French swimming sensation Léon Marchand made Olympic history on July 31, 2024, by winning two gold medals in the span of just two hours at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The 22-year-old clinched victory in both the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke events, setting new Olympic records in each.In the 200m butterfly, Marchand overtook defending champion and world record holder Kristof Milak of Hungary in the final 25 meters, finishing with a time of 1:51.21. Less than two hours later, he dominated the 200m breaststroke, winning with a time of 2:05.85, just shy of the world record.This unprecedented achievement is particularly remarkable as the two events require vastly different skills. As Marchand himself noted, ‘No one has ever won these two events, which have completely different requirements’. His coach, Bob Bowman, who previously guided Michael Phelps to his historic achievements, praised Marchand’s performance.Marchand’s victories have electrified the French crowd, with chants of ‘Léon, Léon’ echoing through the La Défense Arena. His performance has propelled France to the top of the medal table. With these two golds, Marchand now has three gold medals in these Olympics, having previously won the 400m individual medley.In other swimming events, Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle set a new world record in the 100m freestyle with a time of 46.40 seconds, while American Katie Ledecky secured her eighth Olympic gold medal in the 1500m freestyle.
Key points
- Léon Marchand won gold in both 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke within two hours.
- Marchand set new Olympic records in both events.
- This achievement is unprecedented due to the different skills required for each event.
- Marchand now has three gold medals in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
- Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle set a new world record in the 100m freestyle.
