France’s Leon Marchand, in what can be described as a display of sheer athleticism in the water, emerged winner in the 400m individual medley event at the just concluded Paris Olympics beating Michael Phelps own record of the event by clocking 4:02. 95. This was perhaps one of the biggest achievements for Marchand who had been reigning the World Championships but was still lacking the Olympics gold.
Marchand was simply brilliant and wonderful all at the same time. Since the formation of the race, he initially raced ahead and the opponents did not have a chance of ever getting closer to him. And he was immediately touching the wall to signify his victory; the La Defense Arena was thundering with support chants of his name and the French national anthem.
Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita took the silver in a very close finish to the American Carson Foster, who finished a mere 0. 04 seconds behind the winner. This year fourth place was taken by one of Great Britain’s athletes, Max Litchfield. However, Olympic gold medalist from Tokyo 2020 Chase Kalisz from the U. S did not qualify for the final in Paris.
Marchand won the bout and there were loud cheers from the home crowd; Marchand made a gesture to embrace the crowd with the suctioning of fans from the ATM. The performance in London and victory in his favorite distance will help the French swimmer remain among the leaders of swimming for many years.
