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Marchand wins 200m butterfly for first Euros gold / Photo: © AFP
Marchand wins 200m butterfly for first Euros gold
French four-time Olympic gold medallist Leon Marchand won the 200m butterfly final at the European championships in Paris on Saturday, setting the world's best time of the year to claim his first continental title.
Two years on from his exploits at the Paris Games, the 24-year-old returned to form in the French capital as he put injury woes behind him to claim Euro gold in a time of 1 minute 51.72 seconds.
He finished a huge 2.34sec ahead of Hungarian silver medallist Richard Marton, with Greece's Apostolos Siskos rounding off the podium a further 0.04sec behind.
"It was a brilliant moment," Marchand said.
"There was an absolutely mad atmosphere in the pool, I'll remember it for a long time.
"The last 50 metres were really good. I think it's the best 50 metres I've swum in a long time, but that also means I might have been able to get off to a faster start."
Marchand's gold was his country's first individual title at these championships.
Hampered by a thigh injury picked up at French nationals in June, Marchand has a reduced programme at the Euros.
He won a silver medal with the 4x200m freestyle relay with France earlier this week and the Toulouse native will have another chance for gold on Sunday when he competes in the 400m freestyle.
Kasia Wasick of Poland stunned Sweden's Sarah Sjostrom and Italian Sara Curtis by claiming gold in the 50m freestyle in 23.84sec.
Sjostrom's silver, 0.02sec adrift of Wasick, was the 30th European medal of the 32-year-old's career.
Curtis, 19, who has already had a championships to remember after breaking the 50m backstroke world record twice, took bronze to bring her tally in Paris to five medals.
Ireland's Ellen Walshe took gold in the 200m medley with a time of 2min 09.81sec.
After victory on Friday in the 400m medley, it was the 24-year-old's second major long-course win.
Italy's Anita Gastaldi earned silver with a time of 2min 10.07sec and Belgian Roos Vanotterdijk finished third at 0.29sec.
Gastaldi's compatriot Nicolo Martinenghi grabbed his second gold of the championships by touching the wall first in the 50m breaststroke.
His second gold this week in Paris brought his career European tally in individual events to four.
Martinenghi's time of 26.57sec was 0.05 faster than Dutchman Koen de Groot and Italian Simone Cerasuolo.
M. Taylor--BTZ
