Beyond Leon Marchand, European Men Packaged Dominant Showing at Paris Games
How dominant were the European men at the Olympic Games in Paris? Have a look at these numbers.
European men won all but three of the individual events at La Defense Arena, and of the 42 medals on offer in solo races, 24 were claimed by representatives of European nations. The medal haul stands at 11 golds, seven silvers and six bronze medals in individual events.
There was also representation on the podium in each of the three relays, making it 27 trips to the rostrum for continental swimmers.
On to the open water and Kristof Rasovszky of Hungary led home a European clean sweep.
While the spotlight was commanded by Leon Marchand and his unforgettable quadruple, a further seven men representing Hungary, Romania, Ireland, Germany and Italy had a gold medal placed around their necks at the pool. Kristof Milak, David Popovici, Daniel Wiffen, Lukas Martens, Thomas Ceccon, Hubert Kos and Nicolo Martinenghi all stood on top of the podium.
Cam McEvoy of Australia, China’s Pan Zhanle and Bobby Finke of the USA were the sole non-European winners, taking gold in the 50, 100 and 1500 freestyle events, respectively.
There were four gold-silver efforts by the European men, and Kos led home a sweep in the 200 backstroke. More, there were two European men on the podium in nine of the 14 races.
Great Britain won an historic 800 freestyle relay, as the same four men returned to retain the title they won in Tokyo while Italy and France won bronze in the 400 freestyle and 400 medley relays.
It is a steep trajectory three years after Tokyo, where European men won titles courtesy of the British duo of Adam Peaty and Tom Dean in the 100 breaststroke and 200 free, respectively, and Milak of Hungary in the 200 fly. Evgeny Rylov, of the ROC, won the backstroke double.
Milak’s butterfly is a work of art. His 200 fly world record at the 2019 World Championships was a pioneering moment and a time he subsequently lowered to 1:50.34. In 2023, he withdrew from the World Championships in Fukuoka because of physical and mental exhaustion. Milak reportedly only resumed heavy training in early 2024, having put an emphasis on dryland work.
The 24-year-old led Marchand by 0.72 at the 150-meter mark of their 200 fly duel in Paris, but the Frenchman – buoyed by the exhortations of a home crowd – pulled onto his shoulder before moving past him to accelerate into the wall. It is an enduring image of the Games.
Marchand won the title in 1:51.21 – lowering Milak’s Olympic record – with the Hungarian clocking 1:51.75 despite his limited pool training.
Milak returned for the 100 fly in which he won silver in Tokyo. Fourth at the turn, his 26.50 second 50 was the fastest in the field as he stopped the clock in 49.90 for gold.
“Genius. Jordan. Messi,” declared his coach Balázs Virth.
It was Milak who called Popovici “the same crazy genius of the freestyle that I am in the butterfly” after the Romanian lowered the 100 free world record to 46.86 at the 2022 European Championships.
David Popovici of Romania celebrates after winning the gold medal in the swimming 200m Freestyle Men Final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at La Defense Arena in Paris (France), July 29, 2024.
Ahead of Paris, Popovici told Swimming World: “I just have to trust my process, trust the training I do and the training I do is, was and will be intense and so it’s going to be worth it.”
And so it proved. Popovici sat second at the final turn of the 200 freestyle, as four men were in contention with Great Britain’s Matt Richards on the brink. Popovici, though, perfectly extended his arm to the touchpad for gold in 1:44.72, 0.02 ahead of Richards.
He returned for the 100 free, coming from seventh at halfway to take bronze in 47.49, 0.01 behind Kyle Chalmers in second and 0.01 ahead of Hungary’s Nandor Nemeth in fourth.
The smallest of margins making the biggest difference.
Martens got the European gold rush underway on the first evening. He held off the chasing pack in the 400 freestyle to become the first German man to win a gold medal in the pool at the Olympics since 1988, when Michael Gross of West Germany won the 200 fly and Uwe Dassler of East Germany also won the eight-length race. Britta Steffen had been the last German champion, man or woman, in the 50 and 100 free in 2008.
Wiffen arrived in Paris having claimed world titles, European records and a global short-course standard in the previous 12 months. No Irishman had ever won an Olympic medal, let alone gold, but Wiffen consigned that statistic to history in the 800 freestyle when he held off the trademark charge of reigning champion Finke to win in an Olympic record of 7:38.19.
After declaring he was targeting the 1500 world record, it was Finke who consigned Sun Yang’s mark to history in 14:30.67, followed home by Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri and Wiffen. Also notable in that race was Kuzey Tuncelli’s world junior record of 14:41.22, the 16-year-old from Turkey lowering his own standard set weeks earlier at the European Junior Championships.
On to the open water and Wiffen finished 18th on his debut, describing it as “the worst and best thing I’ve ever done in my life.”
The 23-year-old has almost single-handedly pulled Irish swimming out of the shadow cast by Michelle Smith, who won triple gold at Atlanta 1996 only to be banned for tampering with a doping sample two years later.
“Very happy, the whole Olympics,” he said. “The pool, I’m amazed with myself. I set my sights on becoming Olympic champion and I did that. And then I got a bronze medal as well.”
Peaty was looking to join Michael Phelps in an exclusive two-man club by securing a three-peat in the 100 breaststroke after gold at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. The world record-holder appeared on the brink only to take a long glide into the wall with Martinenghi perfectly spotting his finish and claiming the crown in 59.03, 0.02 ahead of Peaty, who shared silver with the USA’s Nic Fink in 59.05. It was the slowest winning time since Kosuke Kitajima went 1:00.08 for gold at Athens 2004.
Peaty said he’ll continue training before making a decision about Los Angeles 2028 while Arno Kamminga – silver medalist in Tokyo and sixth in Paris – will return to the water after a break.
No Italian man had ever reached the 100 backstroke podium, which has historically been dominated by USA athletes who had taken gold at six of the last seven Olympic Games. However, Ceccon came from third at halfway to take the title in 52.00, the third-fastest winning time in Games history. He also won bronze with the Italian 400 freestyle relay.
Hubert Kos of Hungary celebrates after winning the gold medal in the swimming 200m Backstroke Men Final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at La Defense Arena in Paris (France), August 01, 2024.
Like Marchand, Kos has flourished while working with coach Bob Bowman at Arizona State, and now the University of Texas. The 2023 world champion produced a finish reminiscent of Marchand when he charged home to overtake Apostolos Christou of Greece on the final 50 of the 200 back. Kos clocked in at 1:54.26, ahead of Christou (1:54.82), who led at every wall until the last while bronze went to Roman Mityukov of Switzerland in 1:54.85, with the latter two setting Greek and Swiss records.
Switching attention to the open water and Europe dominated there as well, filling the top-10 slots headed by Rasovszky and Germany’s Oliver Klemet with David Betlehem making it a Hungary 1-3. At 28, Rasovszky is the oldest of the eight individual European champions in Paris. Martinenghi comes next at 25 with Milak, 24, followed by Wiffen and Ceccon at 23, Martens at 22, Kos at 21 and Popovici just 19.
Britain’s Ben Proud claimed the one medal that eluded him with silver in the 50 free, one place ahead of France’s Florent Manaudou, who became the first man to win a medal in the event at four consecutive Olympics. Proud is 29 and Manaudou, 33, but the Briton at least is continuing, having found a new lease on life and a rediscovered love for the water.
Duncan Scott became the joint-second most decorated British Olympic athlete in any sport. The Scot won 800 freestyle relay gold and 200 IM silver to move level with cyclist Bradley Wiggins with eight medals across three Games.
Paltrinieri won silver and bronze to make it five medals over the past three Olympics, 12 years after making his debut at London 2012.
And Caspar Corbeau added Olympic 200 breaststroke bronze to world silver as the Netherlands swimmer continues his upward curve.
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