Léon Marchand’s Gold Medal Finish in the 200M Fly Has to be Seen to be Believed

Stephen Douglas | Jul 31, 2024

Leon Marchand celebrates winning gold in the 200-meter fly. /

Leon Marchand made an incredible comeback to win gold in the 200-meter fly at the Paris Olympics. Marchand made the turn into the final leg of the race trailing Hungary's Kristof Milak, but caught up underwater and pulled ahead in the final meters to win gold and set an Olympic record in the process.

Marchand's kick was unbelievable and has to be seen to be believed. Just another thrilling Olympic swimming event.

UNREAL. LEON MARCHAND WITH AN INCREDIBLE COMEBACK TO IGNITE THE CROWD IN PARIS. 🇫🇷#ParisOlympics | 📺 NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/oErY1zMUvu

— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2024

Unsurprisingly, the home crowd loved it.

Cannot explain how loud it was here during Marchand’s final 50.

Not sure I’ve ever heard anything like this. pic.twitter.com/edD87NCTbD

— Henry Bushnell (@HenryBushnell) July 31, 2024

This was Marchand's third gold medal of the Paris Olympics, having previously won the 200-meter butterfly and 400-meter medley. He also owns five gold medals from events in the World Championships and two from the NCAA Championships where he swam for Arizona State.

During the 400-meter individual medley final, Marchand broke Michael Phelps's Olympic record of 4:03:84, which he set at the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Phelps told Pat McAfee he was thrilled to see a young swimmer break his record.