Here is a Sparky Olympic update for Wednesday, July 31…
MEN’S SWIMMING
On Wednesday both Léon Marchand and Ilya Kharun made history in the pool, Marchand became the first French swimmer to win multiple gold medals in the same Olympic games, and he became the first swimmer to win medals in the butterfly and the breaststroke in front of his home country, setting Olympic records in both races.
In his first race of the day, it came down to the final 50m meters of the 200m fly, Marchand put together a magnificent charge to overtake Hungarian swimmer Milak Kristof, coming home to gold in 28.97. It’s Marchand’s second Olympic record of the week, breaking Kristof Milak’s (1:51.25) record set in the Tokyo Olympics.
UNREAL. LEON MARCHAND WITH AN INCREDIBLE COMEBACK TO IGNITE THE CROWD IN PARIS. ????#ParisOlympics | ?? NBC & Peacock pic.twitter.com/oErY1zMUvu
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) July 31, 2024
Less than two hours after his triumphant comeback, Marchand led wire-to-wire in the 200m breaststroke, pulling away from the field after the 100m mark to finish in a record-breaking 2:05.85, his third Olympic record of the week for his third gold medal.
“I had two gold medals in two hours, that is quite incredible.” said Léon Marchand.
In his first career Olympics, Sun Devil sophomore Ilya Kharun secured the bronze medal, finishing in 1:52.80 for his first Olympic medal and the first medal in history for Canada in the 200m fly all while breaking a Canadian record in the process. In his freshman year alone, he became an NCAA Individual national champion in the 200y fly, and was part of the 400y medley relay team that won an NCAA championship and set an NCAA record.
Making history!!
Ilya Kharun is the first Canadian to medal in 200 fly taking the bronze and to top it off, this is his first ever Olympic Games ?? pic.twitter.com/ipuyZHfmuz
— Swimming Canada / Natation Canada (@SwimmingCanada) July 31, 2024
For Marchand, he has one more event remaining this week, racing in the 200m IM heats which starts at around 2:47 a.m. AZT/11:47 CEST (Paris Time) to attempt to qualify for Thursday evening’s semifinal.
WOMEN’S…
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