- Leon Marchand has quickly become one of the stories of the Paris Olympics
- The French swimmer has won all three of his country’s gold medals in the pool
Leon Marchand pulled off the unimaginable feat on Wednesday night by winning two gold medals. He won the 200m breaststroke in stunning fashion, after having already won a gold medal in the 200m butterfly earlier in the session.
The swimmer was one of the favorites during the competitions and every stroke he made was cheered by the crowd. And on Wednesday night he performed excellently.
Despite being warned not to even attempt it, Marchand reached the finals of both the 200-meter breaststroke and 200-meter butterfly, both of which took place in the same session.
Marchand completed an improbable double with a decisive kick.
Marchand trailed for much of the race but passed reigning Olympic champion and world record holder Kristof Milak to claim his second gold medal of the Paris Games on Wednesday night with victory in the 200-meter butterfly.
Leon Marchand made history with two individual Olympic gold medals in the pool in the same session
Marchand surprised with a gold medal in the 200m butterfly, in what was considered his most unlikely chance of victory
About two hours later, he added his second gold medal – and Olympic record – to his career in the 200-meter breaststroke.
The crowd at La Defense Arena cheered as Marchand set an Olympic record of 1 minute 51.71 seconds, beating Milak by four hundredths of a second.
He then turned what was seen as borderline arrogance into one of the greatest performances ever at the Olympics, with a truly convincing performance in the breaststroke.
The Frenchman led from the start and easily defeated the rest of the competition, achieving a feat that even the great Michael Phelps could never achieve.
Not only did he cross the finish line twice against all expectations, he also broke Olympic records in both events by hitting the plank in a time of 2 min 5.85 sec.
All three of France’s gold medals in the pool came from Marchand, who is quickly becoming one of the highlights of Paris 2024.
“Amazing,” former 50m freestyle swimmer Mark Foster said on the BBC. “Two Olympic gold medals in one night. Amazing.”
What makes this feat so impressive – aside from the fact that they were done in about two hours and saw him break the record twice – is the fact that technically they are two completely different techniques.
Butterfly is one of the fastest strokes, but breaststroke is the slowest. Both require fundamentally different techniques for both feet, arms and, most importantly, breathing.