PARIS, (Reuters) – France’s Leon Marchand brought the host nation to a standstill once again on Friday with his fourth gold of the Paris Olympics, while Australian Kaylee McKeown wrote history of her own as the first woman to retain both backstroke titles.
Marchand did it in style, roared to the rafters by a rapturous crowd as he joined American greats Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz as the only male swimmers to have won four individual titles at a single Games.
Emphasising his status as the hottest property in the pool, the 22-year-old shattered the 200 metres Individual Medley Olympic record of one minute 54.23 seconds set by Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Games and replaced it with a new best of 1:54.06.
It is the fourth such record set by the poster boy of the Paris Games, who has taken the burden of expectation and shaped it into another source of strength, in as many finals in the La Defense Arena.
Around the city, and at other venues, crowds celebrated and burst into the national anthem.
At the Stade de France, scene of France’s momentous 1998 World Cup soccer triumph and venue for the track and field events, the decathlon 400m had to be delayed due to the noise from the stands.
“This morning I woke up and I was full of energy,” Marchand told reporters as the crowd chanted his name long into the night.
“I don’t think anything went wrong this week. It’s been perfect.
“Four gold medals is not what I thought I could possibly do,” he added later. “I was trying to win one at first. I had four chances of doing it.”