Paris Olympics: Léon Marchand wins gold again, setting up unprecedented double

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PARIS — Léon Marchand ignited the Paris Olympics once again with a stunning last 50 meters in the 200-meter butterfly on Wednesday, and a rousing win over Hungarian star Kristof Milak.

Marchand was slow off the blocks, and trailed Milak, the world record holder, by 0.64 seconds at the 50-meter mark. He trailed by 0.60 at the midway point. He trailed by 0.74 at the 150, and didn’t seem to have quite enough amid a grueling four-day stretch, which includes an unprecedented Wednesday night double.

But he ripped past Milak over the last length of the pool, and won in an Olympic record time of 1:51.21. Milak was over a half-second back at 1:51.75 — meaning Marchand beat him by 1.26 seconds over the final 50.

Marchand, after a muted celebration — a wag of his finger, a wave to the roaring crowd — beelined for a warm-down pool.

He’ll be back in the competition pool in less than two hours, at around 10:31 p.m. local time (4:31 p.m. ET), for the 200-meter breaststroke final.

No swimmer has ever won both a butterfly and breaststroke medal at the same Olympics. Marchand could do it in a span of around 116 minutes. And both medals could be gold.