The Frenchman Who Won More Gold Medals Than 184 Countries At Olympics (image-X/ leon_marchand)

The Paris Olympics concluded yesterday with Tom Cruise making a spectacular and adventurous entry to handover the Olympic flag to Los Angeles, the next destination of the 2028 Olympics.

But before we move to Los Angeles, let’s talk about the host country – France – and specifically one of its star athletes this season. Meet Leon Marchand, a swimmer who won five medals in an impressive show throughout the games.

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Called the “Marchand-mania,” the swimmer stunned crowds with four gold medals in all his individual events. He also won a bronze medal in the men’s 4x100m medley relay. Marchand became the first male swimmer since the legendary Michael Phelps to win four gold medals in the same Olympics.

Notably, the Frenchman was trained by Phelps’ former coach, Bob Bowman.

In his 400-meter individual medley, Marchand touched an Olympic record of 4:02.95, although his own record is 4:02.50.

But there is more to Marchand. He won the 200-meter breaststroke and butterfly gold on the same night, setting another Olympic record. In the men’s 200m butterfly, he finished with a record time of 1:51.21, setting a new Olympic record and breaking Kristof Milak’s 2020 Tokyo Games.

The 22-year-old led the breakstroke final touching in 2:05.85 to set another Olympic record, defeating Zac Stubblety-Cook’s previously held record from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

His fourth gold medal came when he won the men’s 200-meter individual medley in an Olympic record time. Marchand also became the first French athlete to win four individual golds, as opposed to team ones, in one Summer Games. He also became the third male swimmer to achieve the feat after Phelps and Mark Spitz.

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His fifth and final medal came with the men’s 4×100-meter medley. Although he was beaten by China’s Qin Haiyang, who won with a time of 3:27.46, Marchand secured the bronze medal, finishing with 3:28.38.

All in all, by the end of the Paris Olympics, Marchand’s record is better than a staggering 184 countries, including India, at the Olympics. Only 15 countries have won more gold medals than the French swimmer, while countries like Sweden, Ireland, Norway, and Kenya won four gold medals each at the Paris Olympics this year.

France won 16 gold medals. The country came in fifth place on the medal table with 64 medals in its kitty.