What Happened

PARIS - La Defense Arena was one of the hottest tickets for Paris 2024, chiefly thanks to one man: Leon Marchand of France.

The home nation hero lived up to his billing as the "new Michael Phelps" as he pulled off victories in the 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke, 400m individual medley and 200m individual medley – stunningly setting Olympic Records in all four.

Marchand was propelled to glory by a capacity audience who cried "allez" with the 22-year-old’s every stroke. “The crowd was on fire, it was insane to live this as a French person,” he said. “I shared an incredible moment with everyone.”

Other swimmers looked on in awe. “He is wild,” said Kyle Chalmers of Australia. “A generational talent. I’m lucky to share the pool deck with him.”

Seventeen-year-old Summer McIntosh of Canada also emerged as a major star. She won the women's 400m individual medley, 200m individual medley and the 200m butterfly, setting Olympic Records in the latter two.

While Marchand and McIntosh could build legendary careers, Katie Ledecky (USA) already has. At her fourth Olympic Games, she won the 800m and 1500m freestyle, taking her career Olympic gold medal tally to nine – a joint women’s record in any sport, shared with artistic gymnast Larisa LATYNINA (USSR).

Australia and the USA engaged in their usual fierce tussle, particularly in the women’s races. Ariarne Ttimus (AUS) won the "race of the century", beating McIntosh and Ledecky in the 400m freestyle.

Also grabbing gold were Mollie O'Callaghan and Kaylee McKeown of Australia, who retained both her Tokyo 2020 backstroke titles.

Sarah Sjostrom of Sweden completed the women’s sprint double of 50m and 100m freestyle. Team GB's Adam Peaty narrowly failed to win his third consecutive Olympic title in the men’s 100m breaststroke, claiming silver behind Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy. 

David Popovic became the first Romanian man to claim Olympic swimming gold with his triumph in the 200m freestyle.

Three world records fell: PAN Zhanle (CHN) swam 46.40 seconds in the men’s 100m freestyle, Bobby Finke (USA) smashed the men's 1500m mark and the Americans also set a 4x100 mixed medley record.

For the full results from swimming click here.

Quote of the Games

“When I was walking back around, Bridget held up a sign, saying, ‘Ryan, it’s a girl.' That was her gender reveal to me. Obviously, I knew she was pregnant.”
- Ryan Murphy (USA) on discovering the gender of his unborn child moments after claiming bronze in the men's 100m backstroke.

For comprehensive editorial coverage, you can find all the written highlights here. 

Stat of the Games

Ledecky has now won four consecutive 800m freestyle Olympic gold medals. Attempting a fifth in home waters at Los Angeles 2028 is not being ruled out by the 27-year-old.

“I’ll take it year by year and give it everything I’ve got for as long as I have left in me.”