NANTERRE, France — Léon Marchand won a fourth gold medal and set his fourth Olympic record of these games on Friday, taking the 200-meter individual medley to the delight of a delirious French crowd.
Fans at Paris La Défense Arena roared with every stroke by their new national hero, whose time of 1:54.06 bested the previous Olympic mark set by American Michael Phelps in Beijing at 1:54.23.
Fans chanted, “Léon, Léon, Léon” as he stepped onto the medal podium before delivering a full-throated rendition of “La Marseillaise.”
These Olympic games, as far the host French are concerned, are all about Marchand.
And rightly so, as the 22-year-old Arizona State product won the 200 butterfly and breast on Wednesday after a 400 IM triumph on Sunday. All of these wins have been in record Olympic time.
He could win another medal on Saturday in the 4×100 mixed medley relay, but his fate would be more in the hands of three teammates and not just himself.
Duncan Scott of Great Britain took silver while Wang Shun of China won bronze, edging fourth-place Carson Foster for a spot on the podium.
Earlier in the evening, Australia’s Kaylee McKeown won gold in the 200 backstroke in Olympic-record time, edging American rival Regan Smith, who picked up her third silver medal.
McKeown now has six medals, five of them gold, including the top prize in the 100 backstroke earlier this meet.
She needed a 2:03.73 to touch the wall a half second ahead of Smith, who logged a 2:04.26. McKeown bested the previous Olympic record of American Missy Franklin, who had set the mark of 2:04.06 in London.
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Friday night’s first medal race, the 50-yard freestyle, was won by Australia’s Cameron McEvoy who had been expected to duel American and defending Olympic champ Caeleb Dressel.
But Dressel somehow missed the podium, coming in sixth and finishing .36 seconds behind McEvoy.
The French crowd roared with approval as Florent Manaudou took bronze in the race, behind silver medalist, Benjamin Proud of Great Britain.
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