Emmanuel Macron joined in with the chants of “Allez, Allez, Allez” as the unassuming superstar in lane four rampaged to his fourth individual gold medal of the Paris Olympics.
The French president – like most of the crowd – was on his feet at a deafening La Defense Arena as Leon Marchand did what Leon Marchand does.
It is safe to say Macron was not paying all that much attention to the boy from Alloa in lane three who claimed 200m individual medley silver to make his own mark.
Marchand might not have been either. But Duncan Scott got about as near to the 22-year-old as anyone else has during his staggering run of races this week.
He beat the Frenchman in the semi-finals of this event on Thursday, but it is fair to say Marchand was holding a wee bit in. He had had a heavy week, after all, carrying all those new bits of metal around.
The home favourite uncorked the good stuff on Friday when it mattered though. His third Olympic record in three finals this meet. The boy has something about him.
“The guy is… I did all right going head to head with him for a bit but that’s rapid,” Scott said of Marchand, who won by more than a second. “He’s turned into an absolute world sensation.
“From 2022 onwards, I knew he was going to be pretty good but what he has been able to do this week is amazing and it’s inspirational.”
‘I shouldn’t be in same sentence as Hoy & Murray’
Scott has played this game for a while, though. He has been to big events and has both the medals and the scars to show for it.
He swaggered out into this magnificent drum of noise with a grin, licked his lips, made straight for Marchand’s blocks, and gave them a shunt. Then he had a poke around in his box.
A wee bit of mind games? Why not. Given how good the Frenchman is, the 27-year-old had to try something.
Eighth after the butterfly, Scott roared back to sit fourth after the backstroke. His breaststroke took him up to second but the freestyle specialist could not do enough to overhaul Marchand down the last 50m.
Scott swam his quickest time since the last Olympic final – just three-hundredths of a second outside the mark that earned him silver in Tokyo – but it was not enough for a first individual gold.
It was sufficient, though, to earn him the title of Scotland’s most decorated Olympic athlete, with his two gold and six silvers taking him beyond cyclist Sir Chris Hoy.
Scott – while thrilled with his night’s work – was not having any of that talk, though.
“I mean… I shouldn’t be in the same sentence as that guy or Andy Murray,” he told BBC Scotland. “Those two have been a huge inspiration to everything I’ve done.
“Sure, I’ve got a few medals but I couldn’t have got this many without being part of a load of fantastic relays.”
Might there be more of those relays to come over the next couple of days?
Despite not planning to have them in his schedule for this meet, Scott is now keen for a role in either the mixed or men’s 4x100m medley.
Hoy’s mark might not only be beaten, but eclipsed entirely by Sunday night.
“I’m always going to throw my hand up,” said Scott, after embracing his Saltire-wielding family in the stands as the cameras cut to the aforementioned Murray.
“I just love racing in these environments and it brings something special out of me. Back-to-back silvers in the 200m IM is pretty cool and what a night it’s been.”
Source Agencies
