From the cradle
Barely 14 years old, the destiny of young Laure, then at the Ambérieu-en-Bugey swimming club, will be turned upside down forever. Now coached by the sulphurous Philippe Lucas, the young French hopeful is changing dimensions. At just 17 years old, at the Athens Games she became the first French woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming, in the 400m freestyle. An earthquake in the French sporting world, which discovers a new idol.
“She had a career that everyone dreams of, but no one knows that she suffered like never before,” confides her brother Nicolas, who briefly trained her in 2007. “When she came up, everyone was behind her. , and when she came down, everyone smashed her. »
“She had a career that everyone dreams of, but no one knows that she suffered like never before”
Laure Manaudou, it is above all an impressive track record: from 2002 to 2007, 51 gold medals at the French championships, large and small pools, three at the Athens Olympics, gold, silver and bronze but also three world champion titles and seven European champions. In short, one of the finest records in French swimming.
Highs…
An unchallenged domination of her sport, the 2007 world swimmer of the year forms an almost perfect duo with her coach, the very media-focused Philippe Lucas, her long, blonde hair slicked back, her gold chains, and her love of Johnny Halliday.
-Beyond an exceptional sporting success, the documentary focuses above all on the impact that the over-media coverage of her career had on her private life and her swimming career. Her relationship with Philippe Lucas, whom she considers “like a second dad”, her failed visit to Italy or simply the impact of the media on her career, “Laure! Laura! Laura! » immerses us in the difficulty that professional athletes can encounter. It’s not easy to manage an environment that isn’t always tender or understanding with young athletes who are quickly put on a pedestal.
“She has a child’s face, but she’s a star,” Lucas slips into the documentary. But in 2007, a turning point in her career, she chose to go to Italy, to join her partner at the time, the swimmer Luca Marin. “It’s love that guides my choices at that moment,” she explains. A choice which will, unfortunately for her, not pay off and which will mark the beginning of the end of Laure Manaudou’s career.
…and stockings
Because the fall is as brutal as the dizzying rise. The separation with Philippe Lucas, the Italian adventure, the complicated relationship with her big brother Nicolas, which led her to return from Turin, or even the “nudes” affair – intimate photos of her are circulating on the Internet -: after having been celebrated for her impressive victories, the French swimmer is mainly talked about for her setbacks outside the pool.
A large number of “dramas” which will have spoiled his relationship with the press. “Today, I believe that all the journalists of that time could apologize to him. We weren’t always very nice to her. We asked him a lot, a lot,” admits Isabelle Langé, a journalist at RTL, who, at the time, covered swimming.
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