Léon Marchand Sets Olympic Record with Gold in 400 IM at Paris Olympics
French swimmer Léon Marchand thrilled the crowd at Paris La Défense Arena on Sunday night with a remarkable gold medal performance. The venue, filled with French flags, celebrated as the 22-year-old won the men’s 400-meter individual medley at the Paris Olympics, finishing in 4:02.95, setting a new Olympic record.
Leading from the start, Marchand dominated the race, winning by nearly six seconds.
“I went off very fast, and I wasn’t preoccupied by what was going on around me,” Marchand said. “I was focused on my race, my performance. I wanted to put everything into it.
“At 250 meters, I realized I was well in front, and it was time to go for a [best] time. But an Olympic record is unbelievable.”
Marchand’s time was just shy of his 4:02.50 world record from the 2023 world championships, but winning an Olympic gold in his home country was paramount. A two-time Olympian, he finished sixth in the event at the 2021 Tokyo Games.
“I’m not sure there’s been anything like this [atmosphere],” said Bob Bowman, Marchand’s coach and part of the French team’s staff. “It was amazing really to have that home-team advantage — not an advantage, but just energy, right? It’s crazy. I feel like it was something that I haven’t really seen in a meet.”
Even as the favorite, Marchand described his gold-medal win as “a nice surprise” and something he hadn’t envisioned.
“I opened my eyes, I listened to everything going on around me, and that really pushed me to do a good race,” he said.
Bowman, who was Michael Phelps’ longtime coach and recently took over the Texas Longhorns’ program, noted that Marchand was very relaxed before Sunday’s final.
“He’s been very calm and very — just focused on what he needed to do, and I think he was very well prepared for the moment,” Bowman said. “He was just joy [on the podium].”
American first-time Olympian Carson Foster earned bronze, finishing 5.71 seconds behind Marchand. Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita took silver, 5.67 seconds back.
Foster will have another chance at a medal in the men’s 200-meter IM, likely facing Marchand again. The two train together under Bowman with the Longhorns pro group. Marchand recently turned pro after three seasons with Bowman at Arizona State, where he was a three-time Pac-12 Men’s Swimmer of the Year.
“[Marchand] can be better,” Bowman added. “He’s not reached his potential. That was a great swim. He can definitely swim faster than that. …
“He’s got the total package: He’s got the speed, he’s got the endurance, he’s got the underwaters.”
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