France’s Nanterre at the men’s 400-meter individual medley final, Leon Marchand pulled away from a group of top swimmers only moments after thousands of his compatriots sung the French national song loudly and loudly at La Defence venue outside of Paris.
Following the race, in which the 22-year-old won his first Olympic gold medal, Marchand said, “It was an amazing time for me.” “I was really living it in the moment.”
The event involves freestyle, back, breast, and butterfly strokes, and Marchand, swimming Austin, Texas resident and former Arizona State University competitor, dominated it.
Marchand seemed to be swimming in a separate pool at moments throughout the race since he was so far ahead.
He reached the wall almost five seconds ahead of Tomoyuki Matsushita of Japan, who earned silver, in a sport where margins of victory are sometimes razor-thin.
With a time of 4:02:95, the finish exceeded Michael Phelps’ 2008 Beijing Games record and became a new Olympic record.
Marchand said, “I got goosebumps on the podium.” “I felt really proud to be myself and to be French.”
A representation of France who was a competitor at Arizona State University
Marchand’s youthful good looks have made him a national hero of the current Paris Olympics. French President Emmanuel Macron contacted him Sunday night to congratulate him on his victory.
Before Marchand went pro last spring, Bob Bowman was his coach at ASU, where he helped get him ready for the Olympics.
He said, “That was a great swim,” calling Marchand the finest participant in the history of the competition. “That is not as quick as he can swim. He has both endurance and speed.”
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In the medley final, American swimmer Carson Foster also put on a terrific show, winning an unexpected bronze.
“I haven’t had good races in big moments, so tonight just felt good,” Foster said.
But he too seemed to be in awe of both the boisterous French audience and Marchand’s performance.
The atmosphere in the crowded stadium was described by Foster as “pretty wild.” Leon was unique in that he was able to do it in his own nation. One day, I’ll be able to tell my children about it.”
The American swimmers won another silver.
In a another stunning shock for American swimmers, Nic Fink stormed to a silver medal tie in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke final, where he was tied with the great British Olympian Adam Peaty.
Peaty held the clear lead going into the race.
When asked about his unexpected medal performance, Fink said, “There weren’t many thoughts going through my head.” It was just kind of all go, go, go. I anticipated a close-knit situation where everyone would be within a finger’s breadth.”
Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy took home the gold medal, his nation’s first at these Games, just edging out Fink and Peaty by a mere second.
