Fourth gold for Marchand: “He flies through the water”

Die Olympischen Spiele haben Paris noch eine ganze Woche und ein weiteres Wochenende im Griff, aber Léon Marchand hat Frankreich gepackt. Vier Goldmedaillen sollten es werden, vier Goldmedaillen sind es geworden. 400 Meter Lagen am Sonntag, 200 Meter Schmetterling und 200 Meter Brust am Mittwoch, und am Freitagabend um kurz vor neun spreizte der 22 Jahre alte Schwimmer aus Toulouse alle vier Finger vom Daumen und reckte den rechten Arm aus dem Becken. 200 Meter Lagen? 200 Meter Lagen. Gold. Ça y est, c’est. Das war’s, es ist geschafft. Vier Rennen, vier Siege.

Emmanuel Macron, der Präsident der Französischen Republik, drückte von der Tribüne beide Daumen in die Höhe, die Sportministerin jubelte neben ihm, die Begeisterung über den größten Erfolg eines französischen Sportlers bei einer Ausgabe der Olympischen Spiele geriet zum Staatsakt. Sein Name wird nun in einer Reihe mit diesen genannt: Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz, Kristin Otto. Da schwingt ein bisschen was mit, aber welcher Franzose wollte an diesem Abend schon Experte für die Untiefen deutsch-deutscher Sportgeschichte sein? Doping? Danach wurde nur der chinesische Bronzemedaillengewinner Wang Shun gefragt.

No, in the La Défense Arena in Nanterre it was, once again, ball night. Tout le monde and every child intoxicated in blue-blanc-rouge. So many French tricolors? So many French tricolors. The Marseillaise in Marchand's honor was followed by the dance floor hit “Alors on danse.” So the spectators danced and the politicians uploaded their posts. And Léon Marchand, the amazing golden boy who they sent to Bob Bowman in America three years ago for exactly this purpose, made it possible for them. He had already trained Michael Phelps, who was even more amazing at the moment, to be a water miracle man.

But that evening, one could watch in real time how heroic poetry is created.

You have accomplished a great feat. What do four gold medals mean to you? You answered every single fan at the poolside. Would you like to tell us what advice your coach gave you?

“It's unbelievable. I never thought I could win four gold medals. First I tried to win one gold medal. Four gold medals – I didn't know that was possible. Coach Bowman wasn't stressed at all this week. He knew I was prepared.

Have you thought about what you accomplished this week?

“I didn't have time for that. I had a lot of races this week, which was exhausting, physically and mentally. I prepared the week like a Christmas present, but I opened it on the first day. And then I was able to open more presents. That was cool.” He now wants to go on holiday and think about what he has achieved, said Marchand.

And yes, Phelps got in touch this week. “I met Michael last year, he gave me tips. It's crazy to be compared to these guys. Michael wrote me a few messages after the 400 meter individual medley, I really respect him.” Legend, pride, records were the common keywords of the evening.

But this very French evening by the water was also a belated, long-overdue celebration of the generational change that has taken place. Florent Manaudou, the 33-year-old freestyle sprinter, had made a project out of wanting to try again. Would he manage to win a fourth medal at his fourth Games?

After gold in London, silver in Rio de Janeiro (over 50 meters freestyle in 2012 and 2016) and silver with the 4×100 meter freestyle relay in 2021, he followed it up with a medal in the 50 meter sprint? He shaved off his moustache and struggled into the final. It didn't look particularly convincing in the preliminary round and semi-final on Thursday, but there he was in the first final of the evening, forming a heart with his hands for the spectators. He pulled the clothes off his powerful body, took off his headphones and worked a little more on the mood.

“The atmosphere before the race was incredible,” the winner would later say. “Flo clapped and whipped up the crowd.” The winner was not Manaudou, but that would have been a presumptuous claim, even in the shortest and most unpredictable race among the swimmers. The Australian Cameron McEvoy was the first to touch the finish line. 21.25 seconds.

The Briton Ben Proud was the only one who came very close. Second, 21.30 seconds. And Manaudou? He pumped himself through the water in lane one, pure muscle power against the liquid, 21.56 seconds. He hardly had to turn around, the people in the stands went wild. Bronze. The project was a success. And the politicians had even more reason to tweet.

“It's always difficult to change your mindset in swimming,” said Manaudou, the French flag bearer at the opening ceremony afterwards. In the past, he had been able to train much more. “But today we have to be smarter. After a hard session, you can't swim another hard session the next day. You have to find a smarter way. Less is more. In the preliminary round and the semi-finals, it was all about getting through. I'm almost 34, so two races in one day aren't that easy anymore. But when I was in the final, I knew I had a chance.”

Manaudou got philosophical and shared his thoughts with the press conference audience. “Consistency? Consistency is only possible when you keep trying new things. If I did the same thing every season, it wouldn't work. Swimming isn't a fun sport, we all know that. So between September and December I didn't train much and I partied a lot to distract myself. That's my thing. It's very difficult to visualize a moment like that, to imagine the crowd in that stadium. But in lane one I had the opportunity to soak up the energy. It's a shame when you come into the final scared, stressed. I felt like that sometimes, but not this time. I was happy. It was the first time I'd experienced that. I was able to enjoy it.”

And of course the old hero should say a few words about the golden boy. He had not seen Marchand's race, said Florent Manaudou. “I know he won, I heard the Marseillaise.” How did he manage it? In 1:54.06 minutes. “Alors, c'est pas mal.” No, not bad. Since his first victory on Sunday in the 400 meter individual medley, Florent Manaudou has also observed that Léon Marchand is a different person: “Now he flies through the water, now he is untouchable, nothing can stop him.”

But anyone who listened to the man, who was more than eleven years older than him, on this French Friday by the water noticed that Marchand has not yet experienced much. A 22-year-old still has a lot of life ahead of him. Michael Phelps, not least of all, can tell a few stories about it. Phelps has won 23 gold medals. And even if France was not really thinking about it that evening: Gold does not always help you in life.