On Sunday 23 July, Frenchman Léon Marchand smashed Michael Phelps' world record in the 400m 4 medley with a time of 4 min 2 sec 50/100es by winning the world title in Fukuoka, Japan.
#Fukuoka2023 | 🇫🇷 WORLD 🇫🇷
RECORD The Léon Marchand rocket took off in Fukuoka, the Frenchman is crowned world champion after flying over the final of the 400m 4 medley and he beats the world record: 4.02.50 ⏱ IT'S HISTORIC
▶️ 🔥Live: https://t.co/rm8MstM7rP pic.twitter.com/q2IAfjSo81
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) July 23, 2023
By winning a second world title over the distance, the 21-year-old swimmer beat by one second and three tenths the last individual world record still in force of American legend Michael Phelps, under the eyes of the man with 23 Olympic titles, present for the American television channel NBC.
France's Léon Marchand celebrates his gold medal with former American swimmer Michael Phelps at the World Aquatics Championships in Japan on July 23, 2023. © Manan Vatsyayan, AFP
Léon Marchand gradually widened the gap on his main competitor, the American Carson Forster, who once again took second place, a year after the Worlds in Budapest.
The Toulouse swimmer fits perfectly into these world championships, where he will try to do the double on 200m 4 medley Thursday, as last year.
"It's excellent, I train every day for it," Marchand said after the race. "There I fart my time by two seconds, I make the record, so it's great," he added. "The best is yet to come," said coach Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps' illustrious coach.
With AFP
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