Paris Olympics, Day 5 Finals: Leon Marchand Roars Past Kristof Milak To Take 200 Fly Title In Olympic Record

Leon Marchand: Photo courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia /Insidefoto

Paris Olympics, Day 5 Finals: Leon Marchand Roars Past Kristof Milak To Claim 200 Fly Title In Olympic Record

Since the 200 fly was introduced to the Olympic programme in 1956, only one Frenchman had made a trip to the podium.

Franck Esposito won bronze at Barcelona 1992, clocking 1:58.51 for third behind winner Mel Stewart of the USA and Danyon Loader of New Zealand.

While Esposito was claiming one of the three medals – all of them bronze – that France won that year, teammate Celine Bonnet was making her Olympic debut in the backstroke and individual medley.

Four years later at Atlanta 1996, Esposito finished one place outside the medals in fourth.

Also on the team was Xavier Marchand, an IM swimmer who was making his Olympic debut.

By the time Esposito retired, he’d won four European titles among nine overall medals as well as reaching the second step of the world podium in 1998.

Fast forward to 2022 and a young Frenchman called Leon Marchand stood on the second step of the podium in Budapest behind Kristóf Milák who’d just set a WR of 1:50.34 en-route to gold.

Leon Marchand of France celebrates after winning the gold medal in the 200m Butterfly Men Final during the 20th World Aquatics Championships at the Marine Messe Hall A in Fukuoka (Japan), July 26th, 2023.

Leon Marchand: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto

A year later Marchand had the gold medal around his neck at the Fukuoka worlds albeit in the absence of Milák, who’d withdrawn weeks earlier through mental and physical exhaustion.

Now the son of Marchand and Bonnet has added the Olympic title, after an astonishing final 50 to stop the clock at 1:51.21, a new Olympic record, ahead of reigning champion Kristóf Milák, who touched in 1:51.75 as Michael Phelps remains the only man to have won the 2 fly title on more than one occasion.

Ilya Kharun was third, taking 1.02 off his Canadian record in 1:52.80 as he claimed his first international long-course medal.

World Record: Kristof Milak, HUN – 1:50.34 (2022)
Olympic Record: Kristof Milak, HUN – 1:51.25 (2021)
Tokyo Olympic Champion Kristof Milak, HUN – 1:51.25
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Results

Coming into the race, no man bar Phelps had ever defended the title.

The 23-time Olympic champion triumphed at Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and Rio 2016 and would have been a four-time gold medallist were it not for Chad Le Clos accelerating into the finish with a perfect touch at London 2012.

Seven countries have been represented atop the rostrum by the likes of Mark Spitz, Michael Gross and Chad Le Clos on the 17 occasions the event has been contested since its introduction to the Olympic programme at Melbourne 1956.

None of them, however, had made a return journey to the top of the podium.

A superb dive saw Milak rise clearly ahead of the rest of the field and he reached the first turn in 24.32, 0.13 off his own WR and 0.64 ahead of Marchand in second.

Leon Marchand: Photo courtesy: Deepbluemedia

The Hungarian world record-holder was 0.60 ahead at halfway before extending his lead t0 0.72 at the final turn and appearing to be on the brink of joining Phelps in a two-man club of successful defences.

Marchand, however, had other ideas and superb underwaters off the final turn saw him eat into the Hungarian’s lead.

With around 25m to go, Marchand moved onto his adversary’s shoulder before going ahead to accelerate into the wall 0.04 inside Milak’s Olympic standard en-route to victory in Tokyo thanks to a 28.97 final 50.

Coach Bob Bowman and Phelps had both praised Milak’s second 100 en-route to the WR and this was a tactical masterclass from Marchand to come through at the end.

Speaking at the end of the session after Marchand had clinched a golden double by adding the 200 breast to his fly title, Bowman said: “The butterfly was a huge challenge because Milak is next level. So when that one came through, I was feeling pretty good about the second one because he was in such good spirits after that.”

Marchand said of his tactics, said: “I’ve been watching so many races from him (Milak). I know he has a lot of speed, way more than me. So I was trying to get as close as possible at the 150 and just push it all the way through until the end. I think that’s what I did. I wasn’t too far. He wasn’t as far as his world-record speed, so I was kind of right there. And I really used my underwater. That was a really fun race for me.”

Of the atmosphere, the 22-year-old added: “I wasn’t ignoring it. I was really trying to listen to what was happening. The 2-fly was crazy on the last 50, because I was coming back on Kristof Milak and I could hear the whole pool just going crazy. I think that’s why also I was able to win that race and really use that energy from the crowd.”

Bowman recruited Kharun to Arizona State University where he trained alongside Marchand, the pair good friends although kinship was left to one side in the water.

Bowman has now moved on to the University of Texas where Marchand will be based although now as a professional while Kharun will return to the Sun Devils where he’s trained by Herbie Behm.

“It means a lot,” said the 19-year-old. “I’m really happy that I got to this moment and I just can’t wait to keep showing people what I can do. I got even more, there’s more to work on, but I’m very happy that I got the bronze.”

He was aware of the atmosphere and the noise generated by the raucous crowd at La Defense Arena but remained unaffected, testament to notable composure in one so young.

“I just heard a lot of screaming, but I was just really busy catching up with those guys,” said Kharun. “I just didn’t really think of it as such a big moment, just tried to concentrate and keep my cool.”

Behind him came Krzysztof Chmielewski of Poland (1:53.90), Noe Ponti in a Swiss record of 1:54.14, Austrian Martin Espernberger (1:54.17), Kregor Zirk of Estonia (1:54.55) with Italy’s Alberto Razzetti rounding out the field in 1:54.85.

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