With French fans cheering every stroke, Marchand cruises to fastest time in men's medley
With a boisterous crowd cheering him on, Léon Marchand began his home Olympics by cruising to the fastest time in the preliminaries of the 400-meter individual medley
By PAUL NEWBERRY
Published - Jul 29, 2024, 12:31 AM ET
Last Updated - Jul 29, 2024, 12:31 AM EDT
NANTERRE, France (AP) — With a boisterous crowd cheering him on, Léon Marchand began his home Olympics by cruising to the fastest time in the preliminaries of the 400-meter individual medley Sunday.
The 22-year-old Marchand pulled away in his heat to touch in 4 minutes, 8.30 seconds, with some 15,000 fans at La Defense Arena chanting on every stroke.
“It was a crazy thing,” Marchand said through a translator. “It was beyond what I expected. Everybody was shouting my name.”
It was a comfortable performance for the French phenomenon, who has been compared to Michael Phelps and is guided by the same coach, American Bob Bowman, who was with Phelps for his staggering 23 Olympic gold medals.
