Laure Manaudou: anatomy of a fall

Laura! Laura! Laura! These acclamations have accompanied the entire career of women’s swimming prodigy Laure Manaudou. On August 15, 2004, at just 17 years old, she became the first French swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal, in Athens, during the 400 meter freestyle. But behind the glory and the rewards, the young woman will pay a very heavy and painful price. This is what the documentary reveals Laura! Laura! Laura! by Laurie Delhostal and Guillaume Priou, broadcast Sunday January 19, 2025 and available in replay on Canal +. It tells the story of a sports icon who experienced a real descent into hell, suffering the consequences of unimaginable media pressure and excessive expectations.

A hellish pace from adolescence

From the first minutes of the documentary, we see the reality of the sacrifices made by Laure Manaudou to reach the top. “I was never good elsewhere, and I told myself that if I was strong elsewhere, my parents would be proud of me. Looking back, I was going to look for a little love and recognition in the sporting results, testifies the one who left the family home at 14 to train in Melun with coach Philippe Lucas. For almost 6 years, the man she considers her “second dad” will win her numerous titles but his rigorous, and quite controversial, method will leave her with after-effects. “Up 6 hours, 3:30 p.m. weight training, 5 p.m. in the water again until 8 p.m. It was very hard, more than 80 kilometers of swimming per week,” she explains. And added in another sequence: “I had the impression that in training, it was the guy who yells at you. And then presto! You take your foot out of the pool and it’s: ‘What do you want my darling?’

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Love, paparazzi and cruel betrayals

In 2007, the duo exploded. “I no longer wanted to train with Philippe, I no longer wanted to endure 16 kilometers per day, and love guided my choices at that moment,” explains Laure Manaudou. Indeed, at this period, the swimmer was in a relationship with the Italian swimming champion Luca Marin, and her romantic relationship, like all those that followed, was scrutinized, judged and constantly questioned by the media. For him, she will go so far as to leave France to join him in Turin but her trip will be short. Her romance with Luca Marin ends: the Italian cheated on her with Federica Pellegrini, her current rival. “Today, when I hear Italian spoken, I can’t… It disgusts me. Still, it’s a pretty language. My loved ones suffered too much,” she regrets in front of the camera.

Hurt by this betrayal, she chose to return to France, to Ambérieu-en-Bugey (Ain), to reconnect with competitive swimming and to regain her level of excellence with her family, alongside her brother Nicolas who trains her. . But his mental health would be put to the test again during the European Short Course Championships a few months later. As she prepares to compete, naked photos of the champion are revealed on the Internet by a malicious ex-boyfriend. “It was like rape in fact,” remembers Laure Manaudou about this revenge porn. Everyone had seen the photos, it was a bit like the beginning of social networks. I received them 15,000 times a day: “You’re a slut, you’re a whore.” This still happens a little today. What can destroy a person more than intimacy?

The hammer blow of the Olympics: the end of an era

If the young woman tried as best she could to put up a front, during the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, she fell from her pedestal. The former champion, now burdened by years of performance racing and public judgment, finished in 8th place. It’s the end of a dream and a blow. “She is crying in my father’s arms in the stands,” remembers her brother Florent, still very moved by this episode. It was popular pressure, it had always won. It breaks my heart to see things like that.” “She has the right to lose, and it was the choice to smash her at that moment rather than support her,” criticizes her other brother Nicolas about the media treatment of his sister. It sold “the champion who fails” (…) People like what shines, people also like what hurts.”

Then comes the final fall. In January 2009, at just 22 years old, the swimmer chose to put her career on hold and not participate in any competition. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with my life, but I won’t have that pressure anymore,” recalls Laure Manaudou in the documentary. (…) Living in a media environment was, for me, too destructive.” At that time, she was in a relationship with swimmer Frédéric Bousquet and decided to settle in the United States, far from the spotlight. “It was the first time since 2004 where I could walk peacefully in the street without being recognized,” smiles Laure Manaudou.

Pause everything and get back up

There, she became pregnant with her little daughter Manon and retired from the pools for good. “I went from 11 workouts per week to 0 and as a result, I gained 23 kilos for my pregnancy. It wasn’t very easy to accept my body at that time, because I had never been self-conscious in my life. Seeing your body change is a little disturbing,” admits the athlete.

But the swimmer will not hang up her swimsuit for good, at least not before taking on one last challenge with her brother Florent, who has also become a high-level swimmer. Together, they dream of participating in the next Olympic Games. A dream came true in 2012 in London, where the little brother won his first Olympic gold medal and hugged his very emotional big sister in front of the cameras. An anthology scene in the French sporting environment, the commentators will then say.

Thrive away from the pools

A few months later, Laure Manaudou won the title of European champion in the 50 meter backstroke, the very last of her career. She will celebrate this final podium with her 2-year-old daughter in her arms. “It’s a source of pride to say to myself that this is my last competition and I did it while being a mother,” summarizes the thirty-year-old. Her sporting career behind her, Laure Manaudou is thriving today in her new life. Now the mother of three children, including two little boys from her relationship with Jérémy Frérot, she is satisfied with a calmer daily life in the Arcachon basin. “She’s finally blossoming actually. At 37, it was time,” says his brother Florent.

At the end of the documentary, we even glimpse his new professional turn, kinesiology, a psycho-corporeal approach inspired by traditional Chinese medicine which aims “to support everyone towards better balance on the mental, emotional, physical and energetic levels”, according to the national union of kinesiologists (SNK). “Twenty years ago, everything was focused on sport and physical preparation, and not at all on the psychological, mental aspect,” she notes. But we can allow athletes and everyone to be happier in what they do, by asking the right questions.” And to conclude, rightly: “This could allow for a longer and more peaceful career.”