“Y’all better put some respect on Leon Marchand’s name!” Shannon Sharpe’s fiery message targeted critics as the swimming phenom faced backlash despite his record-breaking performances. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, “Marchand-mania” took over as he won bronze in the men’s 200m breaststroke, adding to his three medals from Tokyo. Marchand shattered records in the 200m, 400m, and 100m events. But despite his dominant wins, a doping controversy still lingers, casting a shadow over his achievements. The French crowd is thrilled by Leon Marchand’s performances, but tension remains due to the Chinese doping scandal.

The French Swimming Federation allowed Marchand to sleep at a hotel during the outbreak of cardboard beds. Exhausted after four swim sessions, the 22-year-old chose to rest in his hotel room after winning. But while he napped, WADA and CHINADA testers arrived for a planned drug test.

However, Marchand was nowhere to be found, neither in his quarters nor the Athletes’ Village. This raised alarms—he had missed his drug testing time, a serious offense in the Olympic community. However, it wasn’t entirely his fault. Marchand’s team reported that they had already updated the ADAMS system with his location before he left the hotel. 

Some fans criticized Marchand, claiming his success was only due to home support. But NFL legend Shannon Sharpe stood firmly behind the swimmer. During his YouTube podcast Nightcap, Sharpe addressed the issue during a conversation with Bobby Finke. Sharpe said with the next Olympics set for Los Angeles, “You kind of get a little bump… Marchand, he different. He ain’t getting no bump.” He added, “He could have swam on the moon, in the Dead Sea, in the Atlantic Ocean. He’s gonna be what he is.” Sharpe humorously noted that Bobby might face challenges in the 2028 “home-country” Olympics.

Shannon Sharpe highlighted the topic while discussing Michael Phelps’s disappointment with Team USA’s performance at the Paris Olympics. Even though the GOAT of the swimming world did not hesitate to take a stand for Bobby Finke, as Sharpe said in the same podcast, “Phelps, he really needs no introduction. He spoke very, very highly of you individually, but he said he was very, very disappointed in the men swim team. Now, we know the French team you get a kind of like when you have the Olympics in your home country,” asking about the team’s standing now for the 2028 Olympics.

This is crucial for the French team as well, and for that, Marchand needs to come back stronger to compete and show that the home support controversy is nothing but a distraction.

Amid the controversy, Leon Marchand’s finished off with 5 medals at the Paris 

Leon Marchand’s Olympic record now stands in the men’s 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:05:85. Marchand’s new record in the 400m is 4:02.95. The men’s 200m breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 was where he broke away from everyone else, finishing in 2:05:85 seconds.

After winning his fourth gold medal at the Paris Olympics and becoming the fastest one to do so, Marchand told AP News with total confidence, “I don’t think anything went wrong this week, it was just perfect.” He finished off his 4x100m in 3:28.38s. Having secured gold in the 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly, and 400m individual medley, he stunned the audience.

Bob Bowman, a former coach of Michael Phelps, was overwhelmed by Marchand’s performance. He said to TOI, with pride in his eyes, “It was just a complete success in terms of the way I see things. He’s just 100% successful. I’m so proud of him. It takes a lot to be perfect,” indicating that he is the future of swimming.

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Leon Marchand has successfully added five Olympic medals to his résumé after helping lead the Sun Devils to the team title in men’s swimming. Now, the question is, will his dominance in the pool continue at the next Olympics in 2028? What’s your thought on this?