Léon Marchand (FRA) won the men’s 400-meter individual medley final in a world record time of 4:02.50 at the Fukuoka 2023 World Aquatics Championships on Wednesday at Fukuoka Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall in Fukuoka, Japan. It took him 15 years to break Michael Phelps (38, USA)’s unbreakable record.

In the 400-meter individual medley, an athlete swims 100 meters in the following order: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle. Marchand took an early lead at the 100-meter turn after her first butterfly. He kept pace with the rest of the lane until the backstroke, but the gap began to widen in the breaststroke. In the final freestyle, he opened up a gap that he was unable to close. Second-place Carson Foster (22-USA) touched the touch pad nearly four seconds after Marchand. For his dominant performance, Marchand took home $20,000 (approximately $25,778) in prize money and a new world record of $30,000. 토토사이트

The previous world record was 4:03.84, set by Phelps at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the time, Phelps set the record in a speed-advantaged full-body swimsuit. Full-body swimsuits have been banned since January 2010. Marchand touched the touchpad 1.34 seconds ahead of Phelps in the changed conditions.

Phelps, who was on hand as a commentator, stood up and clapped as Marchand touched the pad. The last of his personal world records had been broken, but he didn’t let that stop him from celebrating the birth of a new star. He even served as the presenter and placed the medal around Marchand’s neck.

Marchand, who won the event in Budapest last year with a time of 4:04.28, broke the world record in Fukuoka this year to win back-to-back world titles. He came to Fukuoka with the goal of making it “two in a row” and now turns his attention to the 200m individual medley. “The best is yet to come,” said Marchand at the awards ceremony, “I know Phelps was proud of my time, and it was especially interesting that he was broadcasting the event.”