The in-form French swimmer Leon Marchand scripted history after winning gold in the men's individual 200m medley event at the Paris Olympics on Friday. Marchand claimed his fourth gold medal in the 33rd Paris Games to match a unique feat set by the legendary Olympian Michael Phelps.
The 22-year-old Marchand became the first athlete to win four or more golds in a single edition of the Olympic Games since 2008. Phelps previously recorded eight gold medals during his historic campaign at the 2008 Beijing Games, setting a record for most individual golds.
Marchand was tipped to dominate the Paris Games after winning five gold medals in the last couple of years in the World Championships event. He started his campaign with a gold in the men’s 400 metre individual medley with a time of 4:02.95s.
On July 31, he won gold in the 200m butterfly event and then scripted history with his third gold in the 200m breaststroke with an Olympic record. He clocked 2:05.85s to set a new tournament record in the 200m breaststroke event.
Marchand continued his campaign with the latest gold in the 200m medley to become the first French athlete to win four gold medals in a single edition of the Summer Games.
"That's something that I'm really proud of," Marchand said. "It was not easy for me. I'm only 22. It was a lot of pressure on my little shoulders. I've been practising mentally for that. I think I did pretty well, I'm really happy with it. But it was a lot of pressure. I'm not used to it. I don't think anyone can be used to that."
Notably, Michael Phelps famously bagged eight gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Games to break the legendary swimmer Mark Spitz's 36-year-old record. Spitz had won seven individual gold medals in the 1972 Munich Summer Games. Phelps won four or more individual golds in four different editions (Eight in the 2008 Beijing Games, Six in the 2004 Athens Games, five in the 2016 Rio Games and four in the 2012 London Games) to finish his career as one of the best Olympians of all time.
