How Léon Marchand Pulled Off the Unthinkable, Winning Two Golds in Two Hours

The Frenchman continued his magical run in Paris by becoming the first swimmer in history to win the 200 butterfly and the 200 breaststroke at the same Olympics.

Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

PARIS — It was 11:32 p.m., the end of a day unlike any Olympic swimming has ever seen. The man who had just performed the greatest single-session feat in the history of his sport was standing at an elevator, waiting for it to open and take him down and away from a venue he’d transformed into a roaring SEC football stadium. 

Léon Marchand, an unremarkable physical specimen dressed in his white French podium sweats, was beginning the refueling process by munching on a snack and sipping on a bottle of water. Someone had painted a thin streak of France’s flag colors—red, white and blue—on his left cheek. With the elevator taking its sweet time, a staffer at La Défense Arena seized the opportunity to ask Marchand for a selfie, which he granted with a smile.

For a man who had just turned the Olympics into his own five-ring revival, Marchand was perfectly chill. Very happy, and assuredly very tired, but also entirely composed.

Everyone else was properly gobsmacked by Le Roi Léon.

The 22-year-old from Toulouse had just completed the Léon Double, something mere mortal wouldn’t dare attempt, much less conquer. He won the 200-meter butterfly at 8:42 p.m., then turned around and won the 200 breaststroke at 10:36 p.m., an accomplishment of Promethean audacity. He electrified his home country, astounded his sport and even surprised himself.

“I knew it was possible for me to just finish those races,” he said, then laughed. “Maybe not win them.”

Two hours after winning the 200 butterfly, Marchand returned to the pool to claim the gold in the 200 breaststroke. / Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

He won them. They were gold medals No. 2 and 3 for Marchand of these Olympics, with another one likely on Friday in the 200 individual medley, if his body holds up after this incredible effort. But this was so much more than that.

Nobody had won two individual events in the same Olympic session in nearly 50 years, since Kornelia Ender in 1976. She was from East Germany at the height of its PED doping prowess, so let’s just say those gold medals have come under some suspicion. Ender won the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly that day in Montreal; winning a pair of 200s ups the degree of difficulty even more.

Ryan Lochte won medals in two different events on the same day in both 2012 and ’08, but he didn’t win two golds. A male Olympic swimmer hasn’t won two individual golds on the same day in more than a century. But there is more than all that, too.

Marchand set Olympic records winning both races, in addition to his Olympic record in the 400 individual medley Sunday. He also was the first to conquer the Slow Pool energy drain, a mysterious malady in a shallow venue that may have contributed to the first nine leaders of finals races of 200 meters or shorter failing to hold on in the final 50 meters. But there are still more layers to this feat.

In both races, Marchand dethroned the reigning Olympic champion. And he did it in opposite ways. He led Australian Zac Stubblety-Cook the entire 200 meters in the breaststroke, and he roared back spectacularly in the final 50 to defeat Hungarian Kristóf Milák in the butterfly. Which gets to the final element that made this an unforgettable night in swimming lore.

Inspired by their local hero, the crowd of about 17,000 produced a night of non-stop noise that may be unmatched in swimming annals. (If anything comes close, it was Sydney in 2000 when Ian Thorpe was in superstar mode.) “It felt like a rugby game,” said Stubblety-Cook. “I couldn’t hear.”

The crowd was deafening before, during and after the Marchand triumphs. But it reached peak pandemonium in the final 50 meters of the butterfly race, as Marchand—nearly a full second behind—exploded off the final turn with a powerful series of underwater kicks to turn the improbable into reality.

When Marchand’s rally was happening, it was reminiscent of the noise that accompanied Auburn’s Kick Six at Jordan-Hare Stadium in the 2013 Iron Bowl. Not quite that loud—that had about 70,000 more fans than this competition—but in terms of disbelief turning into unconfined celebration. Both comebacks had an Oh My God This Is Really Going To Happen shock value to them.

“The two fly was actually crazy on the last 50,” Marchand said. “I could hear underwater that the pool was going crazy.”

Marchand is coached by Phelps's former coach, Bob Bowman. / Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated

When that race was over, Marchand indulged in a hearty celebration but didn’t go overboard, knowing what the back half of the double would entail. He left the pool deck and re-emerged less than an hour later for the medal ceremony, wearing those white sweats for the first time in the evening. At 9:38 p.m. the French national anthem played, and Marchand sang along, and then he bid his fellow medalists a quick au revoir while they toured the pool deck and had their pictures taken.

Marchand resumed his prep for the breaststroke at that point, heading back to the warmup pool and then to the ready room to line up for introductions. On the pool deck, American legend Katie Ledecky exited the stage at 10:29 p.m. after receiving her eighth career gold medal. A minute later, the chants of “Lé-on! Lé-on! Lé-on!” Started up again. At 10:33 p.m. he was introduced again to yet another eruption.

Marchand adjusted the back fin on the starting block, stripped off his coat and sweats, jumped once and then got on the blocks to do it all again. This race, he led from the start, with the only doubt being whether he could hold off the famously hard-closing Stubblety-Cook in the final lap.

Marchand didn’t just hold the Aussie off. He pulled away, sending the night to a deafening crescendo. Upon touching the wall, Marchand pulled himself up on the lane line and slammed his right hand down on the water—simultaneously tipping over backward as he did so. Then he came up and slapped the water again, hoisted himself out of the pool and shoved two fists in the air. He was exhausted but elated by a shock-and-awe triumph.

Marchand's triumphs had La Défense Arena reverberating like a college football stadium. / Simon Bruty/Sports Illustrated

Bob Bowman said the idea of attempting this double was more Marchand’s than his—even as recently as a week ago. But everything kept unfolding as hoped along the way to this night, so Bowman fully endorsed the decision.

“I obviously doubted [heading into the Olympics] a bit because everyone was telling me it was impossible,” Marchand said. “Bob told me after the 400 meter individual medley: ‘O.K., let’s do it.’ That gave me confidence.“

That’s Bowman, Marchand’s coach and partner in dreaming big. Three years ago, Marchand sent a cold-call email to Bowman asking if he could get a scholarship to swim for him at Arizona State. Bowman recognized the last name—Xavier Marchand, Léon’s father, was an Olympic swimmer in the 1990s—and the kid had solid times, so he took him onboard.

What Bowman quickly found out was that Marchand had the work ethic to match his natural ability. And nobody is better at pushing, pulling and demanding excellence out of a talented swimmer than Bowman.

He helped Michael Phelps aspire to make history. Bowman coached him to eight victories in Beijing in 2008—the literal gold standard in the sport—and guided him to 28 total medals, 23 of them gold. 

Marchand won’t ever reach those career numbers, unless France suddenly can win multiple relays at multiple Olympics. But he found a way to make his own history with this double. So I asked Bowman, who has played a key role in some of the most memorable achievements in swimming, whether this was the greatest single-day performance of them all. 

“It’s up there,” Bowman said. “It’s up there. … It’s a night he’ll never forget. I hope he just remembers everything about it.

“Quite honestly, this whole meet is about me fulfilling a promise I made to the kid three years ago. And that I could come through and deliver. Not only was it a challenge for him, but it was a huge one for me. Being able to help him meet this moment is amazing.”

The next moment to meet is Thursday morning, in preliminaries of the 200 IM. By the time Marchand and Bowman left the arena just before midnight Wednesday, it was time to wipe off the face paint and put away the phone. They’d already flipped their minds forward to that task.

The rest of us won’t get there nearly that fast. Everyone who was present in La Défense Arena just witnessed the greatest night in swimming history, so forgive us if it takes a while to come down from that raucous high.