Landing imminent. After a weightless summer, sunny with four Olympic titles, a relay bronze medal and a Legion of Honor, Léon Marchand plunges back into competition, Friday in Shanghai, on the occasion of the first stage of the Small World Cup. basin. According to his companions in the corridors at the Dauphins du TOEC, where he resumed training on September 15, the Toulouse resident is not unhappy to return to his routine, after a month and a half of epicureanism. Since August 4 and his last Parisian length, the ascetic capable of getting out of bed every morning at 5 o’clock to throw himself into cold water has given way to a carefree young person, happy to jump with both feet into the pleasures of dazzling popularity.
A simple boy, but as uninhibited as his comrades from the swimming pools and American campuses he attended in Arizona for three years, Léon Marchand did not shy away from his pleasures. He took advantage of his totem of popular immunity to do so without worrying too much about what people will say. A car enthusiast, we saw him receive an electric Porsche, a gift from the German brand. He joined David Guetta on the decks in Ibiza, got closer to the Chinese-American freestyle skier Eileen Feng Gu in a Parisian club. Attended the Benoît Saint Denis MMA fight, the screening for happy few of the documentary by YouTuber Inoxtag. Presented by a sponsor to sailor François Gabart, he sailed on his sailboat, one of the fastest in the world, to Saint-Tropez.
Swimming: Léon Marchand’s time
Each time, the inviting power quivered with joy. “He is the new arrival in sports pop culture”depicts Pascal Crifo, boss of Publicis Sport. The polls are proof: 52% of French people consider him to be the most striking French athlete of these Olympics, according to an Ipsos-Le study. Parisian. This is 37 points better than his runner-up, Teddy Riner. The Tagaday media exposure barometer published by West France established that during the fortnight he had benefited from visibility twice that of the judo legend, three times that of Emmanuel Macron or Kamala Harris.
More than 1 million per contract
No wonder the 22-year-old swimmer had to slalom between the company approaches. Almost everyone wants it, like this boss of a thriving SME who tried his luck last month at a cocktail party, without suspecting the prices charged. “It won’t be for us”he said a few days later when he learned the figures circulating in the sports business world. “Léon Marchand can ask for more than 1 million per year per contract; some have already positioned themselves on these amounts”assures this expert. Another, however, specifies that “1.5 million would be a high range”. Amounts far removed from those offered to universal stars such as footballers or NBA basketball players, but which place him in the world of a Riner.
“Léon has become off the market,” says a sports agent. With certain champions, we know that we must not be too greedy. With him, we no longer know. The business leader who wants it will pull out all the stops. » Without certainty of attracting him. Alexandre Bompard, the president of Carrefour, failed to recruit the one who was his favorite from 2022 into his team of athletes, despite a proposal that would have made any other swimmer salivate. At the height of their careers, Olympic champions Florent Manaudou and Yannick Agnel received little more than 500,000 euros annually. The low media coverage of their sport outside the Olympics constituted a limit. Only Laure Manaudou, celebrity muse as well as sportswoman, had signed a comparable contract: 1 million euros annually with the holding company of billionaire François Pinault.
Paris 2024: in the American wake of swimmer Léon Marchand
If Léon Marchand is swimming in his wake, it is not only because the public has not had time to find faults in him; it’s also because it ticks all the boxes a partner dreams of. “With it, a brand can convey an image of performance, of exemplarity, but also of hard work,” says Pascal Crifo. Swimming is a sport where personal commitment greatly precedes enrichment, which is highly valued. » Any brand that wants to sell the idea that it enhances life has a gem. “Plus, he has a good face and he’s nice, it’s easy to identify with him”adds Christophe Lepetit, from the Center for Sports Law and Economics in Limoges. Outstanding sportsman and boy next doorin short.
Fragrance of splendor and elegance
Advised by his parents, two Olympian swimmers, and by a lawyer from their friendly network, Léon Marchand opted for a strategy that he took the time to refine. Especially from 2023, when the hype gained momentum, boosted by the photo of Michael Phelps lifting the arm of his heir, who had just dispossessed him of his last record time during the World Championships in Fukuoka (Japan). Like the Mbappé clan, with whom they have exchanged, the Marchands only accept premium proposals. And not very time-consuming in requests such as shooting or petits fours, a decisive criterion for training sufficiently and marking the history of your sport. Léon Marchand is not preparing his post-career, but his legend. It therefore only has three non-sport partner contracts: Omega, LVMH and its Louis Vuitton brand. The young man loves this scent of splendor and elegance. It would not be surprising to see him engage with a new luxury player soon…
Embracing this appetite could end up proving perilous in preserving a normal life, another stated desire. The prospect of becoming an icon prevented from setting foot in a cinema or restaurant terrifies him. This simple and well-rounded young man has been enjoying his return to his parental home since the beginning of August, where he is watching over his little brother’s grades this fall. He also enjoys time with his long-time friends. Scheduled for early 2025, his arrival in Austin (Texas), where he followed his American coach, the legendary Bob Bowman, will distance him from them but also from the emerging pressure. In the meantime, the short course world championships in Budapest (December 10 to 15) should allow him to accumulate titles and records. What he loves most, deep down.
