He’d been hyped as the host country’s hero before he even raced; anointed swimming’s heir to Michael Phelps before he had an Olympic medal. Léon Marchand was the face of the Paris Games before they began; the bearer of hope and Herculean expectation.
And on an ear-splitting Sunday night here at La Défense Arena, he lived up to every last ounce of it, winning the 400-meter individual medley in an Olympic-record time of 4:02.95 nearly six seconds ahead of the field.
Japan's Tomoyuki Matsushita took silver (4:08.62). American Carson Foster took bronze (4:08.66).
But it was Marchand, a 22-year-old Frenchman, who delighted 17,000 fans in attendance, plus millions farther ashore including French President Emmanuel Macron, who watched on TV surrounded by family, and phoned Marchand after the victorious swim.
"Everyone was screaming on the phone," Marchand said with a smile.
And inside this rugby arena-turned-aquatics center in western Paris, they were screaming even louder.
They had gathered, first, in the 9 a.m. hour this morning. Hype built. The line of fans for preliminary heats stretched about a half-mile long. Most buzzed with excitement. Once inside, they roared at the mere sight of Marchand. They coordinated chants with his breath as he cruised to the top seed in the 400 IM on Sunday night.
“It was crazy,” Marchand said Sunday morning. It felt, to him, like a French football match; as if, by calmly exiting the pool, he had scored a massive goal.
And nine hours later, it was crazier. Flags twirled. An impromptu rendition of the French anthem, “La Marseillaise,” broke out 15 minutes before Marchand appeared. “Allez Les Bleus!” became “Allez Léon!” A packed house erupted as Marchand splashed down the home stretch, toward the wall, toward gold.
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