DPA
Paris
French swimming sensation Leon Marchand won the 400 metre medley gold at the Paris Games on Sunday and also broke the Olympic record, previously set by US great Michael Phelps.
Marchan clocked 4 minutes 02.95 seconds and now holds both Olympic and world records (4:02.50) in the event.
Swimming icon Phelps had set the previous record of 4:03.84 at the 2008 Beijing Games.
"I definitely dreamed of that before, every one of us did. Doing this in my hometown is pretty cool,” Marchand said.
Japan’s Tomoyuki Matsushita took silver (+5.67s) and bronze went to 2022 world champion Carson Foster of the US.
Marchand, 22, has the same coach in Bob Bowman as Phelps who won an Olympic record 23 gold medals during his glittering career.
"The atmosphere was amazing, I had goosebumps before, and during the race too. On the breaststroke section I could hear everyone just cheering for me. That was special and winning today was really amazing for me,” the swimmer said.
Martinenghi takes surprise win ahead of Peaty
Top favourite Adam Peaty, meanwhile, was beaten by Italy’s Nicolò Martinenghi in the men’s 100m breaststroke.
The Italian, who claimed bronze in the event at the Tokyo Games, finished the race in 59.03 seconds - only 0.02s ahead of Peaty, who shared silver with Nic Fink of the United States.
Martinenghi’s medal was the first gold for Italy at the Paris Games. Peaty was looking to become only the second male swimmer after Phelps to win 100m breaststroke gold at three straight Games after success at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.