200 metres Butterfly, Men

The defending gold medalist was Hungarian Kristóf Milák and he was back, but the favorite was the Frenchman Léon Marchand, who had already won the 400 individual medley in Paris, three days before this final. Further, Marchand was attempting what some considered a crazy double on this day. He would swim the final of the 200 metre breaststroke about two hours after this race would end.

Milák and Marchand led the semi-final qualifiers, in that order, and the final was all about them, as the bronze medalist Canada’s Ilya Kharun would be over a second back of silver.

Milák went out fastest, leading through the first three turns, and had a comfortable lead on Marchand at that point. But Marchand’s furious finish would bring him home for the gold medal, outsplitting Milák on the final lap by 1.26 seconds.

Two hours after this race, Marchand would return and win gold in the 200 breaststroke, completing a rare double by a male swimmer. It had been done in 1896 by Hungary’s Alfréd Hajós and in 1900 by Australian/Brit Fred Lane, but since then only by East Germany’s female Kornelia Ender, who won the 200 metre freestyle and 100 metre butterfly at the same session in 1988.

Two days later, Marchand would win another gold in the 200 individual medley, becoming only the third male swimmer, after Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz, to win four individual swimming gold medals at a single Olympic Games. Marchand was the only athlete at Paris 2024 to win four gold medals, in any sport, and he also added a bronze in the men’s medley relay.