Laure Manaudou facts for kids
Manaudou in 2005
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| Born | 9 October 1986 Villeurbanne, France |
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| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb; 10.1 st) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle, backstroke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Laure Manaudou (born 9 October 1986) is a famous French swimmer. She has won many big titles, including Olympic, World, and European championships. Laure was so fast that she held world records in freestyle swimming for distances between 200 and 1500 meters. Her younger brother, Florent Manaudou, is also an Olympic gold medalist in swimming!
Laure Manaudou's Swimming Journey
Olympic Success in 2004
Laure Manaudou made history at the 2004 Athens Olympics. She won a gold medal in the women's 400-meter freestyle race. This was a huge moment for France, as it was their first-ever gold medal in women's swimming. It was also the first swimming gold for a French athlete since 1952!
She also earned a silver medal in the 800-meter freestyle. In this race, she started very strong. However, Ai Shibata from Japan managed to pass her at the very end. Laure also won a bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke. This made her only the second French woman to win three medals at a single Olympic Games.
European Championships in 2004
After her Olympic success, Laure continued to shine. At the 2004 European Aquatics Championships in Madrid, Spain, she won three gold medals. These were for the 100-meter backstroke, 400-meter freestyle, and the 4×100-meter medley relay.
World Championships in 2005
On July 24, 2005, Laure competed at the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal, Canada. She won the women's 400-meter freestyle. During this race, she was swimming so fast that she was close to breaking the world record. Many experts believed she would soon beat the record set by Janet Evans way back in 1988. And they were right!
Breaking Records in 2006
On May 12, 2006, Laure Manaudou officially broke Janet Evans's 18-year-old world record in the women's 400-meter freestyle. She swam it in 4:03.03 at the French championship in Tours. She held this record for almost two years.
Later that year, on August 6, 2006, she broke her own world record! This happened at the 2006 European Aquatics Championships in Budapest. She swam the 400-meter freestyle in an amazing 4:02.13. At this same event, she also won gold medals in the 800-meter freestyle, 200-meter individual medley, and 100-meter backstroke. She also won three bronze medals in other races. With four gold medals, she equaled a record for the most individual titles won at a European swimming championship!
More World Championship Wins in 2007
Laure continued her winning streak at the 2007 World Swimming Championships in Melbourne. She broke the world record in the 200-meter freestyle final, winning another gold medal. She also won the 400-meter freestyle event.
She earned silver medals in the 100-meter backstroke and the 800-meter freestyle. In the 100-meter backstroke, she became only the second woman ever to swim the event in under a minute. She also got a bronze medal in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay.
Challenges at the 2008 Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics were tough for Laure. She wasn't able to swim as well as she did in 2004. In the 400-meter freestyle final, she started strong but finished last. She later said she gave up during the race because it was so hard to keep up. She also finished seventh in the 100-meter backstroke and didn't make it past the semifinals in the 200-meter backstroke.
Retirement and Comeback
On September 17, 2009, when she was 22 years old, Laure Manaudou announced she was retiring from competitive swimming. She said it was a decision she thought about for a long time.
However, in October 2010, she started training again in the United States. She made her return to competition on July 14, 2011. She even set a personal best time in the 50-meter freestyle event!
The 2012 Olympics and Family Pride
Laure competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in three events. She didn't advance past the first round in any of them. But there was a special moment for her at these Games. On August 3, she was cheering from the side of the pool when her younger brother, Florent Manaudou, won a surprise gold medal in the men's 50-meter freestyle final! She was there to give him a big hug after his victory.
Personal Life
Laure Manaudou is now in a relationship with singer Jérémy Frérot. They have two sons together. She also has a daughter from a previous relationship with Frédérick Bousquet.
Amazing Accomplishments
Laure Manaudou had an incredible winning streak. Between June 2004 and April 2008, she was unbeatable in the 400-meter freestyle. She won 23 finals in a row!
Career Best Times
- 200-meter freestyle: 1:55.51
- 400-meter freestyle: 4:02.13
- 800-meter freestyle: 8:18.80
- 100-meter backstroke: 59.50
- 200-meter backstroke: 2:06.64
See also
- World record progression 200 metres freestyle
- World record progression 400 metres freestyle
- World record progression 800 metres freestyle
- World record progression 1500 metres freestyle
