I’m not a second Mark Spitz, however a primary Michael Phelps
Michael Phelps
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On the entrance to the Paris La Défense Area we’re greeted by a mural of classic black and white photographs: seen aspect by aspect, they weave a journey into historical past. A variety of sports activities personalities are displayed there.
I’m going again to Alice Milliat, who organised the primary girls’s World Video games. She did so in 1922.
I take a look at Jesse Owens on the rostrum, topped with laurel, having fun with the elevating of the American flag on the Olympic Stadium in Berlin whereas Adolf Hitler, inwardly livid, seems to be at him.
I am informed about Hassiba Bulmerka, Olympic champion within the 1,500m in Barcelona’92 whereas terrorists from the FIS and GIA are threatening to kill her in Algeria: how might she dare to point out herself in shorts?
Gino Bartali saved the lives of 1000’s of Jews. He hid the paperwork of lots of them within the body of his bicycle and transported them clandestinely from one nation to a different throughout his lengthy coaching periods. The US tempted Teófilo Stevenson. It invited him to grow to be an expert boxer. Many times, the Cuban stated no:
-I do not plan on shedding the love of eight million Cubans for 1,000,000 {dollars}.
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Léon Marchand (22) doesn’t assume a lot about these legends who modified the world, however fairly about Michael Phelps, a legend who really did extra for himself, to transcend: he’s the athlete with essentially the most Olympic gold medals in a single version.
He received eight in Beijing 2008.
(In whole, Phelps collected 28 podium finishes, greater than anybody ever; he was a record-breaker.)
Léon Marchand thinks like Phelps and trains like Phelps (in actual fact, his coach at Arizona State, Bob Bowman, as soon as coached Phelps), and the swimming world offers him an epithet.
He calls him the French Michael Phelps.
And the French Phelps, extra mild than tall, fairly shy, with a good-natured face, he could possibly be yet one more within the crowd, will get to work.
In July final yr, Marchand snatched the crown jewel from Phelps, the world file within the 400-metre particular person medley. And months later, within the qualifying occasions for these Paris Video games, he received a spot in 4 particular person races.
Léon Marchand, this Sunday in Paris
François-Xavier Marit / AFP
-However I am not pondering of 4 titles, however of 4 alternatives – he himself preached today in Paris, maybe beneath strain, as a result of Marchandmania has damaged out: we see him in commercials, on posters wrapped round buildings, in tv interviews on France 1, or on France 2, or on France 3.
(…)
The stage goes wild when Marchand comes out, prepared for the 400m medley last.
No approach, I do not hear something, “Léon-Mar-chand!!”, the Parisians do the wave, there goes the French Phelps, genetics blessed him (his father, Xavier, was an Olympic finalist in Atlanta’96 and Sydney 2000; his mom, Céline Bonet, held French information).
There he goes, highly effective on the 4th fairway, colossal from the primary size of the butterfly. He’s projected at a world file tempo.
He clocked 54.32 within the 100m butterfly. That was 34 hundredths of a second over his private finest.
He reveals his toes to the remaining, goes even additional on the backstroke, prodigious underwater within the two turns. Now he loses some floor on the file however nobody is scolding him anymore. He hastens within the breaststroke, “ba-ba-ba-ba”, shouts Paris each time Marchand sticks his head out and strokes his strokes. The phenomenon recovers the world file tempo: he completes the breaststroke with 4 hundredths of a second of margin.
I am unable to even hear my ideas.
On the penultimate size he has 19 hundredths left.
Will there be a file?
There will not be one, all of us shout finally, as Marchand fades barely within the last size, having been swimming alone for too lengthy. He finishes in 4m02.95 (his private finest is 4m02.50), opening up a spot of six seconds over Matsushita (4m08.62) and Foster (4m08.66): he has received as Phelps used to do.
And it would not matter, Paris is giving itself over and French swimming is vindicated: it had not collected a person Olympic podium since London 2012.