Paris 2024 Olympics: 'Marchand Mania' captivates France as fans and athletes celebrate his flawless Olympic debut
Five days ago, footballer Antoine Griezmann was euphoric as he watched fellow Frenchman Leon Marchand win his first Olympic gold medal at Paris 2024.
Three days later, Michael Phelps was bouncing up and down as he watched the 22-year-old native of Toulouse complete what the most decorated Olympian of all time later called "the greatest double I’ve ever seen in the history of the sport.”
Two gold medals and two Olympic records for Marchand in two very distinct races: butterfly and breaststroke.
On Friday, 2 August, it was French President Emmanuel Macron's turn to wildly pump his fists in the tribunes as Marchand did it again: A fourth race, a fourth gold medal, a fourth Olympic record.
Leon Marchand won four gold medals, each with an Olympic record, in his four individual races at Paris 2024.
Macron had watched his countryman's first golden race with his family — "everyone was kind of screaming" — but by the end of the week, Marchand-fever had France in a grip and the French president could not miss the opportunity to watch the swimming phenom in person. A jubilant Paris La Defense Arena packed with some 15,000 spectators, frequently erupting into chants of Marchand’s name, shared the same sentiment.
Fans are starting to call the newly crowned four-time Olympic champion “The French Phelps.” But fellow swimmers disagree.
They say he may be even better.
"I hope everyone realizes that we're swimming in a time where we may be witnessing the best swimmer ever," USA's Carson Foster, who raced Marchand in the men's 400m and 200m individual medley finals, told Olympics.com. "He definitely deserves the conversation. Obviously, Phelps, no one's probably ever going to do what he did with all the gold medals he won, but it's got to be at least a conversation."
How Leon Marchand gave himself an early Christmas present … or four
Friday 2 August was a perfect night to be French and a swimming fan. Florent Manaudou started the party, marching out to the blocks and motioning for the crowd to give him more noise. They did, and he paid them back some 21 seconds later when he won a bronze medal in the men’s 50m freestyle — his third consecutive medal in the event across three Olympic Games.
"Winning a medal in front of this crowd is an incredible opportunity," the French swimming veteran said afterwards. "This crowd is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I know that this ovation was for me. It was a thank you for all these years.”
If the crowds were loud for Manaudou, they were almost deafening for Marchand.
The young star savoured the moment, raising both arms in the air as a greeting to his fans, a relaxed smile on his face. It was a contrast to his body language earlier in the week when Marchand, who has described himself as "a really shy person," looked tense under the bright spotlight.
That tension was almost gone by Friday when he walked out for his final individual race, the men's 200m individual medley. With three medals in three races to his name, Marchand was visibly more relaxed.
"That's something that I'm really proud of," Marchand said of handling the pressure and ever-brighter spotlight at a home Olympic Games. "It was not easy for me. I'm only 22. It was a lot of pressure on my little shoulders.
"I've been practising mentally for that. I think I did pretty well, I'm really happy with it. But it was a lot of pressure. I'm not used to it. I don't think anyone can be used to that."
Leon Marchand was in a big spotlight leading up to the home Olympic Games. "It was not easy for me. I'm only 22," the athlete said.
Once near the blocks for the 200m IM, Marchand's smile faded and he was in full-on race mode: focused and seemingly oblivious to the chants of “Leon, Leon” raining down from each tribune.
The French swimmer was behind defending champion Wang Shun of the People’s Republic of China in the first 50 metres, but broke out in the second 50m backstroke leg as the crowds synchronized their cheers with his each and every stroke.
"It's definitely something I've never experienced," Canada's Finlay Knox, who was in podium position behind Marchand in the first leg, told Olympics.com. "I don't think anyone has ever really experienced being in a crowd this packed, with one person who everyone is cheering for. When Leon came out, it was a very special moment for him. But I think everyone else in the heat, just to feel that energy and know that everyone's watching, it definitely helped us during the race."
Marchand continued to feed off the crowd's energy as he got half-a-body's length lead over the competition in the breaststroke leg. By the freestyle leg he was grazing the edge of the event's 13-year-old world record.
While he fell short of that record by a mere 0.06 seconds, Marchand's winning time of 1:54.06 broke an Olympic record that had stood intact for three Olympic Games, since Michael Phelps set it almost 16 years ago.
Great Britain’s Duncan Scott repeated his silver-medal result from Tokyo 2020 with Wang taking the bronze. And as each swimmer turned to gaze up at the scoreboard, Marchand looked the most surprised of all. As understanding of what he accomplished dawned on him, the swimmer raised his right hand to show four fingers.
A perfect sweep.
"It's been unbelievable. Four gold medals is not what I thought I could possibly do. I was trying to get one at first. I had four chances of doing it," Marchand said. "Four gold medals is ... I didn't know it was possible.
"I was really trying to prepare this meet like it was a surprise, like a Christmas gift that can open only on the first day, which was 400 IM, and I was surprised every day."
Even his coach, the legendary Bob Bowman, was unable to stay composed after his student swept gold in front of the home crowd.
"I teared up a little bit on that one," he confessed. "To do that in front of this crowd at the end of a fairly long programme, it was very special. Super proud of him. Very proud of him."
'The French Phelps'? Or even better
Marchand’s natural talent, coupled with the fact that his coach Bowman has also coached the legendary Phelps, has sparked numerous comparisons between the French swimmer and the most decorated Olympian of all time. These comparisons have intensified over the past week as Marchand broke Phelps’ Olympic records in the 400m IM and the 200m IM.
After Marchand's golden sweep at Paris 2024, Phelps himself might be flattered by the comparisons. A behind-the-scenes video from an NBC broadcast showed the retired USA athlete jumping in the studio while watching Marchand’s historic double in the 200m butterfly and breaststroke on Wednesday.
Marchand, who has met Phelps on several occasions and has received swimming tips from him, was overjoyed when he saw the video.
"He sent me some messages after the 400 IM. He was so impressed and he was just really happy for me," Marchand said. "And then I saw this video of him just commenting on my race, just jumping around and just screaming. I thought it was really funny and I just really appreciate this guy."
Even as a four-time Olympic champion, Marchand said he is just as flattered with the comparisons to Phelps as the first time he heard them.
"Michael is a swimming legend. I'm always really proud when someone is comparing me to MP," he said. "He changed the sport forever."
Can the French swimming star change the sport as well? Bowman, who has coached both Phelps and Marchand en route to their Olympic glory, certainly thinks so.
"He has many things he can improve on. He still needs to break a world record in the 200 IM. That's a goal. That was a good thing, actually. Now he has a goal to keep him motivated," Bowman said, adding that he might throw freestyle races into Marchand's repertoire as well.
"He has so much more potential and we're going to keep working on other events, improving things that he didn't do well here. There are plenty of things he can improve on."
A packed Paris La Defense Arena sang the national anthem with Leon Marchand after he won his fourth Olympic gold medal.
Leon Marchand's possible dominance over the next Olympic cycle is an exciting prospect for the swimming world as many of the athletes in his generation are now getting fired up to challenge the Paris 2024 star.
"To be able to perform that in the most pressured situation, in front of your home crowd, making sure everything goes right, this will definitely go down as one of the greatest swim meets done by an athlete ever," Canada's Knox said. "It definitely makes us want to achieve stuff like that. I know going forward it's, 'what can we do to be better and how can we hopefully achieve something like that one day?'
"Whoever wins the Olympics or worlds or any of the big meets, they put a target on their back and they got everyone chasing them. It's going to be an exciting next few years."
A target might be set on Marchand’s back heading into LA 2028, but on Friday night there was nothing but love for the home hero.
Cardboard cut-outs of his face, a French flag big enough to cover an entire tribune and a poster declaring "Le Roi - Leon" (The King - Leon) with three plastic gold medals attached to it and space for one more, greeted the swimmer as he walked out for his fourth victory ceremony.
And as Marchand stood on the podium, singing "La Marseillaise," the packed arena sang with him.
When they arrived at the lines, “Formez vos bataillons, marchons, marchons!” those last pair sounded a lot like “Marchand, Marchand!" For in that moment, the French people's love for their country and their most decorated Olympian at the home Games, so far, became one and the same.