Paris (AFP) – France’s Leon Marchand stole the show in the pool at the Paris Olympics while Katie Ledecky rewrote the history books. AFP picks out five talking points from the action at La Defense Arena.
**Marchand’s golden run**
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France’s Leon Marchand was unquestionably the star of the Paris pool, finishing the meet with four individual golds and becoming the toast of a nation. Every one of Marchand’s victories was accompanied by deafening noise at La Defense Arena, but it was last week’s double victory that will live longest in the memory.
First, he produced a devastating late surge to beat Hungary’s Kristof Milak to the wall in the 200m butterfly. Then, less than two hours later, he led from start to finish to triumph in the 200m breaststroke. France had their defining moment of the Games and “Marchand Mania” swept the country. With Michael Phelps’s old coach Bob Bowman guiding the 22-year-old, he could dominate for years.
**Ledecky makes history**
When a 15-year-old from Maryland won the 800m freestyle at the London Games in 2012, it was clear that a star was born. But few would have predicted that, 12 years later, she would win the event for the fourth straight time. After all, no woman had ever won gold in the same swimming event at four straight Olympics.
But Ledecky did just that in Paris, and her ninth Olympic gold made her the joint most successful woman in any Olympic sport, alongside Soviet-era gymnast Larisa Latynina. The American, who also won the 1500m freestyle, is considering competing as a 31-year-old in the Los Angeles Games in 2028.
**Pan powers to world record**
China’s Pan Zhanle only just made it into the final of the men’s 100m freestyle, but he certainly made the most of his opportunity once he got there. Pan powered to the finish in 46.40sec, beating the world record time of 46.80 he had set in February in Doha. Australia’s Kyle Chalmers, gold medal winner at the 2016 Rio Games, finished 1.08 seconds behind to take silver.
It was a stunning display of technique and power from Pan but, perhaps inevitably given scrutiny of Chinese swimming, there were some who questioned the victory. Australian swimming coach Brett Hawke said the performance was “not humanly possible.” The New York Times in April reported that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine at a domestic competition in late 2020 and early 2021, ahead of the Tokyo Olympics; Pan was not among the 23 swimmers in the report. His swim will go down as one of the most striking achievements of the Games.
**Summer time in Paris**
There were high hopes for 17-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh and with no doubts over her talent, the only question was: could she cope with the pressure of the Olympics and deliver? She certainly did that, winning three gold medals and a silver. She began with an emphatic victory in the 400m medley, winning by nearly six seconds. Then she won the 200m butterfly with the second fastest time in history and the quickest since 2009. She crowned her week by winning the 200m medley with a brilliant late burst.
**La Defense crowds**
Paris 2024 organisers could be justified in awarding the crowds at La Defense Arena an honorary gold medal for their vital contribution. Not only was the 15,000-seat arena, usually a rugby stadium and concert venue, packed out for every night of finals, it was also full for the heats. The morning races involving French swimmers were accompanied by raucous cheering even though no medals were at stake.
Marchand’s success whipped up the atmosphere among home fans, but supporters from other nations also made noise, and the competitors will never forget it.
© 2024 AFP
