"It will take about three weeks for the injury to heal, so the timing is extremely bad," the French national hero said at a press conference.
Marchand, 24, became the Olympic king on home soil when he swept four gold medals at Paris 2024. At the French European Championship qualifiers at the end of June, he injured a groin muscle and then aggravated the injury while practising breaststroke a few weeks ago.
He has therefore withdrawn from the 200-meter breaststroke at the European Championships and is now forced to do the same with the 400-meter medley, both of which are Olympic gold events.
Now the plan is to swim the 200-meter butterfly on Friday and the new distance for him, the 400-meter freestyle, on the closing day - if the injury allows.
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