“It was like rape”, the former swimmer looks back on this complicated episode in her life

This is not the first time that Laure Manaudou has raised this particularly sensitive subject in an interview or on television. In 2007, then at the height of her glory after winning two world titles in the 200m and 400m freestyle, she embodied national pride and sporting excellence at just 21 years old. But her triumph is overshadowed by a scandal of unprecedented proportions: the leak of nude photos on the internet. At that time, revenge porn was not yet a classic on the internet and the swimmer became the target of judgment and criticism, a painful turning point in her career.

In the documentary Laura, Laura, Laurabroadcast on Canal+, the former swimmer returned to this particularly significant episode of her life. An event which occurred at the same time as another particularly complicated one: his relationship with the Italian swimmer Luca Marin, widely publicized, has just ended: “I remember shaming my family. I say to myself “but shit…” After the whole Italian episode (she talks about Luca Marin), there is still something that comes to pollute me. As luck would have it, it comes out just as I’m leaving Italian. Except that it was not the Italian who was in possession of these photos” she explains in front of the cameras Canal+.

A trauma with lasting consequences

Indeed, Laure Manaudou is actually referring to a former companion, identified as Pierre-Henri with whom she had a very toxic relationship punctuated by pressure under the pretext of proving her love: “It was a relationship where it was: ‘Send you a picture and if you don’t send it to me, I’ll leave you.’ So, I did it. And the next day, I said to myself ‘well shit, I’m stuck, I’m going to have to stay with this guy for the rest of my life…’ The more the days passed, the more photos he had.” she says about this period. Stuck in a relationship dominated by manipulation, she remembers: “And every day, he told me ‘you send me a photo otherwise I’ll put everything on the internet’. So I said to myself, ‘actually, I have to…’”

Until she made the courageous decision to end the relationship: “I said to myself ‘too bad’, I’m leaving him and I’m taking the risk that there will be all these photos on the internet.”she confides. But a year after their breakup, the worst happened: the images were made public. The violence of the media exposure, coupled with the insults received daily on social networks, plunges Laure Manaudou into deep distress: “It was like rape actually. Everyone had seen the photos. It was kind of the beginning of social media, so I received it 15,000 times a day. ‘You’re a slut, you’re a whore…’” she says.

A necessary testimony to raise awareness

If returning to this episode is particularly painful for the former swimmer, it is necessary to talk about it to bear witness to the dramatic consequences on a person, especially in our time where revenge porn (the act of publishing intimate content without the consent of the person person) is well known: “It still happens a little today” she laments before continuing: “What can destroy a person more than intimacy? So it was very, very complicated to manage. » Many years later, the trauma is still there for Laure Manaudou.

By returning to this painful chapter of her life, Laure Manaudou is helping to break the silence around psychological and digital violence. In 2014, in his autobiography Between the linesshe had already addressed this episode, describing the feeling of being trapped. “I reveal my breasts, my buttocks, my penis… The idea crosses my mind that I am sending bullets to kill me, that these photos are like a loaded pistol in the hand of a dismissed lover”she wrote with poignant lucidity. A poignant testimony that highlights the dangers of toxic relationships and the need to educate young people about the risks associated with sharing intimate content.

The people? A whole world! Passionate about the media, networks, series, films, and investigative investigations of all kinds, it was naturally that Jessica turned to writing and that she takes…