Paris –

Leon Marchand held up four fingers in the pool. French President Emmanuel Macron jumped up and threw both arms in the air. The French fans in the crowd at La Defense Arena loudly sang their national anthem to end the night.

What an Olympic Games for Marchand. What a night for France.

The French swimming star capped an iconic solo run at his home Olympics with a record-setting performance to win the men’s 200-meter individual medley final on Friday night.

Marchand swam in four individual events and won four gold medals during the Games. He set Olympic records in all four races.

“It’s been unbelievable,” he said. “Four gold medals is not what I thought I could possibly do. I was trying to win one at first.”

His win in the 200 IM came hours after superstar judoka Teddy Riner won a gold medal and was an exclamation point on a day the France will not soon forget.

The race was not close. Marchand was in control the entire way and switched on the afterburners for the final 50 meters as the decibel level in the arena raised considerably.

He looked to be a full body length ahead when he touched the wall in first place.

Marchand won in 1 minute, 54.06 seconds to break the Olympic record (1:54.23) set by American Michael Phelps at the Beijing Games in 2008. Phelps was in the arena calling the race for U.S. broadcaster NBC.

Great Britain’s Duncan Scott took silver in 1:55.31 and China’s Wang Shun was the bronze medalist in a time of 1:56. Japan’s Daita Seto finished seventh in 1:57.21.

"His breaststrokes are world-class, his turns are phenomenal,” Scott said of Marchand. “He is unbelievable. It is a real honor to be able to race against him in this environment. The crowd is nuts, and it's sensational to be a part of it."

Marchand began his dominance in the pool with a victory in the 400 IM on July 28. He had a night that will go down in Olympic history on July 31 when he won an unprecedented double of the 200 butterfly and 200 breaststroke. He was the first to complete that double, and he did it in just over two hours. He also became the first swimmer since 1976 to win two golds on the same day.

“I had a lot of races this week, big challenge for me,” Marchand said. “That double, the 200 fly and 200 breast was a lot, physically and mentally. So I was really trying to focus on that. Now I need this time to think about what I just did for sure. So I need (a) vacation.”

What he did was join an exclusive club of male swimmers with four gold medals from a single Olympics. Phelps won eight at the 2008 Games and six in 2004. Mark Spitz, another American, won seven in 1972.

“That’s crazy,” he said. “Those guys are legends.”

Australian Cameron McEvoy began the night at the pool with a win in the 50-meter freestyle in 21.25 seconds.

"From the start to the finish, the flow of the race was amazing,” he said.

Great Britain’s Benjamin Proud (21.30) took silver and local favorite Florent Manaudou (21.56) earned the bronze, to the delight of the French fans in the arena.

Kaylee McKeown made it two golds for Australia with her win in the women’s 200 backstroke in 2:03.73, an Olympic record. Regan Smith (2:04.26) of the United States finished second and Canadian Kylie Masse (2:05.57) was third.

“I was a little nervous going out tonight,” McKeown said. “I’m not one who gets overly nervous, probably more anxious than anything, so I went out hard and held on for dear life. I did the same thing in the medley."