the touching exchange between Léon Marchand and a six-year-old boy

Tom, six years old, will remember this Sunday, November 10. During the Occitanie inter-clubs in Montauban, the young CP student, big fan of the four-time champion of the Paris Olympic Games Léon Marchand, was able (finally) to meet his idol. Arriving accompanied by his mother around nine o'clock in the morning at the Ingreo aquatic complex, the boy raised his voice behind a fence located a few meters from the pools to encourage the Toulouse swimmer during his warm-up. “Leon, Leon, Leon!” Come on Leon! »Tom shouted for many minutes. Touched by the child's encouragement, Marchand thanked him with an affectionate wave of his hand.

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Waiting to be able to meet the star of the last Olympics, the young supporter waited almost two hours before seeing his wish granted. The president of Montauban Natation and the general director of the Dauphins de TOEC came to pick him up to present him to the Haut-Garonnais athlete, who was taking a breather in an outdoor pool. Tom then approached the edge of the pool to exchange a few words with the 22-year-old athlete.

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“It’s the first time I’ve seen him up close like that, I said hello to him! »rejoiced the young boy in the columns of La Dépêche du Midi . “I'm a fan of him because I saw him on TV, he won four gold medals. It makes me feel good to meet him. He asked me if it was me who was shouting behind the fence (smile).” Tom's mother, seeing her son on cloud nine, wanted to set the table again: “We'll come back this afternoon, maybe we'll see him again. » The kid finally remained positioned behind the fence, more than an hour and a half later, to see his hero again, this time during the champion's recovery after his two morning races. Stars in your eyes.