When Léon Marchand swims, nearly all of France watches - even fans at other Olympic events

PARIS -- The popularity of French swimmer Léon Marchand has caused some problems at the Olympics.

It's a distraction, at least for some.

At the tennis venue on Wednesday night, Austin Krajicek was serving for the match in doubles against Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz when fans at Roland Garros burst into 20 seconds of cheers and chants. Krajicek looked to the stands, perplexed, trying to understand why the crowd was not respecting the tradition of silence before a serve.

About three miles north, Marchand had just won the gold in the 200-meter butterfly for France.

For some fans in Court Philippe Chatrier, watching the French swimmer on their phones was more important than watching Nadal playing what could be his last match in Paris.

It didn't just happen at the tennis venue. At the Grand Palais, the Korean and U.S. fencing teams had to pause their bout for more than a minute, waiting for the Marchand cheers to calm down. Truls Moregardh, a table tennis athlete competing for Sweden at the South Paris Arena, scratched his head and smiled in disbelief while looking at the umpire, who in return shrugged, having no clue about what was happening.

And Marchand did it again on Friday.

In La Défense Arena, a rugby stadium-turned Olympic swimming pool, Marchand soared to another victory in the 200 individual medley while setting a new Olympic record of 1 minute, 54.06 seconds. That gave him four individual golds at a single Olympics.

At Club France, where a staggering 20,000 fans had gathered to witness history, when Marchand secured his fourth gold medal, the eruption of joy was overwhelming. The crowd’s roar was so powerful that even the security guards momentarily abandoned their posts, captivated by the live broadcast on the giant screen.

“He is a fish! No, he is better than a fish!” exclaimed Moussa Keita, one of the guards, to a colleague, as he joined the throng in recording the moment on his phone.

Among the sea of jubilant supporters, Lydie Roux, 36, stood in the front row, her eyes shining with admiration.

“The way he moves his body in the water is simply incredible," she said. “He makes us dream.”

Near her, 19-year-old Arthur Oursel had nearly lost his voice after chanting the name of his new idol over and over:

“We love you Léon, we worship you, you are our hero!"

Their voices were part of a chorus that echoed across Paris, transcending the boundaries of the pool and infiltrating every corner of the city. “Leon the Megalodon.” “King Leon.” “The French Phelps.” All are fitting nicknames for the one the man who is becoming the face of France’s success during these Olympics. With 42 medals and nearly a week left, the host country has already surpassed the 33 medals France won at the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Marchand’s accomplishments also resonated at the highest levels of French society. After his race on Friday, he was greeted by President Emmanuel Macron, who later praised him on X.

“The impossible isn’t French!” Macron wrote in French. “Four home gold medals and a new Olympic record — it’s historic. It’s Léon Marchand.”

In Marchand’s hometown of Toulouse, in southwestern France, he could soon have a swimming pool named in honor. Vincent Gardeau, the president of the TOEC Dolphins, Marchand’s former club, told The Associated Press he had plans of inaugurating the Léon Marchand Swimming Complex by 2027.

He has been a hometown hero for years. In 2022, Marchand was awarded an honorary medal by the mayor of Toulouse after winning two gold medals at the World Championships. He was just 20 years old at the time.

At one of the official Olympic boutiques around Paris — this one near the Louvre Museum, fans eagerly sought Marchand’s memorabilia. On Saturday, Maryse Dumont, 77, was scanning the shelves with disappointment.

“He is the biggest star in these Olympics and they don’t even have a T-shirt of him,” Dumont said, upset that she could not find anything for her granddaughter.

“You don’t even have a swimming cap?” she asked a store clerk, before leaving empty-handed with no interest in the plain blue T-shirts of the French delegation she was pointed to.

Marchand's Olympic journey had one race in Paris left Sunday, where he was expected to participate in the 4x100-meter men's relay and finish his Olympics.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games