Paris Olympics, Day 4 Semifinals: Leon Marchand, Zac Stubblety-Cook to Duel for 200 Breast Crown

Paris Olympics, Day 4 Semifinals: Leon Marchand, Zac Stubblety-Cook to Duel for 200 Breast Crown

The home-nation favorite vs. the defending champion. That’s the primary storyline for the Olympic final of the men’s 200-meter breaststroke, which is scheduled for Wednesday night at the La Defense Arena in Paris.

France’s Leon Marchand, racing his second event of the session, posted the fastest time of the semifinals. The French star, who has elicited raucous cheers from the French crowd throughout the meet, delivered a performance of 2:08.11 to best the field in the second semifinal. Meanwhile, Australian Zac Stubblety-Cook was the victor in the first evening heat, on the strength of a 2:08.57 mark. Stubblety-Cook was the gold medalist at the Tokyo Games.

Marchand’s night was a busy one, as he had the 200 butterfly to jumpstart action. After advancing to the final of the 200 fly as the second seed, the 22-year-old had about 80 minutes to prepare for the 200 breaststroke. That span was clearly enough recovery for Marchand, who bolted to the front of his heat and came away with a comfortable decision. The same challenge faces Marchand on Wednesday, with the exception that medals will be on the line and he’ll actually have a two-hour gap between events.

Stubblety-Cook turned to his familiar approach in his semifinal. Sitting in fourth at the midway point of the race, the Aussie gradually reeled in the opposition over the final two lengths. While that strategy worked on the way to the final, allowing Marchand to get away could prove dooming when Stubblety-Cook seeks a repeat.

China’s Dong Zhihao, who captured gold at this year’s World Champs in Doha, will be the third seed in the final after producing a time of 2:08.99. He was followed by Dutchman Caspar Corbeau (2:09.52) and Japan’s Ippei Watanabe (2:09.62). Rounding out the final were American Josh Matheny (2:09.70), Japan’s Yu Hanaguruma (2:09.72) and Australian Joshua Yong (2:09.89).

There were a pair of surprising misses of the final, most notably China’s Qin Haiyang. The world-record holder and 2023 world champion, Qin finished in a tie for 10th with American Matt Fallon, both men going 2:09.96. That time was more than four seconds slower than the 2:05.48 global standard of Qin. Meanwhile, Fallon was the titlist at the U.S. Olympic Trials, but finished more than three seconds off his American record.

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