Documentary star Laura, Laura, Laura broadcast on January 19, 2025 on Canal +, Laure Manaudou makes rare confidences about her career, her childhood and her career as an Olympic champion. Gold medalist at the Athens Olympic Games at just 17 years old, the young woman won the Olympic title over 400m in 2004, the first since Jean Boiteux in 1952. She went on to win three titles at the world championships over 400m in 2005 and 2007 and over 200m in 2007.
“She won everything and she suffered a lot, in fact, she suffered like never before“, reveals her older brother Nicolas. Spotted at just 14 years old, Florent's sister left home to go work with her trainer at the time, Philippe Lucas. A choice made by her parents that the mother did not always understand. champion, as she indicates in the documentary. Parisian Weekendhis father Jean-Luc Manaudou explained how and why he made this difficult decision.
We didn't get the feeling that she was lacking affection.
“This choice to send Laure to live with Philippe Lucas in Melun, then to take her out of school, is both far in time and very close in mind because it is a rather singular and very striking episode of life. It's not common and I don't know many who would entrust their child at that age for a sporting destiny outside of any federal structure.“he says, before adding: “I'm not in her head but I think that since she became a mother (editor's note: she is 38 years old and has three children: Manon, fruit of her love with Frédérick Bousquet and Lou and Sacha born from his love with Jérémy Frérot), she undoubtedly has a more sensitive vision of the situation. (…) During this entire process, from 2001 to 2008, we didn't get the feeling that she was lacking affection“.
-Laure Manaudou spoke of an “emotional lack”
If her daughter revealed that she wanted to fill a “emotional lack” while winning his medals, his father explains: “I can understand this feeling. But what more could we have done? (…) They know we are there (…) I completely understand why she says: 'I will never let my daughter go'. Because it wasn't easy for us, don't believe it! There are choices that must be made and which must not be regretted.“.
Present for their daughter during the “big, big seeds” (as during the disclosure of her intimate photos or during her painful breakup with the Italian Luca Marin) Laure's parents, Florent and Nicolas Manaudou nevertheless think they have made the right choice. “The people were no longer there and we were left (…) The pillar was the family.” “You have to go through atypical choices to have an atypical life. Yes, it’s not necessarily reassuring.”, he concludes.
