Olympics-Swimming-Magical Marchand takes fourth gold in Paris pool

By Ian Ransom and Alan Baldwin

PARIS (Reuters) -Leon Marchand fulfilled what French fans may regard as destiny as he swept to a fourth gold medal at his home Paris Games by winning the men's 200 metres Individual Medley in an Olympic record time on Friday.

Roared on by a delirious crowd at La Defense Arena, Marchand took control from the second backstroke leg, stretched his lead through the breaststroke, then powered home with a time of one minute, 54.06 seconds, only 0.06 seconds short of Ryan Lochte's 13-year record.

Britain's Duncan Scott won the silver, more than a second behind Marchand, while China's defending champion Wang Shun took the bronze.

The win made Marchand the first French athlete to take four individual golds, as opposed to team ones, at a single Summer Games and only the third male swimmer to do so after Americans Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz.

The 22-year-old won the 400 Individual Medley last Sunday and then both the 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke within the space of two incredible hours on Wednesday.

The great expectations might have been too much for other swimmers at their home Games, but Marchand only drew energy from them and lived up to his nickname the "French Michael Phelps".

A delighted French President Emmanuel Macron punched his fist in the air in celebration from the terraces packed with 15,000 fans.

(Reporting by Ian Ransom and Alan Baldwin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)