Historic Olympic Night: Katie Ledecky, Marchand, & Zhanle Shine
American Katie Ledecky and Frenchman Léon Marchand made history on Wednesday, she with her eighth Olympic gold and he with an unusual double, on a memorable night that included the first world record in the Paris-2024 pools in the men’s 100-meter freestyle.
In a day that included five finals, Katie Ledecky retained her 1,500-meter crown and became the most decorated swimmer of the Games, while Marchand thrilled the 13,000 spectators at La Défense Arena by achieving what not even her idol Michael Phelps could: winning two finals—the 200-meter breaststroke and butterfly—on the same night, just two hours apart.
WHAT A NIGHT FOR SWIMMING! 🤯 🤯
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 31, 2024
An Olympic Record for Katie Ledecky 🇺🇸
TWO Olympic Records for Leon Marchand 🇫🇷
A World Record for Pan Zhanle 🇨🇳#Paris2024 | @WorldAquatics | #Swimming pic.twitter.com/sARUWocWYi
The cherry on top came from Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle, who won the 100-meter freestyle and, with his first Olympic gold, broke the first world swimming record for this edition of the Games with a time of 46.40.
Zhanle beat Australian Kyle Chalmers (1.08 m) and Romanian David Popovici (1.09 m), who won the 200 m freestyle on Monday, by a wide margin. The Chinese swimmer even beat his own record, set in February at the Doha World Championships (46.80 m).
#WORLDRECORD FOR PAN ZHANLE! 🇨🇳@OlympicsCN | @WorldAquatics | #Swimming #Paris2024 | #OMEGA | #OMEGAOfficialTimekeeper pic.twitter.com/XDqny7n2VY
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 31, 2024
Marchand confirms himself as a hero.
Léon Marchand had a very tough time in the first final, the butterfly, where he was behind the big favorite, the Hungarian Kristof Milak, until, with the encouragement of the public, he beat him in the last length to stop the clock at 1:51.21, taking away Milak’s Olympic record by four hundredths of a second.
In the breaststroke final, the 22-year-old French swimmer dominated from the start and finished the race with a time of 2:05.85, another Olympic record.
Silver went to Australian Zac Stubblety-Cook (2:06.79), who lost the crown he won in Tokyo, and bronze to Dutchman Caspar Corbeau (2:07.90).
Cannot explain how loud it was here during Marchand’s final 50.
— Henry Bushnell (@HenryBushnell) July 31, 2024
Not sure I’ve ever heard anything like this. pic.twitter.com/edD87NCTbD
After his five world titles and now with three golds in Paris—on Sunday he won the 400-meter individual medley, setting an Olympic record—Marchand confirmed that he is the new hero of French swimming. And he can still win a fourth crown in the 200-meter individual medley on Thursday and Friday.
“It’s going to take me a while to process this. I have the 200-meter individual medley tomorrow, so I’ll focus on that for now. I’ve really enjoyed every moment of these two finals,” said the Frenchman, who trains with Phelps’ former coach, Bob Bowman.
A very symbolic victory
Ledecky dominated her race from the start. This time, she beat her own Olympic record by more than five seconds and stopped the clock at 15:30.02. Far behind her, completing the podium, were French Anastasiia Kirpichnikova, 10.33 behind, and German Isabel Gose, 11.14 behind.
Ledecky’s triumph at the age of 27 marked two further records: with this success in Paris, she becomes the second most decorated athlete in the history of the Games, ex aequo with her fellow swimmer Jenny Thompson, and only behind the Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina, who won nine gold medals between 1956 and 1964.
The Maryland native, who has a total of 12 Olympic medals, is also the first swimmer to win gold in four Olympic events, something that on the men’s side only her compatriots Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte have achieved.
“I try not to think too much about history. (…) I know these names; they are people I admired when I started swimming, and it is an honor to be among them,” she said after the race.
Ledecky thus made up for her disappointment on Saturday, when she had to settle for bronze in the 400-meter freestyle, which was won by Australian Ariarne Titmus.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem took gold in the women’s 100-meter freestyle (52.16), where she holds the world record.
American Torri Huske, 13 hundredths behind, and Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey, 17 hundredths behind, completed the podium.
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