Marchand smashes the 200m medley record

▲ The Frenchman (pictured) clocked 1:52.69 minutes yesterday in the semifinal, beating American Ryan Lochte's record by 1.31 seconds. The record had stood for 14 years after being achieved at the Shanghai World Championships. Photo: AFP

From the editorial staff

La Jornada Newspaper, Thursday, July 31, 2025, p. a11

Swimmer Léon Marchand decided not to compete in the 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke for one reason: he wanted to go to Singapore to win the combined world records. Specifically, the 200m, in which Ryan Lochte had held the unshakeable lead since the 2011 World Championships in Shanghai with a staggering 1:54.00.

Yesterday, the Frenchman achieved the world's first record. The 23-year-old swimmer performed one of the greatest feats of recent times in a global competition, clocking 1:52.69 minutes in the semifinals, shattering the record set 14 years ago by 1.31 seconds.

What's crazy is that I knocked more than a second off it. It's still hard to believe , he said; 1:52 in the 200m medley is mind-blowing , commented the Frenchman, who could break his record in the final today.

Marchand won four gold medals a year ago at the Paris Olympics, but he's only swimming the 200 and 400 medleys—and relays—in Singapore. Scheduling a lighter schedule in what he calls a transition year keeps him fresh for pursuing world records.

The competitor will swim the 400m medley on Sunday, the final day of the World Championships. He holds that record with a time of 4:02.50, set at the 2023 competition in Fukuoka, Japan.

Today I felt really good before the race , he said. I was drinking a lot of water and everything felt technically clear for what came next .

Léon was about 1.8 seconds off the world record after 150 meters and picked up the pace in the final freestyle leg. Although this race didn't earn him a world title—that would come today in the final—he still pocketed $30,000.

In other results, American Luca Urlando claimed the third gold medal for the United States by winning the 200m butterfly with a time of 1:51.87. Poland's Krzysztof Chmielewski was second (1:52.64), and the bronze went to Australian Harrison Turner (1:54.17).

Australian Mollie O'Callaghan, the Paris Olympic champion in the 200m freestyle, repeated her World Championship title, pulling away in the final 50 meters to finish in 1:53.48. China's Li Bingjie took silver in 1:54.52, and the bronze went to American Claire Weinstein in 1:54.57.

Tunisian Ahmed Jaouadi won the 800m freestyle, clocking 7:36.88. Germany's Sven Schwarz took silver in 7:39.96, and his compatriot Lukas Martens took bronze in 7:40.19.

Meanwhile, Osmar Olvera came very close to winning his eighth world championship medal by placing fourth in the mixed synchronized diving event on the three-meter springboard.

The Mexican diver and his partner Zyanya Parra achieved 278.82 points, which was not enough to place them among the top three in the competition.

Italians Matteo Santoro and Chiara Pellacani inflicted a second defeat on the powerful Chinese team, taking gold with 307.13 points. Cassiel Rousseau and Madison Keeney of Australia took silver with 307.26, and bronze went to Asians Zilong Cheng and Yajie Li with 305.70.

(With information from AP)

Ap

La Jornada Newspaper, Thursday, July 31, 2025, p. a11

Monaco. Clarifying the promised rules on women's eligibility, World Athletics has set Wednesday, September 1, as the deadline for athletes to pass genetic testing to compete in the next world championships.

World Athletics announced in March that it would require chromosome testing using oral swabs or dried blood spot tests for female athletes to be eligible for elite competitions.

The next World Cup will kick off on September 13 in Tokyo, with September 1 being the closing date for registration and the date on which the regulations come into effect , the global governing body said in a statement.

The latest rule update provides certainty for the 2025 edition on an issue that has been controversial on the track and in multiple courts since Caster Semenya won her first world 800m title as a teenager in 2009.

Three weeks ago, Semenya won a ruling at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, following the South African's challenge to an earlier version of athletics eligibility rules affecting athletes with medical conditions known as differences of sex development (DSD).

World Athletics drafted rules in 2018 requiring Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion, and other athletes with DSD to suppress their elevated natural testosterone levels to be eligible for women's international competition. Semenya refused to take medication.

Now, the agency requires a once-in-a-lifetime test to determine female athletes who it says are biologically male with a Y chromosome.

We're saying that at the elite level, to compete in the women's category, you have to be biologically female , said Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics.

▲ Boxer Ricardo El Niño Sandoval, born in California but of Mexican descent, became the new unified WBC and WBA flyweight champion after defeating local boxer Kenshiro Teraji by split decision (117-110, 115-112, and 113-114) in Japan. This is for my mom and dad, who are watching me, and for all the people of Sinaloa. Let's take the belts home and enjoy ourselves , the boxer declared after the fight. Photo: Golden Boy Boxing

La Jornada Newspaper, Thursday, July 31, 2025, p. a11