Paris 2024: ‘French Michael Phelps’ Marchand Wins 400m Gold in Record Time

Leon Marchand expressed his excitement after winning France’s first Olympic swimming gold since 2012 in front of a lively Paris crowd on Sunday.

Marchand dominated the 400m individual medley final, finishing with a time of 4:02.95, nearly six seconds ahead of Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita, who took second place, and American Carson Foster, who finished third.

His performance was the second-fastest 400m IM time ever recorded, giving the spectators at La Defense Arena exactly what they had hoped for on the second night of the competition.

The 22-year-old swimmer received a thunderous welcome when he entered the arena, and the crowd’s energy remained high until long after he finished the race with an Olympic record time.

“I had goosebumps on the podium,” Marchand said. “I felt incredibly proud to be French tonight. It was an amazing moment for me, and I was truly living in the moment.”

Marchand shared that he received a call from French President Emmanuel Macron after the race.

“He told me he watched the final with his entire family,” Marchand recounted. “They were all cheering on the phone. It was quite funny, and I was very grateful for that call.”

Marchand was the favorite to win after breaking Michael Phelps’ 15-year-old world record with a phenomenal 4:02.50 swim last year.

With American defending champion Chase Kalisz not making it to the final, and the crowd’s enthusiastic support, Marchand was already half a body length ahead after the butterfly leg.

However, it was his impressive backstroke 100m that left his competitors far behind.

Trained by Phelps’s former coach, Bob Bowman, Marchand’s victory made him France’s first pool gold medallist since the London 2012 Games.

At the postponed 2021 Tokyo Olympics, France had only one swimming medal, Florent Manaudou’s silver in the 50m freestyle.

“I tried to focus on myself, but it was really hard with 15,000 people cheering for me,” Marchand said. “I managed to use their energy to swim as fast as possible.”

Looking ahead, Marchand mentioned he would be going to bed early to prepare for the rest of his events at the Games.

“I know I’ve prepared well and I’m ready for some high-intensity races,” he concluded.