles“. Marchand raised both arms and waved to the audience.
Once in the pool, Marchand led the entire race. He did not seem to have a weak stroke, as he never let any rival compete with him in the race. Once his victory was official, Marchand sat on the dividing line and greeted the crowd.
Then, from the moment she stepped onto the podium at the medal ceremony, she flashed a wide smile, closing her eyes for a moment as she joined her compatriots in singing the national anthem.
The real battle took place in the fight for the silver and bronze medals. The Japanese Matsushita Tomoyuki surpassed the American Carson Foster by 0.04 seconds and took second place in the final. Meanwhile, the British Max Litchfield was fourth.
For its part, Chase Kaliszof the United States, who won gold in the 400m individual medley at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, did not make it to the final.