Léon Marchand Pulls Off Historic Double Gold at Olympics

Fans witnessed a rather shy Léon Marchand become a legend after doing something that hadn’t been done in almost 50 years – winning two individual swimming gold medals in the same night, setting two Olympic records in the process.

On Wednesday night at La Défense Arena, Marchand completed one of the most audacious doubles in swimming history, winning the 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter breaststroke about two hours apart in his home country with his fellow Frenchmen cheering him on with every stroke.

Once Marchand’s first race was announced on the big screen, the chants began: “Lé-on! Lé-on! Lé-on! Lé-on!” When he appeared on the pool deck, a roar went up, followed by more chants: “Lé-on! Lé-on! Lé-on! Lé-on!” The buzzer sounded, and an almighty cheer went up from the crowd.

And if there was a person to appreciate the magnitude of what the 22-year-old has done at the Paris Olympics, it’s Bob Bowman—the longtime coach of Michael Phelps.

Marchand has been compared to the Flying Fish after breaking the 28 Olympic medal holder’s long-standing 400m individual medley world record in 2023. Five days into the 2024 Olympic Games, Marchand has lived up to every expectation—and more—with three gold medals.

“I’m so very proud of him,” Bowman said of his latest star pupil. “That’s a tremendous, historic effort. It just shows the incredible work that he’s done for many years to get here.”

Despite the glory, Bowman added that there is a possible downside to this moment, as he saw firsthand while helping others reach legendary status. He told reporters he thinks Marchand can still improve—and has to survive success.

“The key thing for him, which sadly I know about—he doesn’t know about it yet—is he’s got to survive the success, right?” Bowman said. “He’s got to come out of what’s next. And he has no idea, but I know exactly what’s next. And then somehow, he has to find his way back to a pool in Austin, Texas, and start going up and down it.”

But the swimmer seems to be on the right path as he isn’t keen on the attention anyway. Instead of letting the uproar inflate his ego, he used it as fuel to be a better competitor.

“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.”

And to top it off, he got the approval of the most decorated Olympian in history.

“I think the easiest thing for me is that’s probably the greatest double I’ve seen in the history of the sport,” Phelps said of Marchand’s achievement, which was last done in 1976 by East Germany’s Kornelia Ender, who won the 200 free and 100 fly in Montreal.