Frenchman Léon Marchand was crowned world champion on Sunday in Fukuoka, Japan, after flying through the 400m medley final and smashing American legend Michael Phelps’ world record.
Published on: 07/23/2023 – 15:41
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Frenchman Léon Marchand smashed Michael Phelps’ world record in the 400m medley on Sunday July 23 with a time of 4 min 2 sec 50/100ths 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 medley and he beats the world record: 4.02.50 ⏱ THIS IS HISTORY ????
▶️ Live: pic.twitter.com/q2IAfjSo81
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) July 23, 2023
By obtaining a second planetary title over the distance, the 21-year-old swimmer broke the last individual world record still in force by American legend Michael Phelps by one second and three tenths, under the eyes of the man with 23 Olympic titles, present for the American television channel NBC.
Frenchman Léon Marchand celebrates his gold medal with former American swimmer Michael Phelps at the World Swimming Championships in Japan on July 23, 2023. © Manan Vatsyayan, AFP
Léon Marchand has gradually widened the gap on his main competitor, the American Carson Forster, who once again takes second place, a year after the World Championships in Budapest.
The Toulouse swimmer fits perfectly into these world championships, where he will try to do the double in the 200m medley on Thursday, like last year.
“It’s excellent, I train every day for that,” savored Marchand after the race. “There I break my time by two seconds, I make the record, so it’s great,” he added. “The best is yet to come,” finally launched the student of coach Bob Bowman, the illustrious coach of Michael Phelps.
With AFP
