Leon Marchand of France set a new Olympic record in the 400m individual medley, winning gold at the Paris 2024 Games. Competing in front of a cheering home crowd, Marchand triumphed with a time of 4:01.08, finishing 5.67 seconds ahead of Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita, who took the silver. The bronze medal went to Carson Foster from the USA.
Great Britain’s Max Litchfield, who has now finished fourth in this event at three consecutive Olympics, set a new British record with a time of 4:08.85.
Marchand, 22, was among the leading figures anticipated for these Games. Although he fell just short of his own world record, he surpassed the previous Olympic best set by Michael Phelps at the Beijing Games in 2008.
Marchand, who trains under Phelps’ former coach Bob Bowman in the US, had reached out to Bowman before the last Olympics for assistance. Phelps himself was present at the arena to witness Marchand’s performance.
Marchand is also scheduled to compete in the 200m individual medley, 200m butterfly, and 200m breaststroke events.
