“Bad Sportsmanship”: Leon Marchand Faces Swimming Community’s Anger for Unexpected Behavior at Paris Olympics

Leon Marchand’s performance has been nothing short of incredible at the Olympics. On July 31, Marchand had a magical evening. During the 200m butterfly race, all the spectators watched it on the edge of their seats. He was battling against Hungary’s Kristof Milak, who had won the gold medal three years ago in Tokyo. For most of the race, Marchand was trailing behind him. After a point, many thought that all hopes of a victory for him were finished. Milak’s lead did not show any signs of faltering. But one man did not lose belief in his abilities. It was Marchand himself. Just as Milak almost reached the finish line, the French swimmer made a last dash to try and beat him. He was successful in his pursuit.

Marchand finished the race in 1:51.21, barely milliseconds before Milak won the gold. The whole crowd started chanting his name as they couldn’t believe what they witnessed. He would then go on to win the 200m breaststroke, too, making history. He was the first person to win two golds in a single day. Nobody, not even greats like Michael Phelps, could do it. Yesterday, he added another medal to his tally with a gold in the individual medley. However, he would run into controversy due to his unwillingness to show good sportsmanship. When the Chinese coach tried to shake his hand after the medal ceremony, Marchand completely ignored him in a disrespectful manner. Despite getting so much love, he couldn’t repay respect to his opponents.

Leon Marchand ignores the China coach’s handshake after the medal ceremony

When Leon Marchand went up to the podium to receive his gold medal, the Chinese coach extended his hand for a handshake. It was a show of great sportsmanship, as he wanted to congratulate the man who had defeated his own athlete, Wang Shun, who had won bronze in the same competition. At the end of the day, in sports, one must learn to respect their opponent, who gave it their all to be standing there.

But Marchand did not share the same sentiment. Instead, he dove under the tape barrier and went toward the podium in a lousy show of sportsmanship. This was unexpected from an athlete who has won so much in these games. Humility must be the biggest virtue they must have in their victories and defeats, which the French swimmer seemed to be lacking here. One fan said on Reddit that this humility was very heavily seen in Michael Phelps, who used to always shake hands with his biggest rival, Ryan Lochte, even when he was defeated. This is one of the reasons why Phelps has earned so much respect on the swimming circuit. This act from Marchand was unexpected and showed a lack of respect for his opponent.

Fans react to Leon Marchand’s disrespectful act

Most fans have criticized Leon Marchand for this behavior. They have also acknowledged the fact that this will not get much coverage due to his stardom. They wrote, “It’s sad that this behavior will most likely be buried since he’s the host nation’s “breakout star,” but this is just another example of poor sportmanship towards POC athletes.” Another fan talked about the fact that the French swimmer was being rude despite winning every event he has participated in at the Olympics. They said, “I don’t think Leon Marchand has lost an event yet. He is just being rude & terrible but it has nothing to do with losing. He has won 4 gold medals and set 4 Olympic records on each race. If anything, apparently all those wins didn’t teach him to be nicer to people.”

Some people tried to justify Marchand’s behavior. They said that he snubbed the Chinese coach because of their doping scandal, in which some athletes were found using banned substances. One said, “I don’t know if it was meant to be a snub, but if it was, it could be because new revelations have come out about the Chinese swim teams doping scandal.” This was quickly refuted by others, who said that none of those athletes were participating in these games. “For everyone talking about the Chinese doping scandal, those athletes did not compete this year. And Chinese athletes are tested on average 21 (Twenty One) times a day vs 6-7 for other countries (including USA).” 

One might wonder what prompted the French swimmer to commit such an act. Regardless, though he has won a lot of accolades in Paris, this might leave a dark stain on all of them.