Comparisons to Michael Phelps were not far-fetched at all when it comes to Leon Marchand. They certainly were not a burden for the 22-year-old Frenchman, who on Wednesday completed one of the most audacious doubles in swimming history, winning the 200m butterfly and the 200m breaststroke about two hours apart in front of a home crowd cheering his every stroke.
Two grueling races. Two very different strokes. Two Olympic records. Two gold medals.
Phelps completed several doubles of his own while claiming a record eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Photo: Reuters
“I’m a really shy person,” Marchand said. “I was kind of the center of attention during those two races. I was trying to get the energy from the whole crowd. They’re amazing to me, pushing me in every final.”
Thrilling the French fans and claiming the spotlight even on a night when Katie Ledecky of the US romped to another gold medal, Marchand notched his second and third victories at La Defense Arena and stamped himself — with the Olympics not even a week old — as one of the faces of the Games.
Ledecky claimed her seventh individual Olympic gold medal — she also has a relay gold — and 12th medal overall with a runaway victory in the 1,500m freestyle.
Photo: Reuters
After rallying to defeat world-record holder and defending Olympic champion Kristof Milak in the 200m butterfly with a finishing kick for the ages, Marchand made it look easy in the 200m breaststroke.
He led all the way, touching in 2 minutes, 5.85 seconds as more than 15,000 fans — many of them holding up cardboard cutouts of his smiling face — nearly blew the roof off La Defense Arena.
Trailing most of the way in the fly, Marchand surged past the Hungarian Milak on the final lap to finish with an Olympic record of 1:51.71, touching first by just by 0.04 seconds.
Marchand’s final lap was nearly 0.66 seconds faster than anyone else in the field — and 1.26 seconds clear of Milak.
“I’ve been watching so many races from him,” Marchand said. “I know he has a lot of speed, way more than me, so I was just trying to get as close as possible, and then just push it until the end.”
The bronze went to Canada’s Ilya Kharun.
After a boisterous rendition of La Marseillaise and receiving his gold, Marchand hustled back to the practice pool.
He blew away the field in the 200m breaststroke with an Olympic record of 2:05.85.
Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook claimed silver in 2:06.79, while the bronze went to Casper Corbeau of the Netherlands.
“I’m so very proud of him,” said his coach, American Bob Bowman, who was also Phelps’ coach. “That’s a tremendous, historic effort.”
WALKING
Reuters, PARIS
Brian Pintado of Ecuador yesterday pulled away from the field over the final kilometer to capture gold in the men’s 20km race walk at the Paris Olympics, crossing the finish line in a time of 1 hour, 18 minutes, 55 seconds.
Caio Bonfim of Brazil raced to silver in 1:19.09, while Alvaro Martin of Spain was third in 1:19.11 as the Olympics athletics competitions began.
The lead changed hands numerous times in a tight lead group of 15 walkers through the first 13km, but the group started to spread out at the 15km mark.
The top four had pulled away from the field by the final lap.
The Ecuadoran shook two fists in celebration after crossing the finish line.
The course was a 1km loop along the Pont d’Alene and under the Eiffel Tower.
SPRINTING
AFP, WELLINGTON
The Solomon Islands has nominated a marathon runner to compete in women’s 100m Olympic heats today — to the surprise of the Pacific nation’s sprint champion.
Distance runner and two-time Olympian Sharon Firisua has not run the 100m in top-level competition, but was named to sprint alongside the world’s best at the Stade de France.
The Solomon Islands Athletics Federation had recommended two sprinters take up wild-card spots at the Games.
Instead, the country’s Olympic committee named 30-year-old Firisua, a national 1,500m champion who finished 72nd in the marathon at the Tokyo Olympics, but failed to qualify for her chosen event this time round.
The decision was a “shock,” Solomon Islands Athletics Federation president Michael Kuali told Australian broadcaster ABC.
Firisua’s nomination drew the wrath of 22-year-old Solomon’s 100m and 200m champion Jovita Arunia, who had dreamed of running in Paris.
“We’re the sprinters. I don’t know what went wrong, it’s unbelievable,” Arunia told ABC.
The country’s Olympic committee did not respond to a request for comment.
Arunia threatened to quit athletics over the decision.
“I will not compete anymore because of what they did,” she said.
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