French Crowd Lionises Léon As Marchand Takes Lane 4 In 4:08, Faster Than Tokyo Gold
Marchand in Paris heats: 54.52; 1:57.31; 3:07.92; 4:08.30. Every race has a purpose and point, says coach Bob Bowman, and there was a good slug of dress rehearsal in the first half of the Frenchman's swim this morning
The rafters rattled at the Paris La Defense Arena this morning as the crowd chanted "Léon, "Léon, "Léon" as the poster boy for the hosts with a shot at four golds walked out for his first target, the 400m medley.
It's just heats but every stroke as Léon Marchand took was accompanied by a roar. When the 22-year-old stopped the clock at 4mins 08.30, well inside the time that it took for gold in Tokyo three years ago, you'd have sworn he'd already got the gold round his neck.
He probably has. Last year, Marchand broke the last-remaining individual world record of American great Michael Phelps.
