PARIS: Leon Marchand said he had goosebumps after racing to France’s first Olympic swimming gold since 2012 in front of a packed and raucous Paris crowd on Sunday.
Marchand swept the rest of the field in the final of the 400m individual medley in 4min 02.95sec, nearly six seconds ahead of Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita in second and American Carson Foster in third.
It was the second-fastest 400m IM time in history and gave most of the La Defense Arena crowd what they came for on the second night of competition.
The 22-year-old was greeted by a massive roar as he entered the arena, and the noise didn’t die down until long after he touched the wall in Olympic record time.
“I got goosebumps on the podium,” said Marchand, who will also swim the 200m breaststroke and 200m butterfly.
“I felt really proud to be myself tonight and to be French as well. It was an amazing time for me and I was really living it in the moment, so it was pretty cool.”
Marchand said he received a phone call from French President Emmanuel Macron after the race.
“He told me he watched the final with his whole family,” Marchand said.
“Everyone was screaming into the phone. It was pretty funny and I was very grateful for the phone call.”
Marchand was a heavy favorite after destroying Michael Phelps’ 15-year-old world record in a phenomenal swim of 4:02.50 last year.
With American defending champion Chase Kalisz not making the final and a full crowd cheering him on, Marchand was half a body clear after the opening butterfly leg.
But it was a sensational 100m backstroke that left his rivals hot on their heels.
Coached by Phelps’ old coach Bob Bowman, his victory made him the first French gold medalist since the London Games.
At the pandemic-delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics, they took home only one swimming medal, Florent Manaudou’s silver in the 50m freestyle.
“I tried to focus on myself, but it’s really hard with 15,000 people cheering for me,” Marchand said.
“I did well to try to use that energy to swim as fast as possible.
Marchand said he will go to bed early as he prepares for the rest of his schedule at the Games. “Going forward, I know I’ve prepared well and I know I’m ready for some high-intensity racing.”
