Léon Marchand bounces back for second gold medal, beating Milák in the 200 meters to start an eventful night

NANTERRE, France – Léon Marchand kicked off an unlikely double with a final shot for the ages.

Behind most of the race, Marchand overtook defending Olympic champion and world record holder Kristóf Milák to win his second gold medal of the Paris Games with victory in the 200-meter butterfly on Wednesday night.

The crowd at La Defense Arena roared as Marchand beat the Olympic record of 1 minute and 51.71 seconds, beating Milák by four hundredths of a second.

Marchand added to his dominant victory in the 400 individual medleys and it was just getting started on this very busy night: he was ready to run again two hours later as the fastest qualifier in the 200 meter breaststroke.

It turns out that these comparisons to Michael Phelps don’t seem far-fetched at all.

Marchand raised a finger when he saw the “1” next to his name on the scoreboard. He shook his head a little, as if he couldn’t believe what he had done.

Then, he ran off the deck to another enthusiastic applause from the home crowd. He had to start preparing for his next race,

Sarah Sjöström turned her fifth Olympics into a gold medal celebration.

The 30-year-old Swedish veteran managed to reach the end to win the 100 meter freestyle and win the second gold of her brilliant career.

Sjöström reduced his program at the last two world championships, swimming only the 50-meter freestyle. She decided to add 100 at the Paris Games, and boy did that decision pay off.

Sjöström was only fourth at the corner, but shifted into another gear on the return lap, clocking 52.16 seconds. Team USA settled for another silver medal – their eighth in the swimming competition – when Torri Huske finished in 52.29. Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey won bronze in 52.33, beating Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan by a hundredth of a second.

It was the fifth Olympic medal overall for Sjöström, who first competed at the 2008 Beijing Games, where Phelps won a record eight gold medals. Her previous gold was in the 100 meter butterfly in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

This victory may be the sweetest of all. She gasped in disbelief and hit the water when she saw the time and, more importantly, the number next to it.

She was again Olympic champion.

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