Léon Marchand is in, others are out – Libération

2024-08-05 04:09:00

The French swimming team left these games at home with seven medals. The 22-year-old girl is the only one who has had “la Marseillaise” repeated four times.

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Swimming is a tradition, along with sports, the royal sport at the Games. And on the French side, a swimmer dominates the Olympic pool. King Léon Marchand was mourned by all of France. His victories not only lit up the stands of La Défense Arena, but also excited other competition venues. Where spectators and international athletes struggle to understand the reason for these sudden explosions of joy. Where the walls had to stop their attack because of the hubbub. Where the decathletes have to stand up to wait for the cheers to finish – it is impossible to hear the start of their 400 meters from the starting blocks. They even wrote his name on billboards in the middle of the streets: “Especially to security. Hurry up for Léon. And now the Mayor of the city of Sevran, where the Olympic pool will be installed after the Games, has announced his decision to name this pool after the French champion. In short, Léon Marchand provided a reason for French swimming during these nine days of competition.

For the Toulouse resident, the glory days quickly arrived. Since Sunday, July 28, he has been crowned in his favorite race of the 400m race. Four other gold medals followed. In the 200m butterfly, there was a race finish with an anthology finish, which saw him defeat Hungary’s favorite Kristof Milak. And in the 200m breaststroke and 200m medley, where he was not really worried. By himself, Marchand equaled the best record of the Blues, the four titles collected in London in 2012 by the golden generation of Camille Muffat, Fabien Gilot and Jérémy Stravius. He will have swallowed eleven races in six days, within a week to the last detail, and with the support of the whole family he gave a shoulder to lean on.

In their place

As for other French swimmers, it was rather a sad time. Maxime Grousset, announced as the potential winner of the 100m butterfly, after his title of the 2023 world championship, had to settle for a bitter fifth place. At the end of a week already marked by disillusionment in the 100m freestyle, followed by abandonment in the 50m, just to shine better in the butterfly. That you lost. Hoping for a medal in the 200m backstroke, Mewen Tomac finished at the podium. The fourth place is the same as in 2023. The chances are very close to the bronze, we beat the swimmer in the last lap.

In other missing finals, Yohann Ndoye-Brouard finished seventh in 100m backstroke, Emma Terebo and Béryl Gastaldello seventh and eighth in 100m backstroke as well, Anastasiia Kirpichnikova seventh in 800m freestyle, David Aubry and Damien Jolyth in eighth and eighth. 500 m, after already fifth place from David Aubry in 800 m. The sequence can be titled “Blanc Marchand and the Seventh Place of the Dwarves”. But that would be disrespectful to them, when they are just in their position. The level is higher than the opposite.

The incorruptible Manaudou

In order not to leave Léon Marchand alone as a medalist, there was still, on the evening of his double, an unexpected silver medal from Anastasiia Kirpichnikova in 1,500 m. There “beating” praised by his famous coach Philippe Lucas woke up to take this second place, just behind the middle distance legend, American Katie Ledecky. Kirpichnikova, who had to stop the competition because of the war started by her native country, Russia, before becoming a French citizen in April 2023, so for the country that won the third podium, in between two receptions for Marchand’s star.

There is also Florent Manaudou, there in the 50m Freestyle. After gold in London in 2012, silver in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021, “Gorilla” won the fourth individual Olympic medal of his career, this time bronze. And then, finally, there was this combined medal in the 4x100m medley. The last finished swimming events, he smiled on Florent Manaudou, Maxime Grousset, Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, with… Léon Marchand, obviously.