After winning four individual gold medals during the week, ASU swimmer Léon Marchand has added a fifth medal to his collection as France took home the bronze in the 4×100-meter medley relay on Sunday inside La Defense Arena.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!With a team consisting of Marchand, Yohann Ndoye-Brouard, Maxime Grousset and Florent Manaudo, the French squad posted a time of 3:28.38 for a third-place finish.
BRONZE MEDAL! ????
Léon Marchand earns his fifth Olympic medal in the last week, helping France earn a spot on the podium in the 4X100m medley relay.#ForksUp /// #OlympiansMadeHere pic.twitter.com/0NfcYlBFTV
— Sun Devil Swim/Dive (@ASUSwimDive) August 4, 2024
Throughout the race, it was highly contested between France, China and USA, with China prevailing just ahead of the other two.
The United States, which has won the competition since it competed in the event in 1960, saw its 64-year unbeaten streak snapped by China. Led by Pan Zhanle, he, Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang and Sun Jiajun finished with a 3:27.46 for the Chinese.
Despite the record being shattered, Ryan Murphy, Nic Fink, Caeleb Dressel and Hunter Armstrong still put up a quick time of 3:28.01 for silver, 38 milliseconds before France came in third. Besides the Moscow 1980 Olympics which they boycotted, the Americans have won every one of the 4×100-meter medley relay until Sunday.
For Marchand, he medaled in all five events he participated in before the final day of swimming at the Olympics. The Sun Devils star won gold in the 400-meter individual medley, 200 butterfly, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM. He set Olympic record times in all four individual races.
Adding a bronze makes this one of the best runs by any French athlete in one Olympic Games ever, signifying just how special Marchand is now and can be in the future. He will forgo completing his collegiate career at Arizona State as he decided will turn pro, winning the 2024 NCAA National Championship and Pac-12 Conference with the Sun Devils.
Making his mark in the history books, there is more where this star-studded display came from for Marchand as he pursues his dreams going forward. The fairytale week or so in front of his home fans has produced memories he will never forget and will eye more championship wins as long as he continues to swim.
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers ASU Athletics, Phoenix Mercury and more for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
