Leon Marchand has completed a dominating run through the Paris Olympics, capturing his fourth swimming gold with another runaway victory in the 200m medley.
The 22-year-old French star left no doubt he'll be remembered as one of the biggest stars of his home country's Games.
On Friday, he won in an Olympic record time of one minute 54.06 seconds, just missing Ryan Lochte's 13-year-old world mark.
That was about the only thing he didn't accomplish at La Defense Arena, where he had previously won the 400 medley, 200m butterfly and 200m backstroke - the latter two about two hours apart on the same night.
After clinching his latest success, he held up four fingers - one for every gold medal in the Parisian pool.
"It is not what I thought I could possibly do. I was trying to win one at first," Marchand said.
"Four gold medals, is, I just didn't know it was possible."
French President Emmanuel Macron was among the 15,000 fans in the rugby stadium-turned-natatorium to see the fourth success.
On Friday night, Marchand beat allcomers by more than a second, with Great Britain's Duncan Scott second and Shun Wang of China in third.
Scott labelled Marchand "unbelievable".
"His breaststrokes are world-class (and) his turns are phenomenal ... it is a real honour to be able to race against him," he said.
"The crowd is nuts, and it's sensational to be a part of it."
Marchand is not just the toast of France but a part of Olympics history, joining Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz and Kristin Otto as the only swimmers to claim at least four individual gold at a single Games.
Marchand, 22, said he hadn't had time to process much of his success but that statistic was "crazy".
"I need this time to think about what I just did," Marchand said, adding with a laugh, "I need a vacation."
His success even impacted other sports: at Stade de France, hosting the first night of track and field, such an enormous ovation broke out that the first heat of the 400-metres run in the decathlon was delayed.
And at the French Olympic house in Paris, nearly 20,000 gathered outside during the race, including 19-year-old Arthur Oursel.
“He's a hero," Oursel said. “He's our hero.”
