Get the latest gossip

Léon Marchand Pulls Off Historic Double Gold at Olympics

The Olympian won the 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter breaststroke about two hours apart.

Image Credit: Getty ImagesFans witnessed a rather shy Léon Marchand become a legend after doing something that hadn’t been done in almost 50 years – winning two individual swimming gold medals in the same night, setting two Olympic records in the process. On Wednesday night at La Défense Arena, Marchand completed one of the most audacious doubles in swimming history, winning the 200-meter butterfly and the 200-meter breaststroke about two hours apart in his home country with his fellow Frenchmen cheering him on with every stroke. “I think the easiest thing for me is that’s probably the greatest double I’ve seen in the history of the sport,” Phelps said of Marchand’s achievement, which was last done in 1976 by East Germany’s Kornelia Ender, who won the 200 free and 100 fly in Montreal.

Get the Android app