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France’s Leon Marchand once again brought the host nation to a standstill on Friday with his Fourth Gold Paris Olympics, and Australia’s Kaylee McKeown Wrote history She became the first woman to defend her backstroke title.
Marchand’s performance was outstanding, and amid the cheers of the audience, he joined American swimming stars Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz as the only three male swimmers to win four individual championships in one Olympic Games.
The hottest swimmer in the pool, the 22-year-old broke Phelps’ 200m individual medley Olympic record of 1:54.23 set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished in 1:54.06.
This was the fourth time that the Paris Olympic star had set such a record in as many finals at the La Défense Arena, and he lived up to expectations and turned it into another source of strength.
Across the city and other venues, crowds cheered and sang the national anthem.
The Stade de France, venue for France’s 1998 World Cup soccer triumph, is also the venue for track and field events, but the 400m decathlon had to be postponed because of noise in the stands.
“I woke up this morning and I felt really energized,” Marchand told reporters, as the crowd chanted his name late into the night.
“I don’t think there were any issues this week. Everything was perfect.
“I didn’t expect to win four gold medals,” he later added. “I only wanted to win one. I had four chances.”
Global Superstar
Britain’s Duncan Scott touched the wall just behind Marchand to take silver, extending the British swimmer’s record for Olympic medals to eight, while China’s Wang Shun took bronze.
Scott’s two relay gold medals and six silvers also saw him surpass cyclist Chris Hoy to become Scotland’s most decorated Olympian, but he was even more in awe of Marchand’s achievements.
“He’s become a global superstar now,” Scott said. “He’s really the man who’s dominating the French team right now… You can see him smiling and the energy from the crowd is just so great. It’s amazing to witness.”
As the crowd eagerly awaited Marchand’s final of three finals, experienced compatriot Florent Manaudou warmed up the crowd and tested the crowd’s enthusiasm with a bronze medal in the final. 50 Freestyle Sprint.
The meet was a reminder that the older generation of swimmers is still a force to be reckoned with, with 30-year-old Australian Cameron McEvoy winning his first Olympic gold medal and 29-year-old British Ben Proud finishing second, winning his first Olympic medal.
In between the men’s races, the outstanding McKeown found his moment to shine, winning Australia’s second gold medal of the night, swimming in lane five as McEvoy had done before.
The 23-year-old world record holder once again outlasted hapless American challenger Regan Smith to win in 2:03.73 and break the Olympic record.
Smith finished more than half a second behind to claim her third silver medal of the Games, the second time she had missed out on the Australian, who also beat her in the 100m on day four.
Kelly Maas won bronze for Canada, her fifth Olympic medal.
McKeown is the first Australian Olympian to win four individual gold medals rather than team gold, surpassing the likes of Dawn Fraser, Ian Thorpe and Betty Cuthbert.
“I gave it my all and hung on like crazy,” said the swimmer, who is likely to be in Saturday’s mixed relay final. “My main race is over and tomorrow is just a fun time for me.”
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