“Stratospheric”, “amazing”, “amazing”: the day after the swimmer’s double individual Olympic gold medal in the 200 metres butterfly and breaststroke, the French public seemed to be running out of superlatives on Thursday to describe Léon Marchand, the new star of world swimming.
A real “Leonmania”. A few minutes before the start of the morning swimming series, where the French phenomenon is expected for a 200-meter medley, several hundred spectators crowd onto the forecourt of the Hôtel de Ville.
A few meters from a giant screen, Philippe Sitnikoff, 60 years old, a fervent supporter of Léon Marchand since his first university competitions in the United States, calmly awaits the start of the event.
“Although we expected him to be one of our best hopes for the Olympic Games, his victory in the 200m butterfly was a surprise, given that it is not his preferred stroke. Now that he has won this race, I don’t see anything that can stop him,” says the medical visitor.
As soon as the series starts, the sports initiation workshops in the fan zone are deserted and the place falls into absolute silence.
In the final metres of the race, an initially quiet fervour spread through the crowd, which ended up becoming inflamed by the athlete’s second place, which meant qualification for the evening’s semi-final.
“Some say he’s an alien, but they’re wrong: he’s just French,” jokes Julie Vasbro, 20, who discovered the 22-year-old swimmer a few days ago on social media.
“We have a lot of great swimmers in France, like Florent Manaudou, but I have the impression that ‘King Leon’ is taking advantage of the Games to prove that he is the next generation for the coming years,” analyses Baptiste Bertrand, 37.
Competitions interrupted
Already a triple medalist for his second participation in the Olympic Games, Léon Marchand made most of the sports venues vibrate on Wednesday evening during his historic victory, even going so far as to interrupt certain competitions in spite of himself.
“We were at the Arena Paris Sud on Wednesday evening to watch table tennis and suddenly everyone took out their phones to watch Léon Marchand’s performance simultaneously. The table tennis players had to stop for almost a minute because there was so much noise in the audience,” recalls Nicolas Clisson, 37.
Within the Grand Palais, in the VIIIe district of the capital, the sabre final was also interrupted for a few seconds, in the face of explosions of joy from the French spectators.
600 km from Paris, at the edge of the Alfred Nakache public swimming pool in Toulouse (south), where the swimming prodigy was introduced to the discipline, these victories have a special flavor.
“We were behind the TV screen, it was extraordinary!” says Chantal Hure, 57, before adding: “We were screaming in front of the TV, it’s stratospheric, absolutely brilliant!”
“I was amazed by his simplicity, he always remained what he was and I hope he will remain that way for a long time; that is what, I believe, pleases all the people who watch his races,” observes Henri Cheron, 65 years old.
The Toulouse player must once again defend his place on Thursday evening at La Défense Arena to reach the final of the 200m medley, scheduled for Friday.
But given the performances offered by the swimmer since the start of the Olympic Games on July 26, “this semi-final will be just a formality,” assures Nicolas Clisson.