Leon Marchand pulls off one of the most audacious doubles in swimming history at the Paris Olympics

France's Leon Marchand celebrates after winning gold in an Olympic record in the final of the men's 200m breaststroke swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 31, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 01 August 2024
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Leon Marchand pulls off one of the most audacious doubles in swimming history at the Paris Olympics

  • Marchand notched his second and third victories at La Defense Arena and stamped himself — with the Olympics not even a week old — as one of the faces of the Games
  • Ledecky made the most of her guest appearance on The Marchand Show by romping to her seventh individual Olympic gold medal — she also has a relay gold — and 12th medal overall with a runaway victory in the 1,500 freestyle
  • China’s Pan Zhanle sets first swimming world record of Paris Games

NANTERRE, France: Turns out, those comparisons to Michael Phelps weren’t farfetched at all when it comes to Leon Marchand.

They certainly weren’t a burden for the 22-year-old Frenchman.

Marchand completed one of the most audacious doubles in swimming history Wednesday night, winning the 200-meter butterfly and the 200 breaststroke about two hours apart in front of a home crowd cheering his every stroke.

Two grueling races. Two very different strokes. Two Olympic records. Two gold medals.

Take that, Phelps, who did several doubles of his own while claiming a record eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

“I’m a really shy person,” Marchand said. “I was kind of the center of attention during those two races. I was trying to get the energy from the whole crowd. They’re amazing to me, pushing me in every final.”

Thrilling the French fans and claiming the spotlight even on a night when Katie Ledecky romped to another gold medal, Marchand notched his second and third victories at La Defense Arena and stamped himself — with the Olympics not even a week old — as one of the faces of the Games.

After rallying to beat world-record holder and defending Olympic champion Kristof Milák in the 200 fly with a finishing kick for the ages, Marchand made it look easy in the 200 breast.

He led all the way, touching in 2 minutes, 5.85 seconds as more than 15,000 fans — many of them holding up cardboard cutouts of his smiling face — nearly blew the roof off La Defense Arena.

“Léon! Léon! Léon!” they screamed, a chant that was sure to carry on through the night in Paris.

Marchand gets thing rolling

Trailing most of the way in the 200 fly, Marchand surged past the Hungarian Milak on the final lap to finish with an Olympic record of 1:51.71, touching first by just by four-hundredths of a second.

Marchand’s final lap was nearly 0.66 faster than anyone else in the field — and 1.26 clear of Milák.

“I’ve been watching so many races from him,” Marchand said. “I know he has a lot of speed, way more than me, so I was just trying to get as close as possible, and then just push it until the end.”

The bronze went to Canada’s Ilya Kharun.

Following up his dominating victory in the 400 individual medley on Sunday, Marchand waved one finger and shook his head just a bit, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he had done.

Then, he hustled off the deck to another rousing cheer to begin his warm down, though those preparations were interrupted by a mandatory return for the victory ceremony.

After a boisterous rendition of “La Marseillaise,” the other two medalists walked slowly around the pool, getting their pictures made.

Not Marchand. He hustled back to the practice pool. There was another race to go.

Ledecky’s record gold

The American star made the most of her guest appearance on The Marchand Show by romping to her seventh individual Olympic gold medal — she also has a relay gold — and 12th medal overall with a runaway victory in the 1,500 freestyle.

The 27-year-old Ledecky tied fellow Americans Dara Torres, Natalie Coughlin and Jenny Thompson for the most medals ever by a female swimmer. Ledecky already held the mark for most individual gold medals by a woman coming into these games.

“I try not to think about history very much,” Ledecky said. “But I know those names, those people that I’m up there with, they’re swimmers that I looked up to when I first started swimming. So it’s an honor just to be named among them.”

Ledecky led right from the start and steadily pulled away, touching in an Olympic-record 15:30.02 in an event that joined the women’s program at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

This was similar to the race three years ago: Ledecky far in front and everyone else racing for a silver.

France’s Anastasiia Kirpichinikova finished nearly a half lap behind but thrilled the home fans by claiming the second spot on the podium in 15:40.35.

The bronze went to Germany’s Isabel Gose at 15:41.16.

After starting the Paris Games with a bronze in the 400 freestyle, this result looked more familiar for Ledecky.

She was clearly thrilled to be on top again, splashing the water and pumping her fist several times walking across the deck — a rare show of emotion for a stoic athlete who performs with machine-like efficiency.

“I know a lot of other people expected it of me,” Ledecky said. “That doesn’t make it easy. I mean, it’s not easy to always follow through and you get the job done.”

Marchand returns for more gold

As Ledecky was walking off the deck with her gold medal, it was time for Marchand to go for his second of the night,

No problem. He blew away the field in the 200 breaststroke with an Olympic record of 2:05.85, knocking off another champion from Tokyo.

Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook settled for the silver this time, nearly a second behind in 2:06.79. Claiming the bronze was Casper Corbeau of the Netherlands.

“The most exciting part of that whole race and watching him soak it all up and have his moment,” Stubblety-Cook said. “I think it’s awesome. It’s great for the sport of swimming and it’s great to see the better half of 15,000 people chanting one person’s name and watching swimming live.”

Marchand climbed out of the pool and stared at the scoreboard. He tussled his mop of curly hair a few times, then threw his arms in the air.

His work was done, at least for a few hours. Next up is the 200 individual medley, which begins with heats Thursday morning.

“I’m so very proud of him,” said his coach, American Bob Bowman, who also was Phelps’ coach. “That’s a tremendous, historic effort.”

China’s Pan Zhanle sets first swimming world record of Paris Games

Nearly lost in all the hoopla was China’s Pan Zhanle setting the first world record of these Games, breaking his own mark in the 100 freestyle.

He won in 46.40, easily knocking off the mark of 46.80 he set in February at the world championships in Doha.

It was an impressive performance given the shallow pool at La Defense Arena, which has been cited as the big reason no world records fell over the first four days of the meet.

Australia’s Kyle Chalmers claimed the silver and David Popovici of Romania nabbed the bronze.

Swedish gold for 5-time Olympian Sjostrom

Sarah Sjostrom made her fifth Olympics a gold-medal celebration with a victory in the 100 freestyle.

Sjostrom had pared down her program at the last two world championships, swimming only the 50 free. She decided to add the 100 at the Paris Games, and boy did that decision pay off.

Her winning time was 52.16, with the US settling for another silver medal — its eighth of the swimming competition — when Torri Huske finished in 52.29. Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong took the bronze.


Inter Milan scores twice in final minutes to beat Urawa in Club World Cup, 2-1

Updated 22 June 2025
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Inter Milan scores twice in final minutes to beat Urawa in Club World Cup, 2-1

  • Inter Milan takes over the top spot in Group E after following up their tournament-opening draw with the victory

SEATTLE: Valentin Carboni scored the game-winning goal in stoppage time to give Inter Milan a 2-1 win over Urawa in the Club World Cup on Saturday, ending the Japan club’s chances of advancing past the group stage.
Inter Milan failed to score until the 78th minute, despite holding the vast majority of possession. Lautaro Martinez brilliantly bicycle kicked Nicolo Barella’s corner ball into the net.
Carboni’s game-winner assisted by Francesco Esposito came 14 minutes later. It was the culmination of multiple scoring threats by Inter, which had 21 more shot attempts than the Red Diamonds.
Urawa opened the scoring in the 11th minute to the delight of their exuberant fans, who have shown up in droves for these Seattle cup matches. Ryoma Watanabe scored on an assist in transition by Takuro Kaneko, who found Watanabe all alone on the penalty spot with his cutback ball.
The fans in red filled the south end of Lumen Field and made up a large swath of the 25,090 attendees. Their coordinated chants and jeers didn’t wane until after the final whistle.
Key moment
Urawa had a chance to equalize in the last minute of stoppage time, but goalkeeper Yann Sommer tipped the long-distance free kick over the crossbar.
Takeaways
Inter Milan takes over the top spot in Group E after following up their tournament-opening draw with the victory. The Italian club will play River Plate of Argentina on Wednesday.
Urawa will be playing for pride against CF Monterrey on Wednesday.
What they said
“I cannot find the words, I am so frustrated. ... We had the objective to go on to the next stage, so this loss is very hard for us. But we still have one more game to go. ... There are many fans who have come all the way or (are) still remaining in Japan and cheering for us, so we would like to win for them.” — Urawa Red Diamonds goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa
“I was speaking to (Carboni) the day before yesterday, and he told me that it was eight months exactly since his cruciate ligament injury. Coming through an injury like that, with all of the hard work and graft he’s had to put in ... you don’t know whether you’re going to come back to the peak of your powers. That’s not easy at all, so it was lovely to see him so emotional. I was a little bit emotional as well. It brought a tear to my eye because he’s a kid that I know very well. I’m delighted that he has the opportunity now to experience something as significant as that (goal).”


Medvedev defeats old rival Zverev to reach Halle Open final, Bublik awaits

Updated 21 June 2025
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Medvedev defeats old rival Zverev to reach Halle Open final, Bublik awaits

  • “I could have done much better when I had the break in the second but it is normal,” Medvedev said
  • It’s Medvedev’s fourth consecutive win over Zverev

HALLE, Germany: Daniil Medvedev ended home favorite Alexander Zverev’s hopes of grass-court glory with a 7-6 (3), 6-7 (1), 6-4 win in their Halle Open semifinal on Saturday.

Medvedev recovered from squandering three match points on Zverev’s serve at 5-6 in the second set and took nearly 3 hours to get past his old rival and reach his first final in 15 months.

“I could have done much better when I had the break in the second but it is normal,” Medvedev said. “The same happened in the third set that when I had the break, he started playing better, returning better. I am happy that in the third set I managed to stay more composed and managed to save those break points.”

It’s Medvedev’s fourth consecutive win over Zverev and it extended his lead to 13-7 in their head-to-head series.

The Russian player will face Alexander Bublik — who beat top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the second round — in Sunday’s final.

Bublik, the 2023 champion, fired 18 aces as he defeated Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Medvedev hasn’t played a final since March 2024, when he lost to Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells.

Zverev, who had been bidding to reach the Halle final for the third time, will have to wait for his first title on grass.


Bellingham strikes as Dortmund sink Sundowns in Club World Cup thriller

Updated 21 June 2025
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Bellingham strikes as Dortmund sink Sundowns in Club World Cup thriller

  • Sundowns of South Africa took a surprise early lead but Dortmund hit back strongly
  • “It’s a really nice bonus (to score), I’m glad we won,” Bellingham told DAZN

CINCINNATI, USA: Jobe Bellingham netted his first Borussia Dortmund goal in a gripping 4-3 win over Mamelodi Sundowns at the Club World Cup on Saturday.

The English midfielder, who this month followed older brother Jude’s footsteps in joining the German side, started for the first time for Dortmund.

Sundowns of South Africa took a surprise early lead but Dortmund hit back strongly to triumph in sweltering conditions in Cincinnati at the TQL Stadium and move top of Group F.

“It’s a really nice bonus (to score), I’m glad we won but there’s a lot of things for me to improve on personally and for the team,” Bellingham told DAZN.

Dortmund coach Niko Kovac had claimed teams from the “south” had an advantage because of the heat, and the Sundowns 11th minute opener appeared to confirm his fears.

Lucas Ribeiro’s fine solo goal put the CAF Champions League runners-up ahead, with the Brazilian charging forward from his own half before beating Gregor Kobel.

However Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams handed Dortmund their equalizer on a plate, passing the ball straight to Felix Nmecha, who stroked home.

Both stoppers made good saves in an end-to-end clash before Dortmund claimed the lead through striker Serhou Guirassy.

Dortmund won the ball high up the pitch and Julian Brandt crossed for the Guinea international to score with a fine leap and header, continuing his fine form this season.

Bellingham, who joined earlier in June from Sunderland for 33 million euros ($37 million), netted Dortmund’s third just before the break.

Williams parried a cross into his path and after controlling on his chest, Bellingham drilled home.

“I’ve practiced that so many times, arriving late on the edge of the box as a midfielder is something you have to be really good at,” said Bellingham.

“As a kid and at Sunderland I’ve practiced that so many times, during training, after training, so I’m really proud of it.”

His brother Jude signed for Dortmund five years ago, before joining Spanish giants Real Madrid in 2023.


“Hey Jobe,” sang Dortmund fans, adapting the Beatles classic “Hey Jude” which they used to sing to Jude Bellingham.

“I didn’t hear that but it’s really nice,” said the Dortmund midfielder.

Dortmund were toothless in their opening draw against Fluminense but grabbed their fourth when Kuliso Mudau turned into his own net as he tried to cut out a cross.

Three minutes later Iqraam Rayners pulled one back as the Sundowns, who have won the last eight South African league titles, refused to give up.

Rayners, who netted Sundowns’ winner in the first match against Ulsan HD, hit the post with a header and reacted quickly to nod home the rebound.

Portuguese coach Miguel Cardoso’s side pulled back another through Lebo Mothiba in the 90th minute, forcing Dortmund to sweat through six minutes of stoppage time before they were able to celebrate their victory.

“The result is not what we wanted but we made a wonderful game,” Cardoso told DAZN.

“It’s important people understand what was at stake in this match. (Considering) the level of team that we played against, we worked fantastically.

“The boys made a wonderful performance... it was a hell of a match. I’m not happy but very proud.”

Later Saturday in the other Group F clash Fluminense take on Ulsan at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.


Nottingham Forest boss Nuno signs new three-year contract

Updated 21 June 2025
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Nottingham Forest boss Nuno signs new three-year contract

  • The 51-year-old led Forest to a seventh-place finish in the Premier League last season
  • A late slump in form saw them settle for a place in the Europa Conference League

LONDON: Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo was rewarded for guiding his side into Europe by signing a new three-year contract on Saturday.

The 51-year-old led Forest to a seventh-place finish in the Premier League last season, securing European qualification for the first time since the 1995/96 season.

After battling relegation for much of their first two campaigns back in the Premier League after a 23-year absence, Forest were on course to qualify for the Champions League last season.

A late slump in form saw them settle for a place in the Europa Conference League instead and included a flashpoint when owner Evangelos Marinakis confronted Nuno on the pitch after a 2-2 draw against relegated Leicester.

Former Manchester United captain and leading pundit Gary Neville said the Portuguese coach should have resigned in protest at that incident.

However, the former Wolves and Tottenham boss has committed his future to the City Ground and thanked Marinakis for his support since he was appointed in December 2023.

“I am delighted to be able to continue our journey at this fantastic football club,” Nuno said in a club statement.

“Since we arrived at Forest, we have worked extremely hard to create a special bond between the players, the fans and everyone at the club, which helped us achieve great things last season.

“I would like to thank our owner, Mr.Marinakis, for his constant support and backing. It is important to me to share a strong relationship with our ownership and we have thoroughly enjoyed working together ever since I arrived at Forest.”

Marinakis paid tribute to the impact made by Nuno and reiterated his desire for the two-time European champions to be contenders for major trophies once more.

“We enjoy a strong and solid relationship together,” said the Greek shipping magnate.

“Above all, we share the same dream and ambition of writing a new history for Nottingham Forest, competing in the Premier League and in Europe and winning trophies for our great club.”


Ill Mbappe out of second Real Madrid Club World Cup clash

Updated 21 June 2025
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Ill Mbappe out of second Real Madrid Club World Cup clash

  • The French superstar was taken to hospital on Thursday for tests and treatment
  • Mbappe is improving “bit by bit” said the club source

FLORIDA: Ill Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe will not travel to Charlotte for the team’s Club World Cup match against Pachuca, a club source told AFP Saturday.

The French superstar was taken to hospital on Thursday for tests and treatment after suffering gastroenteritis, before later being released.

Mbappe is improving “bit by bit” said the club source, but he will not fly with his team-mates for Sunday’s match against Mexican side Pachuca.

The 26-year-old missed the opening game with the same illness as Madrid were held 1-1 by Al-Hilal in Xabi Alonso’s debut as coach.

Madrid B-team player Gonzalo Garcia, 21, started in Mbappe’s stead and opened the scoring for Real Madrid against their Saudi Arabian opponents.

Mbappe finished as the European Golden Shoe winner in his first season at Real Madrid with 31 goals in La Liga and 43 across all competitions, but Los Blancos finished the season without a major trophy.