France’s Léon Marchand Breaks Olympic Record to Win Gold in Men’s 400m at Paris 2024

Leon Marchand of France won gold in the men’s 400m individual medley at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, setting a new Olympic record.

Marchand, spurred by raucous home supporters at Paris La Defence Arena, led at every bend and finished in four minutes and 2.95 seconds. The time surpassed Michael Phelps’ previous Games record of 4:03.84 established in Beijing 16 years earlier.

Tomoyuki Matsushita of Japan won silver in 4:08.62, while Carson Foster of the United States finished third in 4:08.66.

Marchand’s victory gave France its first Olympic swimming gold medal since the London 2012 Games.

“I absolutely dreamed about that previously; all of us did. “Doing this in my hometown is pretty cool,” Marchand explained.

“The mood was incredible; I don’t know how to describe it. I experienced goosebumps before and during the marathon. On the breaststroke section, I could hear everyone simply clapping for me. That was remarkable, and winning today was extremely rewarding for me.”

Marchand came into these Games with great hopes, having won the 200m butterfly, 200m individual medley, and 400m individual medley world championships.

He holds the world record in the 400m medley event, having shattered Phelps’ previous mark of 4:02.50 in Fukuoka last year.

On Sunday, the 22-year-old appeared to be on course to shatter the record again before weakening somewhat in the final 50 metres.

“I was trying to focus on myself, but it’s really hard when 15,000 people are cheering for me,” he told me. “I did well by attempting to harness this energy to swim as quickly as possible. I was trying not to watch every other lane, but to stick in my lane and go for it from the start.

“The freestyle was a little challenging at the finish, but 4:02 is incredible, so I’m quite impressed with today.

Source: BBC