Leon Marchand has another claim to fame.
This past week, Time Magazine revealed its 100 “Most Influential People” for 2025" – and Marchand made the list.
The 22-year-old from Toulouse was the youngest person selected this year. Other honourees included international politicians, business titans, Nobel laureates, musicians and human-rights advocates.
Time sorted the group into six categories, and while Marchand could easily meet several of the definitions (artist, icon, leader, titan, pioneer, and innovator), Time defined the French swimmer as an “icon” – along with 13 other luminaries including Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody and Oscar nominee Demi Moore.
To explain why each honouree is special, Time’s editors traditionally ask another luminary to write a few paragraphs. For Marchand, the byline went to another prodigy: 18-year-old Canadian swimmer Summer McIntosh, a triple Olympic medalist herself.
McIntosh wrote: “Leon Marchand’s drive to get his hand on the wall first at the Paris Olympics captivated the entire world four times over.
“Everyone in the building felt the energy when Léon was racing. The crowd would roar each time his head broke the surface of the water,” she added.
- Here's the link to Marchand's profile in the Time 100: Léon Marchand Is on the 2025 TIME100 List | TIME
After Marchand electrified the crowd in Paris by winning the 400 IM by more than five seconds, he returned to the pool three days later and lowered the Olympic record in both the 200m fly and 200m breaststroke within a few hours’ time. (Marchand thus became the first male swimmer since 1900 to win two individual gold medals in the same session at the Olympics.)
After that, Marchand won his fourth gold medal by lowering another Olympic record in the 200 IM. That made Marchand just the fourth swimmer to win at least four individual gold medals at a single Games. (The others were: Americans Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and Kristin Otto of East Germany.)
“To be able to do that under the pressure of a home crowd is nothing short of sensational. Léon is simply unstoppable,” McIntosh wrote.
“I have so much respect for the incredible work and dedication that went into Léon’s preparation to be the world’s best across multiple races, including some of the toughest events in our sport,” McIntosh added.
Next, Marchand can look forward to mingling with the other 99 people who made the Time 100 list at the magazine’s annual gala, which will be broadcast on May 4 (in the US on ABC) and stream on Hulu around the globe.