22-year-old Leon Marchand set a new Olympic record in the men's 200m individual medley at the Paris Games, becoming the first Frenchman to win four medals at a single Olympics.
PARIS, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Local hero Leon Marchand clinched his fourth gold medal of the Paris Olympics by winning the men's 200m individual medley final here on Friday.
The 22-year-old set a new Olympic record of 1 minute, 54.06 to finish more than a second ahead of Britain's Duncan Scott, who took silver.
Defending champion Wang Shun of China claimed bronze, almost two seconds off the pace.
Marchand is the first Frenchman to win four medals at a single summer or winter Olympic Games, having also triumphed in the 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke and 400m individual medley here.
And he is just the fourth swimmer in history to achieve the feat, joining Michael Phelps (2004, 2008), Mark Spitz (1972) and Kristin Otto (1988).
"Winning four [gold] medals in five days, I don't know what to say," Marchand said. "After the semifinals on Thursday night I was really tired but it was a great race. I'm so happy."
His time in Friday's final eclipsed the previous Olympic record of 1:54.23 set by Michael Phelps at the Beijing 2008 Games.
"You never forget a moment like that," Marchand said. "It was incredible, it was magical." ■
