Swimmer Leon Marchand poised to be the face of 2024 Paris Olympics
On Jan. 17, 2004, at an otherwise unremarkable, early-season swim meet in Auburn, Ala., a 30-year-old Frenchman and two-time Olympian named Xavier Marchand climbed the starting blocks for the mens 200-meter individual medley. A couple of lanes over stood a towering, 18-year-old American phenom named Michael Phelps, already the world record holder in that event.