When you’re a world-record holder, there are a lot of expectations. When you’re a world-record holder racing in your home country’s Olympics, those expectations expand exponentially.
The frenzy began the morning of July 28, when Léon Marchand clocked the fastest qualifying time in the 400-m individual medley, in which swimmers race in all four strokes—butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. The decibel level jumped again later that evening during the final, when Marchand dove in and never looked back. The 22-year-old led at every turn, continuing to widen the distance between him and the other swimmers with every lap until by the time he turned to race home, he was a good three body lengths ahead of the competition.
“I had goosebumps before and during the race too,” he said. “On the breaststroke section I could hear everyone just cheering for me. That was special and winning today was amazing for me.” Marchand’s time of 4:02.95 didn’t crack his previous world record, but it was good enough to set an Olympic record, which was previously set by Michael Phelps at the 2008 Olympics.
Read More: Team USA Takes Bronze, Silver, and Gold on Day One of Swimming in Paris
Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita earned silver, more than five seconds behind Marchand. “I knew already that Léon was very fast. He is the best,” Matsushita said.
The U.S.’s Carson Foster won the bronze medal and was already putting his experience into perspective moments after leaving the pool. “It’s something that I’ll be able to tell my kids one day hopefully that I swam next to Léon in his home country at his home Olympics,” he said.
This is Marchand’s second Olympics; the Toulouse native competed in Tokyo but failed to win a medal. Swimming is in his blood: both of his parents were Olympic medley swimmers, the event that has become Marchand’s specialty as well. It’s also the event that Phelps dominated in the early 2000s.
Though Marchand has tried to downplay…
