Marchand claims second gold at Euros in 400m freestyle
French swimmer Léon Marchand won the 400m freestyle at the European Championships in Saint-Denis, securing his second gold of the event in a discipline he rarely races.
French swimming star Léon Marchand claimed his second gold medal of the European Championships on Sunday in Saint-Denis, near Paris, winning the 400m freestyle — an event he seldom competes in. Marchand finished in 3:43.14, beating Hungary's Oliver Papai by 1.32 seconds. Germany's Lukas Martens, the world record holder in the event, took bronze.
The four-time Olympic champion had already won gold in the 200m butterfly earlier in the championships and posted the fourth-fastest time in the 400m freestyle heats. The 24-year-old is competing on a reduced schedule at these Europeans as he continues recovering from a thigh injury. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Marchand won gold in the 200m butterfly, 200m breaststroke, 200m individual medley and 400m medley, along with a bronze in the 4x100m medley relay.
Other results
Hungary's Hubert Kos won the men's 200m individual medley in Marchand's absence, earning his third gold of the championships with a time of 1:54.24. Kos finished two-tenths of a second ahead of Spain's Hugo Gonzalez, while 18-year-old Russian Mikhail Shcherbakov, competing under a neutral flag, took bronze.
Italy's Simona Quadarella won the women's 400m freestyle in 4:01.74, just days after taking titles in the 800m and 1,500m. Britain's Keanna Macinnes won the women's 200m butterfly, while Lithuania's Ruta Meilutyte claimed gold in the women's 100m breaststroke and also won the 50m breaststroke in 29.93 seconds. Greece's Apostolos Christou defended his 100m backstroke title, and Ukrainian teenager Nikita Sheremet won his first gold in the men's 50m freestyle.
