The Olympic Games officially concluded on Sunday (Aug. 11) with a star-studded closing ceremony at the Stade de France. The United States finished atop the medal table with 40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze medals, totaling 126 medals, becoming the only country to surpass the 100 mark. Host country France finished in fifth place with 16 gold medals, four of which were won by one athlete, 21-year-old swimmer Léon Marchand.
In total, Marchand won five medals – four gold and one bronze. All of her gold medals were won in individual events, while the bronze came in the team event. She won gold in the 400m individual medley, 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley, and secured bronze in the 4 x 100m medley relay event. Interestingly, Marchand and her team finished fourth in the 4 x 100m mixed medley relay event, but missed out on a medal by a whisker.
The 21-year-old swimmer’s achievement surpasses that of 184 countries, including India, at the Paris Olympics. Only 15 countries have won more gold medals than Marchand, while countries like Sweden, Kenya, Norway and Ireland won four gold medals each at this year’s Games.
As for Marchand, he set an Olympic record in all four events in which he won the gold medal. These records are not a surprise to those who followed his progress over the years, as Léon Marchand trained under the guidance of Bob Bowman, former mentor of American swimming legend Michael Phelps.
Here is the list of records. Léon Marchand created at the Paris Olympics
Léon Marchand became the first swimmer from any country since 1976 to win two gold medals in a single day.
He became only the fourth swimmer to win four individual gold medals at the same Olympic Games. The other three to have done so are Michael Phelps (five and four golds at two different Games), Mark Spitz (four golds) and Kristen Otto (four golds).
Léon Marchand broke the Olympic record in the four finals where he won gold.
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