Léon Marchand won four individual gold medals at his home Olympic Games, and he set an Olympic record in each of them. The Frenchman took the 200m breaststroke, the 200m butterfly, the 200m IM and the 400m IM. No athlete left Paris 2024 with more gold.
Four finals, four Olympic records in Paris
The hardest test came on 1 August. Marchand swam the 200m breaststroke final and then advanced in the 200m butterfly, the two races falling about 30 minutes apart.
He won gold in both events across that single session. It was a schedule few swimmers would attempt, let alone master. By the close of the meet he had claimed all four of his individual titles, each in a record time.
His Games did not end there. Marchand added a bronze in the 4x100m medley relay, giving him five medals in all and the title of most decorated athlete of the Games.
From a Phelps record to the Paris peak
The Paris run built on a rising career. In 2023, at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Marchand broke Michael Phelps' 400m IM world record, a mark that had stood for nearly 15 years. His first major title had come a year earlier, 400m IM gold at the 2022 World Championships in Budapest.
The story continued after Paris. In 2025 he broke the 200m IM world record in 1:52.69 in Singapore and took his career World Championship gold total to seven, then won his first European title in Paris in 2026.
Paris 2024 remains the summit: four finals, four golds, four Olympic records, all in front of a home crowd.