PARIS: Home favorite Leon Marchand etched his name into the Olympic history books with a phenomenal double gold on a pulsating night at the Paris pool on Wednesday as Japanese gymnast Shinnosuke Oka claimed a thrilling all-around title.
In another action-packed Olympic day in the steamy French capital, fans waved a possible farewell to tennis superstar Rafael Nadal, who crashed out of the men’s doubles.
The hottest ticket in town was at La Defense Arena, where a raucous crowd cheered wildly with every stroke as Marchand, fast becoming an Olympic superstar, produced a remarkable late surge to cruise home in the 200m butterfly.
World record holder and defending champion Kristof Milak of Hungary until the final strokes, Marchand dug deep to secure gold in a new Olympic record time.
Less than two hours later, he followed that up with a victory in the 200m breaststroke, tricolor flags flying around the stadium and the crowd screaming every time he lifted his head to catch his breath.
The double gold added to his dazzling victory in the 400m medley on Sunday to take the hosts to eight golds, narrowly topping the medal table.
In another electric night in the Olympic pool, China’s Pan Zhanle set the first swimming world record of the Paris Games, winning the 100m freestyle in 46.40 seconds to put the Chinese back ahead of France in the standings.
Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem produced the performance of her life when she pinned Torri Huske of the United States to the wall in the 100m freestyle.
But Australia’s Mollie O’Callaghan will have to wait another four years for the double freestyle as the 200m champion was pipped to a surprise fourth place.
American great Katie Ledecky, a seven-time gold medallist, also comfortably defended her 1500m freestyle crown as the race for the swimming medals reached the halfway point.
At Roland Garros, fans flocked to see 14-time French Open champion Nadal team up with rising star Carlos Alcaraz in a Spanish dream team.
But the dream was dashed as “NadAlcaraz” never really got going against the American pair of Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, losing 6-2, 6-4.
Nadal, aged 38 and plagued by injuries, is unlikely to grace the Roland Garros clay again, but his record there is unlikely to ever be broken.
However, Alcaraz remains on course for a successful tennis showdown with 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, who is eyeing Olympic gold to complete his impressive resume.
Another shock came in gymnastics, where Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka claimed victory in the Olympic men’s all-around, dethroning compatriot and defending champion Daiki Hashimoto in a thrilling final.
Oka, 20, won gold ahead of Chinese duo Zhang Boheng in second place, Xiao Ruoteng took bronze and Hashimoto finished sixth.
Day five started with encouragement for organizers as the triathlon finally got underway after concerns about dangerous levels of pollution in the River Seine.
Organizers canceled practice this week and postponed the men’s race on Tuesday after the Seine was found to be too dirty for the athletes after rain last week.
But when the athletes finally plunged into the Seine on the historic Alexandre III Bridge, the race brought more home joy as Cassandre Beaugrand won gold.
She told reporters it would be “shameful for our sport” if swimming did not continue.
The men’s race saw a thrilling finale as Britain’s Alex Yee overhauled New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde in the final stretch to improve on his silver from Tokyo.
In other action on day five, China’s world number one table tennis player Wang Chuqin suffered a shock defeat, a day after breaking her racket.
Wang won the mixed doubles gold on Tuesday, but his excitement turned to anger after a photographer accidentally snapped his bat as he jostled to take a picture.
Less than 24 hours later, Wang was eliminated in singles after a 4-2 loss to Sweden’s Truls Moregard.
It was better news for China and its diving cleanup as it won the women’s synchronized 10m platform ahead of North Korea and Britain.
China has won all three golds in the sport so far in Paris. In women’s soccer, defending champions Canada must beat Colombia if they are to advance to the quarter-finals after a six-point deduction for a spying scandal.
